REVIEW: Laaga... is full of surprises!

What's it about:

The plot is trite and hackneyed. Young village damsel arrives in the city and tries her best to survive. When everything else fails she resorts to the age-old profession of selling herself. But like the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the success of a story depends on the way it has been told. And Pradeep Sarkar is fairly competent storyteller. The film opens in a middle-class household in Benares. A respectable and once prosperous family has fallen on hard times. Badki (Rani) being the older sister and unable to handle the financial stress on her parents (Anupam Kher and Jaya Bachchan) chooses to come to Bombay. Here she is unable to find work so she establishes herself as a high level escort, and her family back home suddenly begins to prosper. In the course of her 'chosen career' she finds herself attracted to Rohan (Abhishek Bachchan), but shuts herself off, as she does not see any possibility of the relationship going any further.

Meanwhile her sister Chutki (Konkana Sen Sharma) comes to Bombay and Rani takes great care to conceal her 'true profession' from her sister. Her sister finds both professional success as well as the love of her life, Vivaan (Kunal Kapoor). Even as Chutki struggles to accept the reality behind her sister’s newfound wealth, she wonders whether her relationship will survive the harsh realities. And will Badki be able to salvage her lost relationship with Rohan.

What we like:

Konkana and Kunal Kapoor have delivered excellent performances, sharing screen space with Rani and yet they do not allow themselves to get overshadowed. The ethos of a small city has been captured very well. Rani is very convincing in the second half of the film. Although Abhishek Bachchan appears on screen for a miniscule amount of time he and Rani still retain their Bunty aur Babli chemistry. In fact, his onscreen chemistry with Rani reminds us of the equation shared by Amitabh-Rekha in the good old days. The cinematography is good and the lighting is handled in a competent and adroit fashion. Hema Malini as a mujra dancer has delivered a great performance.

What we didn’t like:

Jaya Bachchan’s performances these days are restricted to two or three tried-and-tested expressions. Wonder why all roles offered to her these days are those of a long-suffering martyr? The music (Shantanu Moitra) is mediocre and so are the lyrics. Pity because there is a lot of scope for the music. Abhishek's role is more of a guest appearance. One gets the feeling his role has been indiscriminately chopped. The loss is entirely the viewer's as it is a treat to see them together. The film could have been shorter and the dialogues lack punch.

We recommend:

Watch it, but the film does drag at two or three places.

Rating: 3/5