Among the high profile releases of the year, one of the most eagerly awaited was Imtiaz Ali's "Tamasha" which had hit the screens this week. With Ranbir Kapoor & Deepika Padukone cast as the lead pairs, the sense of anticipation was palpable among the audience considering their credentials & past history. The trailer promises it to be a rocking movie & seemed to be along the lines of "Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwaani". So does it deliver what it projects???

Tara (Deepika Padukone) had the worst start to her holidays when she loses her baggage the moment she set foot on the beautiful French island of Corsica. Luckily for her, she meets up with Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) who helps her out & within moments they hit off famously. However, the duo decide to withhold their true identities so as to avoid any emotional baggage later on. Though they part as planned with no questions asked, Tara couldn't stop thinking of Ved who had swept her off her feet. Four years down the lane, they meet yet again but will everything be same as before???

Imtiaz Ali brand of films have always been unique & exudes class be it "Jab We Met", "Rockstar" or his last release "Highway". In his latest venture, though the film does set off in a rollicking manner after a point of time it gets lethargic & doesnt seem to offer anything sprightly enough to keep the audience engaged. It would be fair to say that this is the most complex protagonist that Imtiaz had created who is weighed down by the inability to pursue his dreams but unfortunately for him the audience doesn't sympathize with his situation. In the technical department, Ravi Varman's visuals were awesome while A R Rahman's music didnt quite strike a chord with me.

Ranbir Kapoor hasn't been having the best of times with his last couple of releases being box office duds but there is no denying the sincerity that he invests in each character that he portrays. Even as Ved, he was fantastic exhibiting the myriad of emotions that the protagonist goes through. When it comes to the female lead, Deepika was brilliant & for me, she actually outshines Ranbir inspite of playing second fiddle to him. As for the rest of the cast, none of them really mattered.

Verdict: In all likelihood, the film should be able to garner a decent initial though how it fares depends solely on the multiplex audience. Unluckily for the makers, the film is unlikely to appeal to the audience which will hamper it's gross collections. In short, the lead pairs are fantastic but that doesn't quite salvage the movie!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben

I really don't know what's wrong with Imtiaz Ali. Whatever it is, it should prevent him from making confusing and pretentious films in the future.



A young boy living in a fantasy world of his own adorn by some famous literary characters and their stories grows up to become a half-wit named Ved (Kapoor). Both, the introduction of the film and the introduction of a grown-up Ved meeting his future kissing companion, another half-wit called Tara (Padukone) is horrendously boring, if not cringe-worthy. The half-wits meet in an exotic city in France and the film ends when they successfully shed themselves of their wits.



The first fifteen minutes would be enough for a sane person to grow uncomfortable with the way the narration moves to a wayward direction. And then there's no stopping the characters who slide from one idiosyncrasy to another without any respect to their audience. Plus there is this annoying jingle playing throughout the film - be it people conversing or people kissing. Once you deduce how the two protagonists think highly of themselves and regard everybody around them to be dumb, you will realize the degree of stupidity involved in the story that ensues. Complex love stories are fine, but here the writers don the caps of mathematicians and play calculus with the theme of romance.



Pretending to re-enact popular characters of Hindi cinema, the film not only messes up what little it had to say but also adds a drop of dizzy into the mixture, and ends up sour. Other than Mr. Kapoor's haircut, the beautiful locales, and Ms. Padukone's sizzles, this film has nothing to offer.



BOTTOM LINE: Imtiaz Ali's much-anticipated Tamasha is really a tamasha (joke) which can be best described as the complex product of the director's previous films which has come out as reeking vomit.



GRADE: F



Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES