Dilwale Review/Box Office Thread 2 - Keep Calm,Watch Dilwale - Page 14

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Varun Sharma, Sanjay Mishra, Johnny Lever, Vinod Khanna and Kabir Bedi

Direction: Rohit Shetty

Rating: ***

This one is a complete entertainer.

Dilwale' does everything a Bollwood masala film should do - there's love, there's action, there's drama, there's song and dance - basically it's value for money.

Rohit Shetty has mastered his craft. It's commendable how seamlessly he blends the various elements.

The over-the-top action sequences, the mushy romance and dollops of melodrama play out like a well synchronised orchestra. He hits just the right chords, there isn't a single jarring note.

Our director has upped him game, it's no longer just mindless humour and cars being blown to pieces.

Shetty has made sure that this film hooks you from the very beginning. Kaali (Shah Rukh Khan) and Meera's (Kajol) intriguing love story and why these two are thrown apart forms the basis of this potboiler. The flashbacks work well as they give you a little insight into what could have transpired between these star crossed lovers but never really give you their real story.

The second half of the narrative is peppered with generous doses of humour and it helps that Shetty lets Varun Dhawan completely own that. Varun's comic timing is perfect and he is effortless in the little brother role. Rohit Shetty has shown rare restrain in this film, he doesn't go overboard. The action sequence shot in Bulgaria is brilliantly executed and it stays with you because you don't have too many of those.

Even the songs - they come at regular intervals but never slow down the pace of the plot. 'Gerua' looks spectacular on the big screen, the locations, the clothes (despite the velvet jackets that Shah Rukh wears), the lead couple, they spell magic together. Even 'Manma' and 'Janam Janam' are well executed numbers.

I guess, it's possible only in Bollywood, that our lead couple look better as they age. Shah Rukh and Kajol look disarming adorable together. Despite the years and the number of times they've worked together there's a new intensity you see this time.

There's a part in the 'Janam Janam' song where Kajol wears a blue dress and it's reminiscent of the green halter-neck dress she wore in the 'Ruk Ja' song ( in 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge') and I couldn't help but notice how amazingly chic and suave they looked now compared to then.

Sure there are some excesses, especially the King (Boman Iranian) sub-plot seemed completely unnecessary. In the acting department, Jhonny Lever is a huge letdown, saddled with some silly antics. The rest of the cast however, provide robust support. I thought giving Kajol's character a manipulative bent was quite a nice touch. The director ensures that the twists and turns never let the pace slacken.

It's the holiday season and what better way to usher it in than with a Shah Rukh Khan release. 'Dilwale' is complete paisa vasool. If you have to make a Bollywood formula film, make it like Rohit Shetty.

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The Dilwale-Bajirao Mastani clash begins

Two of the most-awaited films of the year go head-to-head in the biggest box-office clash of the year, right at the end of 2015. Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani, who have both established their USPs and generated plenty of buzz in the run up to their release, now face judgement day as they take to screens.

So far in the tussle, Dilwale has a clear edge over Bajirao Mastani, when it comes to box-office numbers. With a release in close to 3200 screens, the film has opened to a mammoth response of 70 per cent occupancies, even though it's a working day and another major film is in play. If the trend holds and gets the push of an upswing in earnings in the evening, the film might stand to earn Rs 20 crore by the end of the day.

Bajirao Mastani is surprisingly facing a struggle to fill the seats with only 30 per cent occupancies in the early shows. The film, which was expected to dominate in the western regions of Maharashtra and Gujarat, has been bested by the slightest margin by Dilwale there too. If similar figures hold, the film might just make Rs 10 crore by the end of the day, unless it faces a dramatic rise in collections in the evening shows, with good reviews already pouring in.

With evening show trends and Saturday's earnings crucial to the final fate of the clash, it remains to be seen which film will laugh its way to the bank at the end of it all.