Shakalaka Boom Boom poster

Shakalaka Boom Boom

wogma rating: Switch channels if it's on cable (?)

quick review:

They call it a musical drama. Is it too much to ask for at least one hummable tune or a watchable song? I am sane enough not to ask for average performances or a sensible script.

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Director: Suneel Darshan
Running time: 135 minutes
Genres: Musical, Romance
More Movie Info

This movie is about the rivalry between two music composers based in New York. The key word here is 'two'. Who wins when you have Himesh Reshammiya Vs. Himesh Reshammiya? Don't know about that. But, I surely know who loses. Us!

Mind you, we are supposed to believe that one of them is actually a genius. All this while there is absolutely nothing for you to distinguish one composition from the other. I was thoroughly amused when Reggie (Upen Patel) taunts AJ (Bobby Deol) for having silly lyrics to his tunes. Actually, he was just stating facts. But I burst out laughing when he starts singing his own lyrics. They were equally bland! All obviously written by none other than Sameer. Now, we have started rhyming across songs - 'jhoom jhoom' to 'boom boom'.

The least you can do when you set out to make a musical is provide entertainment via visually appealing songs. Better use of colors would have added infinitely to the experience. How about having decent choreographers or casting better dancers? Of all the people, Bobby Deol?!? Maybe that is why the camera man was getting all enthusiastic, so that we would not be able to focus on the aerobics in the disguise of dancing.

Speaking of the camera - the close-ups were way too many. Okay, granted, the only reason for Kangna Ranaut and Celina Jaitley to be in the movie was for the curves they are endowed with, and the catwalk they have picked up in the name of body language. But, if you are going to show their face in close-ups, I mean, if that's what you really want to do, can we at least have the complete face with chin and all. On a side note, Kangna's eye make-up was the worst I have seen in a long time. And Celina refuses to give a whole-hearted smile lest it spoil her make-up.

I am totally convinced now that Upen, Kangna and Celina come from the school of under-acting where, you know, they teach you the all-in-one expression and punish you if you move your eyelid more than a quarter of a centimeter (except for blinking). And Bobby Deol comes from the school of over-acting, where acting is all about yelling and imposing melodrama on the audience. Oooh! Does that mean we have perfect performances as an average then? Never mind...

The script has the lousiest characterizations, which alas, we cannot blame because the characters are lousy! Egoistic psychopath Vs. Overconfident nincompoop. Anyways, you empathize with none and cheer when both of them find their way to the hospital for some reason or the other. The shoddy screenplay doesn't help at all. Some scenes look like they were thought of first and squeezed into the movie because they seemed cool, e.g., the fire scene.

Honestly, the basic premise of the story - competitors trying to outsmart each - other - could have been a compelling watch. Especially, if they had dwelled upon the psyche of the self-acclaimed genius who is actually mediocre. But, the basic premise is left at that. It finds support in none of the other aspects of film-making. We, thus, are left with a product which has no head or tail - and you could be accused of high expectations if you wanted anything like reason or logic. Borrowing a line from the movie, "What you don't know, does not exist". How I wish that I did not know about this movie and that in turn would make it not exist...

- meeta, a part of the audience

16 reviewers(?) - 2 yays 3 so-so 11 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM : ...Himesh Reshammiya's music is ear-pleasing and the choreography, eye-catching... full review

Thumbs up, by Hanumant Bhansali, Radio Sargam : ...Suneel captures Bobby and Upen fantastically and the audience loves it when both come against each other... full review

So-So, by Nikhil Kumar, Apun Ka Choice : ...Himesh Reshammiya’s music is the backbone of this film... full review

So-So, by Abhijit Mhamunkar, indya.com : ...Anurag Kashyap's dialogues carry a punch at some places... full review

So-So, by Vipin Vijayan, Rediff : ...Darshan's directional venture is well-complimented by Himesh Reshammiya's music.... full review

Thumbs down, by Baradwaj Rangan, Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express : ...Darshan is one of those directors whose work you have to be very careful about panning – for, you never know, he’ll come out with something worse the next time around... full review

Thumbs down, by Fatema H Kagalwala, Business of Cinema : ...The remaining problems of the film arise from flawed characterizations... full review

Thumbs down, by Deepa Gahlot, Cybernoon: ...Because the whole milieu and the plot seems so artificial, and Darshan’s style of direction so old-fashioned, the film is unwatchable... full review

Thumbs down, by Martin D'souza, Glamsham.com : ...musical fiasco that has neither ‘sur’ nor ‘taal’!!!... full review

Thumbs down, by Rajeev Masand, IBN Live : ...Both Bobby and Upen's costumes look like they've been sourced from a bargain basement sale at Pimps-For-Less... full review

Thumbs down, by Vaibhav Wankhede, M TV : ...if this was supposed to be a musical, what went wrong with the music? One word - Himesh.... full review

Thumbs down, by Amit R Agarwal, merinews : ...Is Himesh Reshammiya already suffering a burn-out syndrome?... full review

Thumbs down, by Subhash K Jha, SantaBanta.com : ...You watch this laugh triangle with a deep sense of embarrassment and regret... full review

Thumbs down, by Pankaj Shukla, SmasHits.com : ...The biggest disappointment lies in its screenplay (Rajesh Pandey) and haphazardly narrated scripting (Suneel Darshan) that denies audiences a deserving entertainer... full review

Thumbs down, by Naomi Datta, Times Now : ...Calling Shaka Laka Boom Boom a bad film is being generous... full review

Thumbs down, by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India : ...t's a miserable performance from all the lead players, including the new Bhatt girl, Kangana Ranaut... full review

Twitter reviews for this movie are not available.

1 readers - 0 yays 1 so-so 0 nays

So-So, by Consumer Goods

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

A well-established singer, AJ (Bobby Deol) gets insecure because of the talent he sees in Reggie (Upen Patel). He wishes to keep his place on the top in the music industry and goes to extreme measures to do so.

What Worked

  • The scene in which Reggie is mourning someone's death. The picturization is very warm.
  • The special effects in the scene towards the climax. I am not speaking of the appropriateness. The special effect is cool.

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

Goodness...this is going to be long...

  • The supposedly romantic scene between AJ and Ruhi (Kangna Ranaut) looked like an interview. The tone and mood of the scene, the dialogue delivery, the body language.
  • What happened for Reggie to fall in love with Ruhi? Conversely what made Ruhi change her mind about Reggie in the middle of a song?!?
  • There is this scene where Bobby Deol is crying his heart out because of his insecurity like a lady-in-distress. And snap, the music changes and he becomes this super-egoist within the flash of a second.
  • In a couple of Kangna's scenes, it was unclear who she was speaking to. For most of the time, she was staring at the camera.
  • What a smart girl Ruhi is! She took secrets to the competition in the hope that the competition would help her sell it!
  • Why did Ruhi not tell Reggie about the indecent proposal?
  • One of the main insecurities that AJ has is that he takes two months to compose one tune and Reggie does it in no time. How does AJ know how much time it took Reggie to write his compositions?
  • The passive, resident music teacher was merely around to serve as a medium for what AJ was going through. It looked pretty silly.
  • Why did AJ put his music room on fire? If it was to show that he was mentally disturbed, it did not work. It looked pretty abrupt and unconvincing.
  • To show you are from Jodhpur, all you need to do is put 'thaade vaaste' in the first line and the rest need not have any connection what so ever.
  • Why were acrobats doing circus tricks in a restaurant? And why was the seating arrangement in the restaurant like that you would see in an Indian wedding in a village?
  • Right after Reggie sings a song describing his love for his father, he insults him to no end!
  • So, Reggie has this big row with his girlfriend and insults her so that she leaves. And even before she crosses the threshold, he starts crooning, "teri yaadon ko...", which easily is the silliest picturized song I have seen in a long time. Why on earth were all the characters running from nowhere to nowhere and back?
  • Why did AJ have a gun in his hand in the scene where he contemplates playing games with Reggie?
  • The picturisation style used for 'the seven days of composition" - it looked like it was from a Charlie Chaplin movie
  • When and why does Reggie become an alcoholic?
  • The abruptness with which Reggie realizes the truth.
  • How does Ruhi know Reggie has forgiven AJ?
  • The ridiculous climax.

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

  • Ruhi's character seemed dumb enough to need a friend to interpret the backwards language for her. And what ever happened to the friend after the scene mentioned?
  • Ruhi is combing her hair in front of a mirror and doesn't see AJ walking in from behind.
  • For a musical event, Reggie begins an unscheduled song. How is the music and choreography ready for the song?
  • The scene in which they show AJ putting his room on fire - couldn't they have used actual fire instead of some flowing cloth/paper/animation?
  • The animated table clock used to show the passage of time.
  • It was awfully bright and sunny for a December afternoon in New York.
  • Did they really used a stuffed doll for Upen Patel when AJ was trying to shake Reggie awake.

Shakalaka Boom Boom - Cast, crew, links

Supporting Cast:
Screenplay:
Dialogues:
Cinematography:
Background Score:
Music Director:
Lyrics:
Costume Designer:
Art Direction:
Running time:
135 minutes
Reviewer:
Language:
Country:
Genres:

Comments (5)

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Thanks, Amit.
Sorry, but I have not received any e-mail from you. Could you send it again?

its really a very very very nice movie.

cycos what a stupid song shaka laka laka laka laka laka laka laka laka laka laka laka laka
boom boom
Celina is nangi poongi
Kangana is bitch
bobby is cool
upen is hot
i give not even 1 star rating to this shit movie

hate it!!!!!!!!!!!

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