Shakalaka Boom Boom - Notepad

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

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

• 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.