In an unexpected scene from ‘Shamitabh’, Rekha hands over an award to Dhanush for his debut performance in a masala film wackily titled ‘Lifebuoy’; Dhanush speaks in Big B’s baritone (more on that later) and Rekha looks at him surprised and asks the new superstar to take care of himself and his voice. Director R. Balki is a self-proclaimed fan of the legend and in his third film after ‘Cheeni Kum’ and ‘Paa’, one might as well wonder if he is besotted by his voice as well; this because ‘Shamitabh’ seems to be an ode to Big B’s voice.
Daanish (Dhanush) is a dumb small-towner from Igatpuri; grown up watching all movies, fascinated by them and in the process, all he wants is to be an actor. When a school teacher asks him to act as if his mother was dead, he gets into the character and beats up the poor man. While he helps his needy mother with her work (he also becomes a bus conductor reminding one of his own mega superstar father-in-law), he also takes out time to catch up with all the movies in the local theatre/video parlour dreaming of being an actor one day despite his handicap. Post his mother’s death, he moves to Mumbai and ends up spending a good couple of days in a vanity van and film studios. An assistant director (Akshara Haasan) spots Daanish and realizes what a great actor he can be only if he gets a voice. As it turns out, her father is a doctor and hey… we are in 2015. The age of technology! So, all they need now is a voice and they want a good one! Enter Amitabh Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan)- an eccentric egoist ageing drunkard living in a cemetery who himself had come to the city of dreams years ago to be an actor. Strangely (as it happened in his own life at first), he was rejected by all for his voice. After much convincing, Amitabh agrees to be the voice behind the new rising star- Shamitabh. All is well till there are ego clashes between the two.
The trailer hinted at an unconventional movie but ‘Shamitabh’ isn’t. It is a rags-to-riches story of a superstar and Director R. Balki also makes a dig at the movies being churned out these days. Very sadly then, his movie itself falls short of expectations, the biggest reason being the absence of a solid plot. It is a pointless film and the twist in the climax makes it all the more meaningless. What exactly did Balki want to make? It seems he lost track and must have got confused himself while filming it. While the first half does keep you entertained for most parts, the second half is a drag. At two hours and thirty-five minutes, it does test your patience especially because there are too many scenes of Big B hamming it up when drunk. The ‘whisky and water’ stuff is overdone and the audiences seemed fed up; so was I. Music by Ilaiyaraaja is okay. ‘Piddly’ is a little hummable till it lasts.
Amitabh Bachchan is the only reason you might want to watch ‘Shamitabh’. The legend is terrific in an ordinary role of a very mediocre movie. While his fans will be able to watch him reprise the role of a ‘Sharaabi’, his baritone voice is used very well in the movie. Dhanush was brilliant in his first Hindi film ‘Raanjhanaa’; here, he is good and conveys a lot through expressions but doesn’t leave much of an impact. Kudos to him for holding his own standing in the same frame as Big B. Debutante Akshara Haasan doesn’t have the looks of her sister but can act unlike her- a confident debut.
Watch it or not: Only if you are a hardcore Big B fan.
At the Box Office: It will be a dull show. Flop.
My Verdict
2.5
Sh… Sh… Shame-itabh… for a good opportunity gone waste! 2 plus an extra half only for Big B… he makes it tolerable
