Besharam

Besharam is not an unbearable stuff, but it is a disappointing film. Much like Abhinav Singh Kashyap’s previous film Dabangg, this one also manages to keep you out of boredom simply because of its central character. There is nothing much great or awesome about the theme or making, but with the best possible casting, they were able to offer some fun that justified that the character is Besharam.

The story here has Babli, an expert car thief in Delhi as the main protagonist. Being an orphan he chose this path out of desperation. At one point his love interest and “profession” goes into a tussle. The content here shows us Babli’s attempt to fix this scenario as it may turn some big fishes in the wrong business against him.

As I said the movie is pretty much saved by performances. Lack of unpredictability and also sensibility (not in terms of physics laws) is definitely there and the script can’t also accommodate its characters. Towards the climax, the orphanage backdrop and that love story part becomes a distant memory. Only the last quarter involving Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh manages to stay in your head that too because it came towards the finale. With songs coming out without any sense of timing, Besharam continuously pulls itself out of that “not bad” zone.

The direction doesn’t show any sign of progress and the old style song capturing and sentiments inclusion are there. The whole Rishi-Neetu sequences looks embedded and the climax adoption sequence will bring smiles to the faces of the Kapoor family only. The script is quite brittle. The tempo with which situations are changing is too fast for us to enjoy it. The quarreling part in the romance is pleasing but the reason for the soft corner was lame. And I don’t know why they made Rishi Kapoor do a Chulbul Pandey in that climax encounter. Cinematography and edits are ok. The stunts were technically ok but in terms of sensibility – nowhere near ok. Dialogs occasionally offered that Besharam fun.

The only positive of the film is Ranbir Kapoor who mixes up Barfi with a pinch of Dabangg attitude to create his Besharam avatar. The actor manages to keep the audience interested at least when he is on screen with that tapori style and agility. Pallavi Sharda is just about ok. Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor were good in their characters but it’s the lack of relevance of their characters which makes it tough for us to enjoy it thoroughly. Poor Javed Jaffrey doesn’t have anything to do as the villain.

To sum up, Besharam is that so called mass masala stuff that can’t really entertain you. My rating is 2/5, and if just seeing a vibrant Ranbir on screen would make you really happy, this one is watchable for you. Other than that, there is nothing much in this “Chulbul Barfi” story.