Movie Review : Heroine

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Rating : 3.5/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours 20 minutes
Director : Madhur Bhandarkar
Cast : Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Randeep Hooda, Shahana Goswami, Divya Dutta, Sanjay Suri, Mughda Godse, Lilette Dubey, Ranvir Shorey, Govind Namdeo, Helen
Kid rating : R

This is one of the rare movies that I went to without any prior info; the only thing I knew about were the stars – Kareens, Arjun Rampal and Randeep Hooda. I was a little let down when I saw that it was directed by Bhandarkar, because he has been getting sloppy lately. From the gorgeous Chandni Bar to the pretty good Page 3 to the average Fashion, Bhandarkar is steadily losing nuance and subtlety in his work to the point where the first hour of Heroine felt more like Praksh Jha’s in-your-face work (Rajneeti, Apaharan) than his own. It is not as poor as the critics say it is, but it is stolid, predictable and very been-there-done-that.

Insecure women in glitzy careers make good grist for the filmi mill, and Bhandarkar taps this again (his Fashion was based on the downward spiraling life of a ramp model). Kareena is Mahi Arora, a heroine with big banner films and A-list endorsements. She is also having an affair with married co-star Aryan Khanna (Rampal) who has promised to divorce his wife. At the top her game, Mahie is still needy and insecure and constantly needs assurances from outsiders. Almost bipolar and subject to sudden changes of mood, she is the product of a broken home with a single mother (Dubey) who lives in Delhi. The film follows her tumultuous career and her equally tumultuous personal life.

Kareena puts in a strong performance as the lonely and vulnerably frail Mahi; you feel for her, and her insecure little heart. Arjun Rampal downplays his hero’s role – a job well done, considering his not-so-shining track record, while Hooda is quite effective as Angad, the dashing young cricketer so in love with Mahi. Talented Govind Namdeo is Rashid-bhai, Mahi’s secretary and brings to his role an avuncular restraint. Divya Dutta plays the hard-boiled PR agent Pallavi Narayanan, and is as good as can be in this cliched role. Shahana Goswami is Promita, the arty Bengali actress, and Ranvir Shourey is the Bengali director to whom Mahi goes to prove to the world that she is a good actress.

The main cast then does a good job, but it is the small fry – the character artistes essaying the minor roles that bring down the quality of the film. There are the ubiquitous gossips, the gay fashion designers, the snide media people, the hangers-on (like Rats, Mahi’s friend) – all 2 bit cliched roles, but scripted and developed so badly and in so off-hand a manner as to bring the film down a few notches. They all seemed to appear in the first half of the film – an attempt to develop the “atmosphere”(?) – but the film then seemed to settle down and find it’s groove as Kareena’s life took centre-stage.

Still, it is the small touches that make a film, and if Heroine is anything to go by, Bhandarkar is on a losing streak. The film is rife with cliches – it is as if Bhandarkar is churning out films with the same old fodder, presenting his view of Bollywood as a hard, calculating, merciless place full of jaunty, gay folk or drama queens emanating of broken homes. I long for him to break out of his C-grade reverie and think out of the box again; good films in Bollywood are getting too few and far between. The songs are forgettable – all except the track “Main Heroine hoon” which reminded me of the James Bond opening credits soundtracks. This is a decent enough film, relatively (primarily due to Kapoor’s capabilities), and can be watched once.

Kidwise : An adult themed film, this is unsuitable for kids under 17. Lots of bare skin in the name of realism, and the most plunging necklines I’ve ever seen Kareena sport. Make-out scenes, allusions to sex, and “adult” talk abounds, so think carefully before you subject your kids to this borderline-tawdry film.