Khoobsurat Review

 Sonam Kapoor playing the lead role in the Khoobsurat remake made enough of a splash in the water well of b-town for people to notice. And now that the film is out, I guess it’s now up to the audience to make or break the film at the box office. The slight changes in Khoobsurat are there to give this classic tale new life and its setting is in a different era to boot. When it comes to remakes, the industry has seen its fair share. The question that follows is to whether it was worth buying a movie ticket to watch it or not.

For the likes of the modern generation, Sonam Kapoor looks the part and attempts to throw in the YOLO (that’s you live only once for the uninformed) attitude they can relate to. Fawad Khan fits in the character of Vikram Singh Rathore to the T and is quite dashing at that. But the one thing that most people will see as the sour grape in the fruit salad is there is no chemistry between these two nor is there any empathy for Sonam Kapoor from the audience. The audience is left completely stuck between a rock and a hard place because of this awkwardness. We have seen our fair share of wacky ideas being implemented in a field on screen but this particular one doesn’t work on the basis you don’t feel for Sonam in her endeavours to bring happiness to the royal family.

Ratna Pathak Shah as the queen and Aamir Hussain as the king play their roles sufficiently. Aditi Rao Hydari isn’t required to do much. Kiron Kher plays the Punjabi mother once again with her quintessential charm. But none of these established actors could save the gaping holes in the story. Yes the Disney backed film announces this to be a candy floss cinema that doesn’t require you to think but even the fun-factor of this genre is lacking severely. Adding in the music doesn’t strike a chord, barring the peppy Engine Ki Seeti. There is only so much costume design and cinematography can do to lighten the on screen mood.

All of the above mentioned factors come into play when you look at the film as it is. This is without considering the cult classic original directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and lead by the golden Rekha. So while the Disney banner can be all grand, the couple can be younger generation and we replace a middle class family with royalty, you cannot avoid the main problem with watching a film like Khoobsurat staring Sonam Kapoor and Fawad Khan. You don’t fall for the misfit as much as do for the cute looking prince in a sherwani or suit.

Sonam may be a Disney princess with Khoobsurat but you definitely don’t feel like you watched a classic with this film.

Rating 1/5