Movie Review: Happy New Year
Director: Farah Khan
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah and Jackie Shroff
Spoof. Parody. Homage. Those are Farah Khan’s strengths. And she knows how to cater to them. Happy New Year is a film designed to make the most of these attributes. From scene one to scene last, this is a three hour fun ride. It’s mad cap comedy and it makes no pretense of taking itself too seriously. Except for a pound of jerky melodrama that creates the conflict in the story. Rest of the way this is a song, dance and comedy extravaganza that entertains.
The story is as old as time itself. A son is seeking revenge for the wrong done to his father by a conniving old charlatan. So in Danny Ocean style he assembles his entourage to create the perfect heist and steal from the wicked. Ocean’s Eleven becomes Charlie’s Angels, quite literally, and formulaic characters (the muscle man, the experienced smart guy, the computer hacker whizkid, the distracting clown and the seductive beauty) become the necessary ingredients in a comedy relying on the graft of it’s intelligence. And that’s where the crisis of Happy New Year occurs. It’s flawed by design because you can’t mix polarised concepts like brainless juvenile humour and complex heist drama. One’s too simple while the other’s too abstruse. It’s like mixing stupidity with academics. It won’t work. Having said that, despite its obvious flaws the film skates through its narrative thanks to two concrete reasons. The first and most important cause is the cast. Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone have more than enough charisma to pull off anything. Jostle in the comedic timing of Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani and Sonu Sood and you’ve got all corners covered. The second big factor that works in favour of Happy New Year is Farah Khan’s execution. She’s not held back with the grandeur. Like any visual spectacle, she’s used splendor to great effect. The best of Dubai’s exotica is on offer; combined with that is Manish Malhotra’s style and some fancy production design. Happy New Year is as opulent in its staging as any Hindi film you’ve seen in a long time. And a tip of the hat to Farah for the end credits scene and the sneak peek at SRK’s son Abram and her own triplets.
But tear away those firlls and the only thing carrying the featherweight concept is the lead pair. Shah Rukh Khan continues where he left off in Chennai Express. His rendition of Charlie in HNY is steady mix of self appraisal and critique. On one hand he’s celebrating his unmatched charisma and on the other he’s taking pot shots at his own legacy. His sense of humour enables Farah to indulge in some handy parody. There are hilarious set pieces all throughout. The stand out one is the twist on the ‘sattar minute’ speech from Chak De! India. It’s beyond funny. And when you’re not dealing with SRK’s antics you have to contend with the most gorgeous woman ever captured on celluloid in India. The sight of Deepika Padukone on the big screen, regardless of what clothes she’s in, can forgive a million movie sins. It helps that she’s developed an innate sense of comedy. She really excels in being the very likeable but extremely stereotypical heroine.
The support system of the movie is a zany performance by Abhishek Bachchan. Simply said, he seems to have had the maximum fun making this film. He’s let loose and his character revels at grossing you out and making you chuckle with consummate ease. Also great is the homosexual sketch with Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Dadlani (Vishal-Shekhar).
A film like Happy New Year makes things easy for its audience. It’s just as easy to dismiss it as it’s easy to like it. The downright absence of logic and the immature humour could offend anyone. But watching grown men act like bumbling idiots has been a great idea of fun for time immemorial. End of the day, it all boils down to how you watch your film. If you like to have fun and you don’t mind entertainment over cerebral arguments, Farah Khan’s Happy New Year is worth your time.