LONDON DREAMS
A moving, inspirational uplifting drama about friendship & the power of music
by Vishal Verma

A Raksha Entertainment Pvt.Ltd. Release of  A Blockbuster Movie Entertainment Presentation of a Headstart film UK Ltd. Production.

Producer : Aashin Shah
Director : Vipul Shah
Writer :  Suresh Nair & Ritesh Shah
Genre : Musical Drama
Target Audience : General

Starring

Salman Khan...... Mannu
Ajay Devgan...... Arjun
Asin...... Priya
Rannvijay Singh...... Zoheb
Adithya Roy Kapoor...... Wasim
Om Puri
Khalid Azmi...... Airline Pilot
Brinda Parekh
Manoj Pahwa

Technical Analysis

As an helmer Vipul Amrutlala Shah after ‘Namastey London’ gets touchy & adds chorus to the inspiring song of friendship. Bringing the duo of Salman & Ajay after Bhansali’s ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, Vipul’s ‘London Dreams’ doesn,t harm the status of ‘Namastey London’ & it still remains his best. However, Vipul churns ‘London Dreams’ scripted by Suresh Nair into a moving tribute to friendship and the power of music.

Agreed, the music over here is not sensational or a chart buster (leaving ‘Khanabadost’) but it strives mainly on the showoff performance by Salman who gets smart lines from    Ritesh Shah. It’s the way the two characters Salman & Ajay play off each other that sustains emotional involvement. Ajay plays a persistently determined dreamer who dreams of being Big in the music world one day & on the other hand Salman is a carefree dude with a gifted talent who later on starts eating the cake which his friend has been baking for years which sows seeds of jealousy in Ajay who then plans the downfall of his gifted dear friend.

The whispering message that success is a result of hard work backed by required talent makes ‘London Dreams’ an engrossing moving drama that manages to stay away from the mawkish territory. With the power mainly coming from the two superb lead performances where Salman is in top gear & is the one who provides the uplifting moments in the film.

Ajay is brilliant & focused. Their performances make up for the meandering plot and occasional missteps; giving the movie an emotional depth it might not have enjoyed otherwise. Anyhow, the movie has some serious flaws first of all its music which doesn,t support the theme of the film & Asin’s character is half baked though the actress has given a spirited performance.

The above flaws may create a crack in the movie’s commercial kitty but Vipul Shah’s musical bonding feature has moments of power and imagination with undercurrents of human values & emotions like acceptance, survival, guilt, determination, love, friendship, jealousy self will & gods will. Which makes you feel for the two brothers & that’s where Vipul with his snap and precision direction scores over the audience.

Sejal Shah lensing is bold and clear, Amitabh Shukla’s editing is crisp & production values are A-1. Rannvijay Singh & Adithya Roy Kapoor chip in with valuable support.

The movie gets 3 out of 5

One for making a decent drama about friendship & the power of music with undercurrents of human values.

One for the leads performances, especially by Salman.

One for the Technicalities

The movie losses on music & half baked Asin’s character.

 

The Story

Arjun (Ajay Devgan) & Mannu (Salman) are childhood friends. But they had little in common except their family's vague connection with music. While Arjun's life was consumed by a passionate drive to get on stage and realize his grandfather's unfulfilled dream, Mannu had little interest in his music tutor father's instruments and was content with remaining a child at heart with no higher ambition than enjoying the good things in life. But little did they expect music to strengthen their friendship and then test it with catastrophic results...

Arjun diligently pursued his dream, at the risk of running away from an uncle who was his only family in an unfamiliar land and roaming the streets of London before taking shelter in a music shop and priming himself until he's ready to make his foray into the world of music and showmanship.

As Arjun forges a band with Zoheb and Wasim, two brothers who'd duped their relatives in Pakistan to travel to London in pursuit of their musical aspirations, and Priya, a music enthusiast from a conservative South Indian family, far away in Punjab, music becomes a survival tool for Mannu, who takes to playing in wedding bands in his village.

But when he gets Mannu to London and makes him a part of the band, Arjun soon realizes he's created the biggest threat and obstacle to his own ambitions.

For, Mannu, with his inherent musical gift and irreverent style of performing, becomes an instant darling of the crowds. What has taken Arjun years to achieve, Mannu does overnight. It causes Arjun to feel betrayed by the God to whom he'd surrendered everything in return for eminence in music.

Arjun's unbearable pangs of jealously and insecurity only worsen when Mannu also unwittingly woos and wins his secret love, Priya (Asin). As he battles his inner demons, Arjun slowly devises a sinister plan to destroy his best friend. Over a three city tour spanning Paris, Rome and Amsterdam, Arjun sends a naive Mannu on a downward hurtling rollercoaster ride of sex and drugs that almost breaks Mannu's spirit and his love life days before a show at Wembley, a venue where Arjun hopes to have his moment of glory. A venue where his grandfather had failed before a crowd of 25,000 people!

But a rude shock awakens Arjun at Wembley at the expense of his band, his friendship and his credibility - a humbling experience that teaches him the true meaning of acceptance

Promotion

Promotion has been fair & decent. However it could have been planned in a more aggressive manner as the movie had some emotional appeal.
Media promotions by Spice has been earnest
Musically it had nothing much to attract

 

Business Analysis

This delayed release will ride on its  moving, inspirational uplifting content & the current popularity of the ‘inform’ Salman & will stir success from its metro audience.

Other Credits

Cassettes and CD's on T-Series. Lyricist: Prasoon Joshi. Music Director: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani & Loy Mendonca. Background Music: Salim Merchant & Sulaiman Merchant: Cinematography: Sejal Shah. Choreography:Bosco Martis & Caesar Gonsalves with Chinni Prakash, Rekha Chinni Prakash, Remo D'Souza & Rajiv Surti Editor: Amitabh Shukla. Screenplay: Suresh Nair. Sound: Kunal Mehta & Parikshit Lalwani. Dialogue: Ritesh Shah. Costume: Sarah Tapscott. Promos: Go Fish Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Publicity Designs: Himanshu Nanda & Rahul Nanda.

Media Promotions: Spice. Reviewed at PVR, Phoniex Mills, Mumbai on October 29, 2009.

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