All reviews here : Luck By Chance

'Luck By Chance' Means Success By Dedication for Zoya Akhtar!

January 28th, 2009 by E. Nina Rothe

Will hard work and a blind belief in one's inner strength and talent always pay off in the end? Does success always have to come at a price, that of alienating one's friends and destroying delicate bonds with one's lover? Is it possible to break into the magical world of Indian cinema as a absolute unknown? Does work always come first in an artist's life? Those are just some of the questions Zoya Akhtar asks in her brilliant feature directorial debut Luck By Chance, releasing worldwide this coming Friday, January 30th.

Though this may be Ms. Akhtar's first feature film debut in the triple role of a director, writer and producer, she is no newcomer to the world of cinema, having worked with Mira Nair in the casting department of the film Kama Sutra, as well as having produced her brother Faran Akhtar's films Lakshya and Dil Chahta Hai, both classics of Indian cinema. A true labor of love, Luck By Chance took seven years to make it to the big screen and the result is well worth the hard work, personal love and care that have obviously gone into the project.

The film stars Farhan Akhtar - always handsome and very real in his portrayals of emotionally complex men - in the role of Vikram, a struggling actor who comes to Bombay with stars in his eyes and little money in his pocket. While staying at a friend's place he meets Sona - played by the exceptional Konkona Sen Sharma - also a struggling actor, abeit one who is more successful and well connected than Vikram. Without giving any of the plot away - which is something I always resent when reading other people's articles about upcoming films - the lives of these two become intertwined and a wonderfully deep and multi-faceted story evolves, making this film both strong and entertaining. A welcomed combination of depth of characters and lightness of heart make the two hours fly by and even though I saw the film less than two days ago, I can't wait to watch it again, and again.

The Luck By Chance features a stellar cast of talented actors and filmmakers, in a series of cameos that read like a who's who of Indian cinema. Film legends Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia are simply phenomenal and their charisma and star power fill the screen, but never overpower, in a film that truly feels like an ensemble piece. Hrithik Roshan is also at his best playing the role of superstar Zaffar Khan. Favorite and super-hip director Anurag Kashyap - of the upcoming highly anticipated Dev.D - plays a screenwriter with great humor and charm. And then there is the King of Bollywood himself Shah Rukh Khan, playing, well' himself, of course!

I was truly privileged to attend a special and very private screening of the film this past Monday, at Adlabs inside the legendary Film City in Bombay. It was truly a magical evening and I found it nearly surreal to watch a film about an outsider's POV into the world of Hindi films, as an outsider myself in absolute awe of all attending, and that ALL happening inside the most famous film studios this side of the world! The list of those in attendance sounds like the nominees for a whole season of award shows in Indian cinema. Ranbir Kapoor was delightful and a cutie, walking in with the gorgeous Deepika Padukone, who wore a white dress and Capri-style sandals. Sonam Kapoor, star of Saawariya and the upcoming Delhi-6 was striking in a black embroidered pashmina worn with elegance and style. Loy Mendonsa - the Loy of rocking music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - was as lovely as he was stylish, wearing jeans with a dressy gold cuff bracelet that shined from a distance. Farhan Akhtar was the thinking-woman's sex symbol one would expect him to be, in jeans and a t-shirt and playing impeccable host to all. And finally, even Shah Rukh Khan himself was there, back from his Golden Globes appearance, looking like the superstar he truly is, in head to toe olive green and wearing a stylish scarf in the same hue. If there ever could have been any doubt that he is a true god in the firmament of stars, just his calm, down-to-earth presence at the screening, with his cool family there as well, would quench it all.

The film is guaranteed to be a smash hit, with a rocking soundtrack to boot and wonderful costumes, both during the more dramatic scenes and in the more lighthearted moments of the story. I spotted a few fantastic new looks but you will have to see for yourself and catch the film this weekend. See you at the movies!

http://daily.chictoday.com/2009/01/28/luck-by-chance-means-success-by-dedication-for-zoya-akhtar/

I hope this isn't a member review, it's hard to tell.

Movie Review: Luck By Chance

29 Jan, 2009 11:55 am ISTlINDIATIMES MOVIES

Director: Zoya Akhtar
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Rishi Kapoor
Rating: *** 1/2

Luck By Chance is the story of an aspiring actor Vikram (Farhan Akhtar) who wants to make it big in films and is fortunate enough to get a chance. It starts with his struggle to get into movies and culminates with the ethical corruption resulting from fame.

The beauty of Luck By Chance is the cheeky spoofs it attempts on the functioning of the Hindi film industry without exaggerating the outcome. The film has some of the best employed cameos where most actors have the audacity to make you laugh at their own expense.

Zoya Akhtar comes up with a convincing script and impresses equally with her adept direction. The treatment continuously alternates between humour to reality bytes and is crisply edited.

Farhan Akhtar comes up with a confident and perfectly poised act. Konkona Sen Sharma is as dependable as always and stands tall throughout the film. Rishi Kapoor is hilarious in the role of Bollywood producer Rolly. Dimple Kapadia is impressive as a yesteryear actress and the doting mother of her debuting daughter. Isha Sharvani looks beautiful. Hrithik Roshan does pretty well in his extended special appearance.

Luck By Chance highlights how the film industry doesn't give much regards to the story while making a movie and ironically weaves a fascinating story using that fact.

(Detailed review to follow soon. Stay tuned)

http://movies.indiatimes.com/moviereview/4046162.cms
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That sounds positive the cast is getting good review so good and the story am looking foward to it :)

from the reviews it seems the film is just as good as it looked in the previews so it will be entertaining to watch

Thanks Zareena for the positive review, I'm not surprised the promos of the movies looked really good and the music was really nice and different... I could tell from the FIRST trailer itself that I'm gonna love this movie and it'll surely be very entertaining 😃... I'm glad to know Farhan and Co. didn't disappoint, but its annoying that they and this movie isn't getting as much recognition and publicity that they deserve... Coz the trailers are brilliant....

^^you're welcome. I think movie promos being appreciated, I see Dialouge promos 3 times in 30 minutes on Starplus which is quiet good. I do think movie is going to be critically acclaimed and Box office success as well😃

By Taran Adarsh, January 30, 2009 - 10:34 IST

****/5

One has often heard, read and seen [on screen] the positive and negative aspects of Bollywood. It would be erroneous to state that LUCK BY CHANCE does a pol-khol of the glamorous industry. Let's put it this way: The film mirrors the behind-the-scenes drama and manoeuvring exactly the way it occurs in showbiz. Watching LUCK BY CHANCE is like experiencing it first-hand.

If you're associated with Bollywood, if you know how the machine works, you'd laud and applaud, laugh and smile, identify and understand and at times, empathize and sympathize with the characters in LUCK BY CHANCE. Zoya Akhtar's take on an industry that attracts millions of hopefuls year after year is bang on target.

Write your own movie review of Luck By Chance
Almost three decades ago, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's GUDDI depicted a star-struck teenager's [Jaya Bhaduri] obsession for a top star [Dharmendra]. Along with the core issue, the film highlighted the behind-the-scenes hard work and labour that went into making movies.

LUCK BY CHANCE taps almost every important facet of Bollywood and presents assorted characters you've encountered some time in life: An over-ambitious aspirant who knows to make the right moves; an actress trying hard to get that big break, even if she has to compromise; an icon of the 1970s who desperately wants her daughter to be a star; a producer who looks at riding on big names, script be damned; a failed actor now looking at direction to redeem his career.

One of the prime reasons why LUCK BY CHANCE works is because the writing [Zoya Akhtar] is simply wonderful. Right from the characters, to the individualistic scenes, to the way Zoya puts them in a sequence, LUCK BY CHANCE is easily one of the most cohesive scripts this side of the Atlantic.

The verdict? Leave aside everything and hitch this joyride called LUCK BY CHANCE. It would be sacrilege to miss this one!

Sona [Konkona Sen Sharma] arrives in Mumbai with dreams of becoming a film star. She does whatever it takes, to make it. Vikram [Farhan Akhtar] has just moved to the city leaving the comforts of his Delhi home. He is used to getting what he wants and is smart enough to know when to demand it and when to manipulate it. Gradually, Sona and Vikram develop a romantic relationship.

Rolly [Rishi Kapoor] is a successful though superstitious producer who only works with the biggest stars. He is making a potential blockbuster launching Niki [Isha Sharwani], the daughter of 1970s superstar Neena [Dimple Kapadia]. The hero of the film, Zaffar Khan [Hrithik Roshan], is the superstar.

Zaffar decides to opt out of Rolly's film and that creates havoc in Rolly's life. Rolly decides to cast newcomers and finally, Vikram is shortlisted for the main role...

LUCK BY CHANCE picks up characters straight out of life and that's the beauty of this script. The interesting part is that each of these characters has a story running parallel to the main story. Although the writing is foolproof, this review would be incomplete if one failed to acknowledge a number of scenes that are the hallmark of this enterprise...

Note the sequence when Rishi Kapoor breaking down after Hrithik has walked out of his movie. It moves you!

On the lighter side, Farhan strikes a conversation with Dimple at a movie premiere and extols lavish praises on her.

Much later, an angry Dimple instructs Isha to patch up with Farhan, soon after Farhan and Isha's debut film has been declared a success. Watch the moments when Dimple recalls her early years.
The sequence featuring SRK.

If Zoya's writing is superb, her execution of the written material deserves distinction marks. This may be Zoya's directorial debut, but she treats the difficult subject like a veteran. Javed Akhtar's dialogues are remarkable. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music is a mixed bag; the score could've been better. However, the choreography of the circus song is remarkable. Carlos Catalan's cinematography captures the right moods.

Farhan Akhtar is evolving into one of the most dependable actors of his generation. He's very real, very believable. No wonder, this character stands out. Konkona Sen Sharma is exceptional. The supremely talented actress delivers a sparkling performance yet again. Rishi Kapoor is incredible. A performance that merits the highest praise. Dimple Kapadia is in terrific form. It easily ranks amongst her most accomplished works. Juhi Chawla is first-rate. Isha Sharwani does her part well. Sanjay Kapoor springs a surprise. He registers an impact. Aly Khan is perfect.

Hrithik Roshan is truly wonderful. Note the sequence when he strikes a conversation with Karan Johar, only to realize that he himself had paved the way for Farhan in the industry. Only an accomplished actor could've handled this sequence with aplomb. Amongst the A-listers who make fleeting appearances in the film, the one who registers the maximum impact is Shah Rukh Khan.

On the whole, LUCK BY CHANCE is an outstanding film in all respects. A magnificent outing from the producers of ROCK ON!!, LUCK BY CHANCE is sure to prove an extremely lucky and rewarding experience at the box-office. Strongly recommended!

http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/12379/index.html

Luck By Chance: Crocodile in a chiffon sari, and other tales (spoliers)

Kaveree Bamzai

Starring: Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma and almost the entire Mumbai film industry

Rating: 4/5

Once in a while, the stars align, everything is all right with the heavens and luck happens, by chance. Zoya Akhtar's film, which she had been trying to make for the past eight years, has finally happened. And it's as delightful as the industry that it films. "Don't call it Bollywood," says an irascible Dimple Kapadia to a producer who is trying to get too close to her, "I like calling it the Hindi film industry." Call it what you will, but Zoya's world is as close to the reality as it can get, with very good production values, borrowed as much from Pedro Almodovar movies as it is from Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge.

There's the producer, Rishi Kapoor, with fake hair and fake teeth, who believes in wearing the right rings on his fingers on the right days. There's the star kid, Isha Shravani, who can barely speak Hindi. There's the struggler, Konkona Sen Sharma, who is promised a second lead by a sleazy producer as she bides time acting in Bhojpuri films and "films that are released only in small towns". There's the superstar, Hrithik Roshan, who fakes needing a break because he wants to slime out of a film with the director who launched him and act in a movie made by Karan Johar. There's the faded star, Dimple, who is seduced by her own memories and the desire to perpetuate her stardom through her daughter.

And yes, there's the wannabe, Farhan Akhtar, who becomes the star. A guy from Delhi, who enrolls in an acting school, falls in love with the struggling actress, and then gets an opportunity which he grabs and runs with. "Mouke milte nahin, banaye jaate hain (opportunities are not given, they are made)," says Farhan's character Vikram Jaisingh to his girlfriend, Konkona, as she mopes about a producer whom she sleeps with for a role and who doesn't deliver. Indeed, Farhan doesn't miss a beat, whether it is flattering the star mother by watching all her old movies; seducing her daughter, his co-star, with his sun-warmed body emerging from a swimming pool; or turning angrily on his old girlfriend for trying to rain on his victory parade.

We are used to movies which take us inside the movies. In the recent past, we have seen Om Shanti Om, a passionately loving take on Bollywood by the latter day Manmohan Desai, Farha Khan. But Luck By Chance is quieter and more thoughtful. Actors are narcissistic beings, in love only with themselves. One particularly surreal scene has Hrithik's character addressing his reflection, saying "I work for an icon. He tells me what to do." Early on in the movie, the acting coach, Saurabh Shukla, channeling Kishore Namit Kapoor, tells Farhan, "you underplay it too much.''

But underplaying is the best part about the movie. Everything is a key lower than it usually and hence note perfect. There's a telling scene where Shah Rukh Khan bumps into Farhan in a bar and tells him never to forget his friends who knew him when he was nothing, "because they alone will tell you the truth". Indeed, so does the movie, without at any point losing its velvet coat of sophistication, heightened by Carlos Catalan's wonderful camerawork. The dialogue is the wisest I've heard in a long time in Hindi films, a combination clearly of Javed Akhtar's wisdom, Farhan's wit and Zoya's love for her script. When Farhan's Vikram is introduced to Konkona's Sona, she tells him, "aap katar main hain (you are in the queue)." When Farhan enters his girlfriend, Nikki's pretty-in-pink room, he tells her, "Wow, you live in a cake."

Zoya doesn't need to be told about the innards of Bollywood, so everything about it is true. The puja of the first reel. Yes. Checking out the 9 p.m. show at Galaxy with the star in tow in disguise. Yes. The romances on outdoor locations. Yes. Producers on the phone to Jabalpur to check out the box office collections. Yes. Even the American-accented corporate bigwigs who are as star struck as the old time producers. Yes. The chai on the sets. The endless wait for that one call in shared apartments. The mass auditions where everyone is buffed up and worked out. The Birkins and Louis Vuittons on the star wives and star moms. Zoya has everything down pat, without seeming as if she is reading from a manual, including the star mom who can be as chic as she is cheap.

Watch it. Savour it. Watch it again.

For anyone who loves Hindi cinema, in its tawdry splendour and its vulgar charms, this is the movie to enjoy.

What to watch:

1. A succession of stars, from Aamir Khan to Kareena Kapoor, from Ranbir Kapoor to Shah Rukh Khan. All playing themselves, sending delicious vicarious thrills down our collective spine.

2. A particularly wonderful turn from Anurag Kashyap, playing a writer told to copy a film from a DVD, then told to change the script because the hero doesn't like the anti-hero and then asked to sit through the actors' readings, cringing everytime the star kid mispronounces khoon.

3. The lines. Farhan's buddies rib him about not forgetting them now that he is famous. Farhan looks at them and says: aap log kaun hai (who are you guys). And another, where Rishi Kapoor chortles about the forthcoming trauma Dimple's star mom is going to wreak on future producers. "She's a crocodile in a chiffon sari."

4. Hrithik Roshan playing a self-obsessed, insecure superstar, permanently tanned and superbly muscled. Come back, all is forgiven.

5. The almost-last scene where Farhan cries, tears slipping off his face, and Konkona turns away.

6. Oh, stop it already.

http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26755§ionid=4&issueid=90&Itemid=1

watched it last nite..n loved it...recommended to all Bollywood lovers!!!

wow such positive reviews..........waiting eagerly to watch it.