"LONDON DREAMS" - " REVEALS THE DANGER'S OF ENVY"

My hands have been itching for a while to write, but because I have been spending a lot of time packing and watching movies I have been slacking off from my blog. Anyways here I am, and that too back with some interesting insights about our very own Bollywood. It amazes me to see how the quality of productions has improved so much over the past number of years that it is really bewildering. My mind keeps thinking of this question as to which movie bought about this reform / or revolution in Hindi cinema. Was is it DDLJ or was it Kuck Kuch Hota Hai or was it actually Dil Chatha Hai ???, because the industry as well as the audiences world over have adapted very well to this change.

London Dreams is a movie that oscillates around the themes of revolution, friendship, love and envy. One may think that the movie is quite complex and dark especially have the word "revolution" and "envy" in it. I am not going to comment too much in-depth on that because each to their own perceptions. London Dreams is about a typical underdog getting successful story with some power acting put together by the trio ; Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan and Asin Thottukamal. The other actors such as legendary veteran Om Puri is wasted in the movie with a very miniscule part to play and definitely does to suit him because his acting is very passive and he looks disinterested throughout the film. Rannvijay and Aditya Roy have the acting talents which they need to polish by doing some more movies. Asin is one hellauva beautiful south siren because her beauty is personified in her personality, thus her character delineations are brilliant and admirable. However she has a small part to play in the movie although it is quite obvious that this role was written specifically for Asin. Ajay Devgan and Salman Khan are best childhood chuddi buddies who have grown up in the same village in Punjab and they both have the passion for music. Salman's character is the carefree person who wants to enjoy life to the fullest and only womanise and also take life the way it comes. Ajay is the serious guy who has his own goals, ambitions and a family name that he wants back. Ajay has struggled all his life right from the streets of London with only one companion and that is his flute. He plays the flute to get into music school where he learns the various techniques of music. Salman is still back in his village in Punjab and plays for the local shaadi band where people don't really recognize his talent. Ajay comes to visit his friend at their birth place to see the difference in him and Salman is as similar to being poles apart; Salman and Ajay are totally opposite personalities but if they have something in common, that is their passion for “MUSIC”! Ajay notices the star element in Salman's voice and summons him to London to play for his band: - "LONDON DREAMS” and this is where the story begins. At a concert where Ajay Devgan chokes on a little bit of the glittery explosion Salman is forced to sing and to Ajay's bewilderedness he is just amazed to see the adrenaline rush in Salman as he lights the stage and crowd on fire. Witnessing the form of star element Salman has Ajay starts to build a bitter taste against Salman, and one fine day decides to finish his love for music by introducing him to drugs. The story ends where Ajay confesses his envy to Salman at a performance at Wembley where he says that he got him on drugs to kill him and exit his dream because he cannot stand Salman’s talent which is off superior quality than him.

I am sure if you guys read the gist of the story you would probably be interested in the story or will just shoot this write up down with a preconceived notion that the movie sucks. Well - to be really honest the script and the screenplay has numerous flaws. First of all Salman Khan's love story with Asin is a comic break in the film from Ajay's intense and goal oriented scenes. The build up for the passion for music has only been revealed from Ajay's side and Salman's growing up years has been left untouched except for a few excerpts. Ajay Devgan getting nasty and being the ugly friend, trying to manipulate things is a good concept and a good write up because it is not clichéd and the audience knows about this from the beginning and Salman's character finds this out towards the end of the movie. Rannvijay and Aditya Roy have been severely wasted in the film and so has Asin. However with all these draw backs the movie is tightly held together because of the comic sequences of Salman and some really nicely crafted situations which make a person genuinely laugh and grinning and wanting more of that type of humour. Ajay Devgan is a really smart and versatile actor because his performance is really good. However the show stopper or the person to watch out for is Salman Khan who has tried to reprise legendary yesteryear hero Dharmendra. Salman's Punjabi dialogue throws and dialogue delivery is very old school Dharmendra style, but is not a caricature and neither is it a copy, Salman has definitely blended well with the character and the script. London has been shot from all over and that makes the movies backdrop grander and natural, in fact London itself is a character in the film. The music of the movie is peepe and fast.

This movie should do some decent business for the makers provided the movie was made on the tight budget because the performances of the Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan are mind blowing. I think people should make an effort to watch this film because the concept of envy / jealousy is very well laid out and can act as an alert for the audiences worldwide, just in case they themselves are in this situation.

Cheers! - Soouviek ;)