Shaandaar Is An Amusingly Clever Spoof Of Bollywood Musicals

The thing with a successful film behind you is that it allows you the privilege of something few filmmakers can claim to have in Bollywood - autonomy over content. With Queen, director Vikas Bahl cemented that position and Shaandaar is an exploit, albeit a very good one, of that wonderfully heart-warming Kangana Ranaut-starrer.

Image Source: instagram/shahidkapoor

The Shahid Kapoor-Alia Bhatt comedy is so self-aware of the world it inhabits that it makes no bones of pretending to be something it is not. It's almost like watching the making of a film within a film - characters are boisterously over-the-top, the dialogue is consistently colloquial until the point when the characters decide to mouth Bollywood dialogues they always wanted to say.

Starting off as a fairy tale (literally!), the director interweaves a romance that takes place serendipitously. Shahid's character is the wedding planner of Alia's half-sister (who in turn is Shahid's real sister, Sanah Kapoor). The marriage is between two families who are in financial limbo, with each hoping the other will bail them out. Alia's side is governed by a tough-as-nails matriarch who bullies her three sons.

Image Source: twitter/shahidkapoor

So there you have it. A seemingly rich household, an arrangement of compromise, a Prince Charming with obnoxiously great hair, an overly protective father and a bitter mother who couldn't care less. Sounds straight from a storybook? It is, except the fact that the damsel is not in distress and the Prince is afraid of the dark.

Now these are the very moments where Shaandaar succeeds. It takes in established conventions and stereotypes, and shows them a giant middle-finger.

Whether it is body shaming, homosexuality, being a child out of wedlock, the film doesn't dwell on these issues but tells you it's fine to not give a bloody damn, to stay true to yourself, to shun traditions. It features a scene where you actually see the embodiment of norms, burn.

In that sense, one can draw a thematic parallel with Queen. A girl about to get married to a man who doesn't care much about her. Does her self-worth depend on his validation? More importantly, should she live in a way only to appeal to his gaze? These are the questions Queen leaves behind without actually being a film about the subject per se - which is perhaps a more accessible way to deal with sensitive topics.

Image Source: instagram/shahidkapoor

Pankaj Kapur is the epicentre of this wedding drama and the sequences where he and Shahid are outsmarting each other are pure gems. As for the humour, Shaandaar has some fine dashes of unbelievable hilarity.

Shahid and Alia are at their finest and their infectious chemistry makes you want to see more of them. There is a disarming comfort in their body language, which makes you root for their romance. A romance that you never see the completion of. Just like real life. It's always work-in-progress. From fairy tale to realism, the shades of Shaandaar are overwhelming.

Sanah appears comfortable in front of the camera while Sanjay Kapoor, with his Sindhi jokes, gets a little difficult to bear. For a wedding film, it has surprisingly well-timed songs and the number, Sentimental, is one of the film's absolute highlights.

Image Source: instagram/shahidkapoor

With Shaandaar, Vikas has made a film he wants to make without being afraid of judgments or an overbearing pressure to live up to expectations - of the industry, critics or audience.

If Karan Johar spoofed his own brand of cinema (which as the film's producer, he has), this is what it'd look like.


Thumbnail Image Source: twitter/aliaa08