Review Laaga Chunari Mein Daag : Don’t Bother.

Frankly speaking, I am a little confused here – Pradeep Sarkar’s Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (LCMD) is impressive at times but overall it’s just not “daagi” enough, as I would have liked it to be.

It reminded me a lot of Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kahana, potentially strong story line but totally ruined by Bollywood glossiness. Though I didn’t find LCMD’s plot power-packed but I do feel that the film could have turned out ten folds better had the Yash Raj chaap not been all over it. In my opinion films based on social subjects such as extra marital affairs, prostitution, AIDs, etc need to be dealt with more seriousness. They don’t necessarily have to be on the lines of Chandini Bar, My Brother Nikhil or Rekha’s Astha but unnecessarily stuffing in foreign locations, extra glamorous costumes, be-tukka naach gaanas – seriously, is nothing but recipe for box-office disaster.

Director Pradeep Sarkar without a doubt is a skilled story teller. However with his latest effort, I felt let down by the same man who had captured my mind and my sensibilities with a master piece called Parineeta. Even though he manages to bring to light the struggle of a woman and bring forth the reasons behind her life-changing decisions, the second half of the film I felt went totally on a different tangent. Cinematography I thought was decent but nowhere in comparison to the feel, a film like Dharm, was able to project.

Performances wise, Rani Mukherjee was her usual self. I would actually rate her performance to something like Ta Ra Rum Pum, nothing extraordinary just a decent effort following a mediocre script. Konkona Sen was definitely a notch higher than the leading lady but I just found it difficult to digest her commercial avatar – the matka jhataka jig, designer outfits, powder puffed face, etc.

Abhishek Bachchan – was he even there in the film?

Kunal Kapoor – UGLY!

Jaya Bachchan – good as always.

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, according to me is not worth watching on the big-screen but if you still are keen on it, then might as well wait for its DVD release, which according to me would be out pretty soon.

Ps – Guess what! PVR Mumbai (Juhu) charges Rs. 170 for a film on weekdays but because of the Yash Raj domination, they charged us Rs. 200 per ticket. The reason given – distributor demands cannot be argued with. F****** Assholes!