Watching the most beautiful woman in the world lip-synching to the most beautiful song in the world while also playing the most beautiful instrument in the world is a very over-whelming experience. Yes, if Yuvvraaj does nothing else for you, it will heighten your appreciation of Katrina Kaif, "Tu Muskura" and the cello. The three of these together is pretty much the highlight of Subhash Ghai's return to his old formula. Unfortunately, having watched this film, I came to the conclusion that you cannot go home again.
Not to say that this film is entirely horrible. But I had more fun nitpicking the flaws with the other Bollywood-addict in my family than actually watching the film. Starring Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Zayed Khan, Aushima Sawhney and Boman Irani, this picture has brilliant music by maestro A.R. Rahman (see the review entitled "Suddenly, Last October") and lyrics by Gulzar.
Deven Yuvvraaj (Salman Khan) is an aspiring singer in Prague/Vienna (the characters say both) and he is in love with Anushka (Kaif), the lead cellist in their orchestra. He is rather poor and boorish, much to the chagrin of Anushka's father (Irani), who wants to marry her off to one of his friend's son. Deven makes a deal--if he becomes a billionaire in 40 days, he will marry Anushka. If he fails, he will step aside. You see, Deven's father kicked him out twelve years ago for fighting with his autistic older half-brother Gyanesh (Kapoor). Now that Mr. Yuvraaj has kicked the bucket, Deven thinks now is the time to return home and claim his part of the fortune. Their father has left all of his money to Gyanesh and this upsets Deven, the third brother, Danny (Zayed Khan), and their extended family who all want it all for themselves. Deven and Danny both try to convince Gyanesh, who is discovered to be a very talented singer by Anushka, to give them their share of the wealth. How Danny and Deven try do that and how this broken family becomes reunited forms this tale of family, love, money and music.
The main flaw of this film is that it doesn't realize that the plot about the brothers reuniting through music is far more appealing than the competition to get Gyanesh's inheritance. The reunion plot is actually treated as a subplot to the inheritance drama. Sure, the inheritance drama leads to the reunion of the brothers but clearly Ghai didn't see that we could care less about the evil extended family who wants everything for themselves. Oh, yes, there is a mamaji, a mamiji, a cousin and a daughter-in-law who will stop at nothing to make sure that the Yuvvraaj brothers get none of the family money (including attempted murder!). The story of a family coming together is timeless, but having an evil extended family makes this film look dated. This is the tragic flaw.
If you're able to see the diamond in the rough, however, the movie can be very enjoyable. Whenever the scenes take place out of London, it is smiles times. There are some fine moments between Katrina and Anil. It was refreshing to see some chemistry between them especially since their last movie together had them as opponents (Race). Also, Aushima Sawhney, playing lyricist Nandita, is a pleasant surprise. She is the film's narrator and she handles that part well. She has but one scene to herself on camera (with Anil Kapoor) and it is well-played. The second half is full of such sweet moments between the Khans, Mr. Kapoor and Ms. Kaif and this is where Yuvvraaj strikes gold. To make this the grand musical epic he wanted, Subhash Ghai should have given us more of these moments and less of the subplot I described in the above paragraph.
Anil Kapoor is basically a living legend. I don't want to repeat myself but he is one of the best actors of my generations. And his portrayal of autism is less of a caricature than Hrithik Roshan's (don't get me wrong, I love me some HR but Koi... Mil Gaya was insulting). There is, however, a major flaw in Gyanesh's diagnosis. He is said to have "genius disorder" which means that he is extremely and exceptionally talented in music (it could be other forms of the fine arts) and that is due to his autism. Ghai had the right idea; such a phenomena does exist but the term for it is not "genius disorder." According to the article, they haven't found the associated gene yet, which is probably why it hasn't exactly been proved as fact or named. Despite the lack of cold hard facts, I am a strong believer in this phenomena because I have seen so many examples of it.
Ever since I was born, Salman Khan has been a movie star in the truest definition of the term. He has a large, loyal fan following that follow him through thick and thin, through good and bad. Starting from MPK in 1989, he has been entertaining us and charming us with a consistent string of hits that are also quality films. As a loyal devotee of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, it took some major pride-swallowing to admit this but those are the facts. No one else in Bollywood has the star power that he has and I respect him a great deal. In this movie, he may not have given the best performance but he is entertaining and I could see no one else in the part. He has stellar chemistry with the entire cast and he is not afraid of his age. Sure, there were some clothing and hair mishaps, but at least no sarong! (Ek garam chai ki pyaali ho...) With this movie (and a Planet Bollywood article posted on my sister's Facebook profile) I truly realized that our dear Sallu is an icon.
Katrina Kaif, in her first drama, will win no awards for her performance in this film. But, she is getting to be more comfortable with the camera. Also, I'd just like to point out that making fun of her Hindi has now just become old news. They made a joke about it here so now she knows her Hindi is bad. That joke has died. FIND SOMETHING NEW, I DARE YOU. Well, anyway, she looks like a professional at the cello. I'm not exactly sure if she's really playng but she did take lessons for the movie and it shows. Kudos!
Unfortunately, Zayed Khan failed again at acting this time around. Everything he does is so forced and his intonation is just off. But every cloud has its silver lining. Luckily for us, Zayed Khan is good eye candy. If only we could mute just his lines and just watch him and his costumes. Also, did he learn how to stare from Robert Pattinson?
BOMAN IRANI IS KING OF THE UNIVERSE. Enough said.
Now I'm going to discuss the Bhabi character (the brothers' mama's son's wife).
Now, in Bollywood, there are two types of sluts. One, as you know, are those women who appear in trashy item songs in B-grade movies. All of these Item Girls are trashy unless they're a legit actress making a fun cameo because only real actresses can pull of item songs.
The other type of slut is a lot less discussed because she is oft-disguised. The Bhabi character (whose character name and real name I cannot remember) belongs to the Society of Sluts in Saris (or SSS). These are women who wear tight saris with low-cut blouses. They speak in shuddh Hindi and are very respectful. The elders of the family to which they belong love them for that exact reason and are blind to their real ways. What makes them a part of the SSS? Ralph Fiennes may be the constant gardener but the SSS is the constant seducer. They're always looking to bed the hot younger brother for their own personal gain and no one seems to notice! This drives me so insane!
Though all the songs are superb, the one that stands out is the aforementioned "Tu Muskura." Sensual, melodious, this song has a pretty cute video and at 2:50 is my favorite part. Unfortunately, the song is cut in half but I've come to expect directors to do that with Rahman's best work. It's a common occurence! I'd like to point out that that in the "Tu Hi Toh Meri Dost Hai" video, Katrina looks absolutely heavenly at 3:58-4:12. Sorry about the bad quality of the link.
All in all, Yuvvraaj is a good film but you have to dig through all the mud to get to it. There are definitely some major plus points but can they outweigh the negatives? In my opinion, the positives always kick the negatives all the way to Hoth. This movie is worth a watch. Yuvvraaj rates a 6.5/10.
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