SORRY BHAI!
Only Nice For Niche
by Vishal Verma
A Mumbai Mantra & Puja Entertainment (India) Ltd. Presentation of an Anticlock Films Production. Producer: Vashu Bhagnani. Co-Produvers: Sanjay Suri & Onir. Director: Onir. Story, Screenpaly & Dialouge : Ashwini Malik. Genre: Rom Com. Target Audience: Niche.
Starring
Shabana Azmi...... Gayatri
Boman Irani...... Navin
Sanjay Suri...... Harshvardhan
Sharman Joshi...... Siddharth
Chitrangda Singh...... Aaliyah
Technical Analysis
Oh Brother, I swear by Bollywood & its Brotherhood. ‘Maa Kasam’, right from the silent era to Rock On, it’s the bhai who had brought us pride. Though last week’s brother hood failed to do the expected click trick at the B.O. and missed. This brotherhood by Onir is actually done by a ‘Miss’. Got it.
Bro, this one takes a leaf from this years teen choice award nominee ‘ Dan In Real Life’ by Peter Hedges starring Steve Carell.
But Onir, plays it smartly along with his writer Ashwini and gives it a complete desi feel to it.
So, where is the problem?
Bollywood’s marketing gurus think & believe in the proverb which goes like something will be considered the truth if you just state it confidently – and repeatedly – enough. So, Onir tries to tell us that Siddharth (Sharman Joshi) falling for Aaliyah (Chitrangda Singh) his brothers fiancée is a regular issue, and then they tell us again and again. And they expect us to believe it.
The result is a romantic comedy that pretends to be more than the usual fantasy romantic comedy formula, and as a result really seems like something just a little bit less.
Onir track record has one shining ‘My Brother... Nikhil’, which as a content is still his superior product. With ‘Sorry Bhai’ he grows & gains weight on technical smartness but finds himself thin in story and story telling. ‘My Brother …Nikhil was honestly sentimental & turned out to be the choice of niche audiences by clever niche festival marketing.
Though ‘Sorry Bhai’ goes boldly but not very refreshingly where no bollywood film had gone before — into the home of a normal, loving family dealing with an abnormal and unexpected trial. Where a person is in love with his brothers bride.
The flick needed much depth Onir and his writer Ashwini should have cared.
Boman & Shabana playing the mom & Dad with remarkable ease, Suri’s as well as Sharman’s honest effort, Sachin Krishn’s eye pleasing photography with decent production values & above all Chitrangda’s stunning presence – (no doubt, she is drop dead gorgeous having an uncanny resemblance to Smita Patil who was just loved by the camera) do add substance to the film, in the form of some decently-handled situations but it’s not enough to raise this trying-too-hard to be warm & cuddly romantic comedy up from mediocrity.
While it has some light moments but fails to provide a hearty laugh, most of the humor in ‘ Sorry Bhai’ is lit by smaller, more humble moments. This limits its run amongst average audience. Music by Gaurav Dayal & Vivek Philip is uninspiring.
Anyways, ‘Sorry Bhai’ can apply for a film willing to admit that love is messy and that family, no matter how strained, is still the most perfect place where you cautiously stir all those things that make life worth living in the first place — unconditional love, unqualified acceptance and sometimes illogical happiness.
Emotional fools aren’t we. ‘Sorry Bhai’ could have been a large film with all the laughs and cries but somehow the up market approach makes it a small indie, that’s far from terrible, but equally distant from being authentic.
The Story
Siddharth Mathur (Sharman Joshi), a shy young scientist, travels to Mauritius for his elder brother Harsh's (Sanjay Suri) wedding. Accompanying him is his Ma (Shabana Azmi) , a reluctant traveller since she is angry at Harsh for deciding to get married without consulting them. Also travelling is Siddharth's cheery father (Boman Irani), whose sole entertainment is pulling Ma's leg.
Harsh, pre-occupied with work, can spend little time with his family and it is left to his fiancee Aaliyah (Chitrangda) to show them around Mauritius before the wedding. However, Ma's anger at Harsh ensures that she takes an instant dislike for Aaliyah, and it is Aaliyah and Siddharth who end up spending loads of time together. This, added to the fact that Aaliyah feels neglected by the career-obsessed Harsh, leads to them being irresistibly drawn to each other. A horrified Siddharth battles this attraction desperately, but Aaliyah has fallen madly in love and pursues him with single-minded determination. When Siddharth's defences start crumbling and Ma starts getting suspicious, all hell breaks loose in the Mathur family...
Promotion
The movie somehow lacks the buzz and interest in public, though media awareness by image smith has been reasonable. The tagline could have been more catchy & innovative.
Business Analysis
‘Sorry Bhai’ run in Indian theatres will be limited to select plexes at metros. It may garner some festival run if some niche and smart marketing techniques are followed.
Other Credits
Cassettes and CD's on: T-Series. Lyricist: Amitabh Varma & Nanette Natal. Art:
Nikhil S Kovale. Editor: Irene Dhar Malik. Sound: Arun Nambiar. Styling: Anita Dongre.
Media Awareness: Image Smiths. Trade: Mumbai Mantra. Previewed at Famous Studios, Mumbai on 26/11/2008.