ABCD Reviews & Discussion Thread INDEX page1 - Page 3

Rating: 2/5 Stars (Two-stars)

Star cast: Prabhu Deva, Kay Kay Menon, Ganesh Acharya, Terrence Lewis, Dharmesh Yelande

What's Good: Overwhelmingly passionate and energetic dance through 3D lenses gives you a brilliant mood uplifting cinematic experience.

What's Bad: The film is too creatively borrowed from Step Up 3 which kills the film's earnestness.

Loo break: Post Interval story drag moments calls for a couple of these.

Watch or Not?: If music makes your feet tap happily then Dear Mumble, ABCD is waiting for you at the nearest theatre with 3D glasses!

User Rating:

In times when dance reality shows are most TRP raking ventures on television, ABCD – Any Body Can Dance brings to you a story you will realize and recognize easily. Vishnu is a star choreographer of Jahangir Dance Company which he built with his partner Jahangir. Vishnu is a man of few words and many principles, diametrically opposite to his shrewd friend and partner Jahangir. After being unceremoniously thrown of his dance institute, Vishnu strikes low on morale and decides to leave for Chennai.

Circumstances land him up in the slummy dusty lanes of Mumbai. Picking up local urchins whom he spots flamboyantly and colorfully dancing during Ganpati Visarjan, he decides to weave his new team. Common with slums, these boys have their own baggage of long standing rivalries which they uphold in their true gang war spirit.

Dance however does manage to fill life into these grazed down people and give them purpose, who would otherwise lead very mundane lives. With dance, a bunch of untrained hostile boys find their true calling and settle harmoniously their pre existing differences.

Does Vishnu manage to create a team better than JDC's? Does he avenge Jahangir's insult on him? And whether talent is worth enough in today's date to stand strong and alone on its feet?

ABCD – Any Body Can Dance Review: Script Analysis

There is hardly a concrete script to analyze in this film. The conventional story of underdog who is victorious in the end has been seen in the film's Hollywood counterpart as well. The film essentially cashes on the humongous popularity of television dance shows. The victory of the chucked underdog is honestly done. The film is composed of many exquisite dance pieces that are performed with style which has a good attractive quotient to it. The rivalry between dance gangs is brought out well on the screen added with their colloquial humor. However, the screenplay is largely sketchy and diverts into the conventional and predictable zone of storyline. Towards the second half, the film loses its focus and stretches beyond it should, almost bordering into boredom. The climax is passionate and extraordinarily done. For the climax alone, the film is worth a million bucks.

ABCD – Any Body Can Dance Review: Star Performances

Prabhu Deva's atrocious Hindi will shock you! However, the man lives up to his legendary status as a stalwart of dance. Incomparably brilliant, his dance has a mesmerizing quality. He does falter at the emotional scenes and his poor diction makes it visible a little too nakedly. But a five minute solo dance sequence by him just before interval strikes is enough to wash out all his flaws.

Kay Kay Menon is stupendous as the evil, manipulative business man. With every scene, one realizes that the man is well set in the skin of his character. His nascent and crude demeanor is mind blowing. His eyes emote brilliantly and hence he stands out starkly. We definitely should see more of this man!

Ganesh Acharya is marvelous in his adorable stint. Other dancers are well, dancers. They aren't actors! But they are quite fantabulous in what they do!

ABCD – Any Body Can Dance Review: Direction, Music & Technical Aspects

Remo realizes his dream of finally delivering a film which he truly believes in. The film is structured artistically. The 3D effect has been used well to enhance the film's feel. Remo meticulously directed ever scene, be it the livid chor police chase scene or the brilliant rain dance sequence – take a bow Remo for this film! However the film is heavily borrowed from Step Up. Whether Remo could successfully imbibe Indian-ness into this borrowed concept is highly debatable. But he does manage to give us an enjoyable film you'll be tapping your feet through. The movie's editing needed some serious work in the second part. While the music of the film isn't quite impressive except the final end credits number starring Saroj Khan which is a crackling feat.

ABCD – Any Body Can Dance Review: The Last Word

Watch it for its dazzling looks and vibrantly spectacular dance sequences that are passionately done to perfection! Go cheer for spellbinding talent.

Parbhudeva, the real Prabhujee!

ABCD (Any Body Can Dance)

Director: Remo D'Souza

Actors: Prabhu Deva

I'm not sure if anybody can dance. Being not much of a dance enthusiast myself, given that I could sit through this movie, almost in awe of the performers on screen, rolling on the floor, delivering crazy steps one after another: Anybody can watch this film, I can tell you that.

The worst of Bollywood movies essentially are a collection of music videos. The dance sequences have nothing to do with the plot. Barring Hrithik Roshan or Shahid Kapur, India's best known leading men can barely move their feet. This is odd, since the soundtrack and choreography are the reasons some of their films exist in the first place. It's surprising then that nobody yet had thought of just doing away with all these sad hero types and moronic screenplays, and making a whole film with actual hardcore dancers instead. Both choreography and music will begin to make more sense. You will be more forgiving towards story or plot and enjoy the film for its actual worth. This is one of those films.

ABCD puts together a group of really talented street dancers with bodies that defy elasticity. The film bears a simple trajectory: one dance number follows another. This allows actors to show off their best moves. Under the care of the great Prabhudeva – the Moonwalker from Madras – and trained by choreographer and director Remo, none of these young ones disappoint. Some of their moves are mesmerising. They ultimately make the movie worth the while.

As a dance instructor, Prabhudeva's character gets thrown out from a popular, expensive dance academy, because, I suppose, he can't get along with the owner. Kay Kay Menon plays that villain Jehangir, in bluish contact lenses and hair styled as Shah Rukh Khan's G.One from RA.One. Jehangir can rig dance reality shows on television. He doesn't need Prabhudeva's commitment to art for his school to do well. As he tells Prabhudeva: In a classroom, you make 50 students dance, in the real world, "mein 500 logon ko nachata hoon."

The case for revenge drama is set. So is the under-dog story. But it is still more realistically portrayed. You might miss Amrish Puri. But hey, that's okay! Prabhudeva recruits young boys and girls from the slums forming a team of dancers with rare natural talent. The story thereafter rolls like a stone with a stumbling block every few minutes: one of the boys' fathers doesn't approve of his interest in dance, cops shut down the warehouse where the kids practice, there are problems between the two main groups in this school…. These are minor distractions. The filmmaker seldom loses sight of the ball. Which is to pump up the volume, crank up the bass, and get the boys and a few girls to show us the skills they're best at: "body wave", "mirror walk", "rope sling", these are terms that a dance enthusiast in the audience acquainted me with. A lot of people go to films like these to learn new steps. I'm not an expert to verify if there's anything new. The music of course is very derivative. But as an average viewer, you can tell even the fight scenes and chase sequences are beautifully choreographed.

Quite in line with the Step Up series, the film borrows heavily from Hollywood dance genre flicks. You could replace the Bombay sums with black American ghettos. For authenticity, the filmmakers introduce the Ganesh Visarjan as the playground for great steps. This is where every year the Indian male practices his dance moves, out on the street, under the clear blue sky, and a lot of alcohol. The other place is the Indian wedding. There is no sight uglier than a group of Indian males gyrating and thrusting their breasts.

Until now they have largely been inspired by Mithunda (known as Prabhujee to his bhakts) and Govinda from the '80s. Whether or not you make it to Dance India Dance, this is a much better film to learn from, and aim infinitely higher. If not, like me, you can sit back and enjoy the show, on television, or behind a 3D glass in the theatre, it won't disappoint you for what it is.