Shamitabh - Ego Clash

Movie: Shamitabh

image source: bollywoodhungama.com

Director: R Balki

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush, Akshara Haasan

For me: **1/2 (out of 5 stars)

In one scene of the movie, Dhanush tells the media that it can even create hatred between one person’s face and his voice. Same is the major and basic plot of Shamitabh - face vs voice. Shamitabh is the story of a dumb man aspiring to be an actor and his life, from his childhood to his journey towards stardom to his rise and fall. It is the tale of how human ego arises on the surface creating conflict between two people and how it ruins each other.

Plot:

Daanish (Dhanush), a young dumb man, comes to Mumbai after his mother’s death, to pursue his dream of being actor. After some juggling between here and there in film studios and hiding in one vanity van, which he terms ‘five-star hotel’, he meets Akshara (Akshara Haasan), an assistant director.
She realizes his talent and decides to help him. From a surgery in Finland, it is said that Daanish now can speak with the voice of other person. Technical Development!! They finally meet Amitabh Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan), an old drunkard residing in a graveyard, and convince him to be the voice of Daanish. As predicted, a name Shamitabh is born from mixture of Daanish and Amitabh. Soon Shamitabh turns out to be a superstar from success of his debut movie. Then starts the egos of Daanish and Amitabh coming forth and their pride clashing them apart. Akshara meanwhile has her dream to make her own movie and juggles between two to make things right. What happens to them and how their ego-clash results form rest of the story.

What I felt:

R. Balki is of course the talented director and he is successful in cracking out bravo performances from all the actors. He has let the movie flow smoothly. A scene in which Akshara gives A-Z of life lessons to Dhanush and Amitabh is very nice; so is the scene in which Amitabh gives A-Z of gaali.  And the climax scene in the graveyard is brilliant as well. However, there are certain things that play negative to Shamitabh. The technical part is not convincing enough. Movie becomes a bit boring in between and also a bit predictable and over-dramatic. Storyline seems original but feels like something is missing. It has drama but fails to evoke emotions strongly.

Performances are amazing, the best thing of Shamitabh. Amitabh Bachchan has given yet another brilliant performance after Paa. His voice, which dominates the movie from start to end, is something that can spell magic. Dhanush, without voice, acts via expressions and stands shoulder to shoulder with Sr. Bachchan. He is superb, no doubts. Akshara Haasan is good, carries her part confidently, and is able to leave mark despite the brilliance of legend Bachchan and talented Dhanush. Music by Illaiyaraaja is nice. Shamitabh and Piddly are nice compositions.

Final Say:

Shamitabh is watchable for the splendid performances.