Review Film Ta Ra Rum Pum : Your Average Bollywood Flick

Sorry for being a late-latif here with the movie review (inspite of watching the film on the opening day) but by God’s swear the past few days have been very eventful. And all those who missed out Rakhi’s jig on Koffee With Karan – I seriously feel bad for ya, I really do.

Anyway, getting back to the concerned big Bollywood starrer, Ta Ra Rum Pum – Frankly speaking I had certain pre-notions about the film after watching its promos on various television channels. To me it gave a feel of previous Yash Chopra flick Salaam Namaste, Rani Mukherjee trying to do Zinta act and the same old New York…New York.

So if you ask me whether watching this film, sitting in the very first row from the screen with a mother with a severe headache on one side and a bunch of chattering women on the other, was worth it all – Yes, would be my answer.

But before you get all excited, let me make myself clear; TRRP is nothing revolutionary or path-breaking, it’s your typical Yash Chopra and Karan Johar kind-da cinema. So if you can grasp these men and their vision then and then only go for Siddharth Anand’s second release.

The plot basically revolves around Rajveer Singh nicknamed RV, a racer and married to his love at first sight woman, Radhika. It’s a complete family with two kids and a doggie thrown in as well. RV is a car racer by profession, apparently very good at it and that too without any formal training. He is a spend-thrift, believes in living a lavish life on installments and has no clue about financial planning and the works. Radhika, on the other hand, belonged to an industrialist family and aspired to be a famous pianist, one day. But later gives it up for her man and her kids.

As it happens in most Hindi films, fate (or woman, in some cases) intervenes and that’s when the drama starts. A near-fatal race accident changes their lives, and RV and family are forced to vacate their house, sell everything they have and move to a typical desi-nukkad. RV is forced to drive a cab and Shona plays piano at private parties and restaurants. They lie to the kids about their financial status and pretend the sudden changes in their lives to be not reality but part of a television show.

In short their struggle and how they cope with it is what the movie is all about.

With regards to the story and the direction bit, what I liked about TRRP is that it doesn’t indulge in too much melodrama and rona-dhona. The wife is not portrayed as a typical nagging bitch when under major life-crisis. The kids are cute and non-fussy types, in fact they are quite sensible and matured when compared to other children in the same age-bracket. Not great but enough car racing sequences in the film to please the audience.

Not being to nitty-gritty, what I didn’t like were mostly the film’s exaggerated situations; hero speeding thru central Manhattan, not once but couple of times and still manages to escape speeding tickets and cops. Too many advertisement placements (blame Rakesh Roshan for this phenomenon). RV throws a party at his apartment but lands up in the backside lane making merry with his friends, drinking booze, singing & dancing and still no cop in sight. And what’s with the whole mentality that Indians only stick with Indian, I mean all of the people who interact with the leading pair are desis and no foreigners (barring the bad guy).

Performance wise, Saif Ali Khan as RV is his regular, cool dude self. Looks smashing in a race-driver suit with gelled hair and intense look. Never over the top, he carries the role of a lover, a husband and a father, decently well. But boy! Has he become fat or what?? In shirt-less scenes he looks flabby and the tires are showing from all sides, literally. But then again, he is so cute that such minor flaws can be overlooked, right na? Rani Mukherjee cakewalks thru the character of Radhika. I guess practice can only make someone better and in Rani’s case a perfectionist, looking at the number of times she has played the role of a wife in shaky marriage. However I think the Zinta jig in the first half of the film just doesn’t suit her. Short skirts are just not meant for her thunder thighs and hopefully her stylist understands this.

Pairing of Rani and Saif is a safe bet for any director; they not only complement each other but also guarantee audience attendance in the cinema hall. Though I felt Jaaved Jafri as RV’s team manager, is a complete waste especially when you compare his laugh-riot role in Salaam Namaste.

On the whole Ta Ra Rum Pum (wonder whether the song came and so did the title or it’s the other way round) is a family time-pass film, where the bachas will surely have a decent time plus a few life-lessons to learn, as well. Thanks to the lead stars, the film is easy on the eyes and bearable to the mind.

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