Yuvvraaj - Review: Majestic canvas coated with saccharine and sprinkled with flimsy plot

When you hear Salman Khan saying, "Ram jaisa bhai" (a brother like Lord Ram) your reflex action is to rub your eyes and check if you entered a Rajshri Productions' film by mistake. But then all this while the eyes were witnessing a Sanjay Leela Bhansali set-up. So, a Hindi film enthusiast should be all set to get dazed and dazzled. The advantage to this though is that in contrast the story and characters are as simple as can be.

You know what simple means, right? Black and white. And eventually black turns white. Sure there are a couple characters like the lawyer (Mithun Chakravorty) and the maternal uncle (Anjan Srivastav) that make you wonder if they are black or white for a bit. But then you lose interest. The writers clearly want me to take sides, but don't give me enough details to be bothered.

Neither can I be made to really care about the main characters. 2 out of the 4 (Salman Khan and Zayed Khan) are losers - and sore ones at that. One is eye candy trying out her emoting skills - that would obviously be Katrina Kaif. That lady is certainly at her elegant best, though. And the only one who was worth watching, for his supposedly autistic behavior, Anil Kapoor has very little screen time.

Now, a simple wiki search tells you that autism is "is characterized by impaired social interaction and communication". But our man is social enough to lecture his beloved uncle on family values. And he has befriended children and adults who have bothered to interact with him. Not to mention he has grown appropriately in his flirting capabilities. Ok, we shall not hold story-writers responsible for the big words they off-handishly throw our way. Please, can we have them write a decent, engrossing story? The Archie-Veronica angle and her rich dad spouting exaggerated insults at him is *yawnnnn*. It's a musical extravaganza madam, you expect the wrong things all the time.

Now that is one thing Yuvvraaj cannot be accused of - lacking in the song and dance department. I actually enjoyed listening to the songs, barring "aaja main hawaon mein". And for being distracted during that one, I can actually blame the phobia I have for animated petals after Drona. The way the other songs were picturised did have a broadway musical feel to them, and this was ratified by an all out replication of the makeup from the CATS musical. BUT, stick to that. Please don't have Salman Khan talk to Beethoven.

Anyway, we could have done with a lot less of familial blah-blah. That would also help in reducing the length that is stretched to almost 3 hours.

Parental Guidance:

• Violence: None.
• Nudity & Sexual content: Not much other than the skimpy dancers in the songs' background.
• Concept: Family bonds and brotherly love delivered with extra saccharine.
• General Look and Feel: Bright, peppy, full of grand visuals.

Detailed Ratings:

• Direction: None
• Story: None
• Lead Actors: None
• Character Artists: None
• Dialogues: None
• Screenplay: None
• Music Director: None
• Lyrics: None

Yuvvraaj - Cast and Crew

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