Watching a Hindi movie in St. Joseph, MI is nothing short of a miracle for me.. my first ever since I moved to this part of the world. Co-ordinated with a couple of friends before arrival to the movie hall so we could get seats together - whats in a movie if you dont have the right company with you to share a running commentary with or have the parallel conversations amid cold stares and "shhh" sounds from the people around you.
A,K and I had more company in the form of other Indian friends to add to the melee.
We picked seats close enough to the higher end of the hall to give us the balcony effect. By the time we settled in our chairs we had already missed the opening scene.
The minute I saw Rani Mukherjee, I cursed one of the Chopras under my breath ;-)
In the hot pink salwar kameez, swinging a cricket bad and mouthing off lines with a heavy "punjabbbi ucksent" she looked nothing like the plump 18 yr old damsel in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The only ding in this new slim n trim avatar was the nose-ring she had on - but well, I guess it was required for the karector she plays. Veera is a cricket crazy sardarni who repeatedly announces she is a Left te Right handed batsmen who can not be bowled out by any munda around. Working and living in the gaanv's naatak company, she has friends who remind her to give up on the big dreams she sees with her "nanhi aankhein". She dreams of playing alongside the stalwarts of Indian cricket and prays to them as her demi-gods and along with wahe-guru ofcourse in very typical bollywood ishtyle..
Cut-to Wagah border: Dilip Tahil and Anupam Kher speak of their ever lsating friendship across the borders but remind us that all friendships aside, when it comes to cricket, India and Pakistan dont see each other eye to eye. Predictably they play a match and India loses to Pakistan with a fuming Rani announcing she'd have made the Pak team run for shelter if only she could..
A weird haired Shahid Kapoor a.k.a Rohan (where do they get these names?) is introduced as the key player of English County cricket. He wins matches and runs around like a Brazilian football player. His team huddles like a bollywood version version of an African tribal dance and always responds to him in chorus sync.
Surprise element in the form of Poonam Dhillon playing the pretty mom. Anupam Kher, dont be surprised, plays the dad who lives away alone in India. Kher sentimails Kapoor into coming to India and fulfilling his dream of winning the Aman Cup- giving him all leeway to form his own team.
If you've seen the trailers you know Rani Mukherjee comes dressed as a Sardar. To add some details, without giving away the ending, "Veer" plays cricket for the India team with Rohan and the movie has a happy ending. I wont divulge all details here and steal away the thunder..
High points in the movie include "jokey" conversations between the firangi munda Rohan and the bhains-lo girl Veera. Rani Mukherjee carries the movie with elan and great comic timing, with some support from the muscle-flexing guy in pink shirt n skinny jeans.
Overall rating? Worth the 2.5 hrs intermission-less presentation... Paisa, full vasool in one sitting.