London Dreams Movie Review

So I saw London Dreams today with friends [yes, I am vela on weekends and do take risks with my life by going for such movies] and it sucked! But even in this disaster of a movie, there was a saving grace, Salman Khan. That guy was acting so well it seemed like he was in an altogether different movie, gone was his accented Hindi which he seemed to be stuck with for the past few years, gone was the campy acting. Here was a man acting beyond what one could imagine. He did comedy and drama with his trademark charm. His role was so refreshing, that one actually felt the movie may survive but that's where the entire cast and crew delivered the killer punch. Ajay Devgn [if he changed his surname based on an astrologer then he better realize it's not his name but his astrologer that needs a change] was completely out of place in this movie. Not that he didn't act well, it's just that you can't cast someone like him as a rock star, he just can't pull it off no matter how good an actor he is. It's like asking Sachin Tendulkar to run like Usain Bolt. It won't happen, even if the man gives it everything he's got.

The dialogues suck, e.g. Bhagvan kyu tum Mannu ke gale mein baith gaye? [asks a crestfallen Ajay after he watches Mannu i.e. Salman Khan steal the show during a performance] The music sucks big time, for a movie based on a musical backdrop not one song is a super hit.

Asin, what the heck is she doing in this movie? What was her dad doing in this movie [not her real dad, her movie dad]? Why the hell was this movie made?

Now for some non LD stuff, I saw Amadeus last night, and not to act like some pretentious Hollywood worshiper, but LD is clearly a rip off of Amadeus. That movie is a 3 hour acting extravaganza. The role of Salieri [the basis of Ajay Devgn's character] is brilliantly crafted and exceptionally performed. Mozart's musical genius is well exploited in the movie. In this movie you hardly see that apart from the rip off scene in which Mannu takes a tune composed by Arjun and improves it impromptu.

I just feel bad about one thing, Salman Khan's best performance in a long time was wasted in this dud of a film. On the other hand, at least something was worth watching in the movie.