Zindaggi Rocks Movie Reviews

There€™s been a lot of hype surrounding €˜Zindaggi Rocks€™. Sushmita Sen has been shouting loudly in the bizarre media circus as to how great a movie it is and that everyone should be watching it. Sorry to say babe, although you€™re rocking but the film is no Big Picture. Watching this film is a weird experience as it oscillates between tacky production values and Genuine Emotional Appeal. You cry at a few gulp-in-the-throat moments while you also laugh at the stretching-of-cinematic-liberties at several junctures. Tanuja Chandra€™s €˜Zinadggi Rocks€™ turns out to be a half baked effort that could have been better cinema.

Lemme start with a few squealing-bloopers that should have been avoided. Dr Suraj Rihan (Shiney Ahuja) is an able doctor working in a €˜five star hospital€™. Now, the best of hospitals in India don€™t look so chic. It looks more like a hotel than a hospital. To add to it, the sugar coated nurses are keen on matchmaking for the lonesome Doc rather than tending their patients. They finally succeed when Rock Star Kria (Sushmita Sen) gets a bruise stitched by Dr Rihan. And even though the good looking Doc tries to shove away the love, he falls for the winsome charm of the pretty singer.

Wounds heal. It€™s a date. And what a date! Kria comes along with her loud-mouthed-burp-hungry Maus (Maushmi Chatterjee), manager-friend Joy (Kim Sharma), secretary-friend Sam (Ravi Gosain) and son Dhruv (Julian Burkhardt). An open mouthed Dr Rihan is told that Dhruv is an adopted son but the bigger surprise comes along when Kria€™s mother turns out to be Maushmi Chatterjee€™s double who speaks English with a Bengali accent (Not deliberately and you just can€™t help at this naivet逦Why ask her to speak the language if she can€™t work on it?). So, half an hour in the film and you are treated to four songs already. Twist in the tail€¦Doc is married€¦He can€™t love for his wife has been in coma for five years. Good natured Mum-in-law urges the duty-bound son-in-law ji to go-groovy-again. Cho Chweet!

Another song, some lovey-dovey-making€¦.And then, another twist in the tale. Dhruv has a hole heart in his heart. He is critical and the only way he can be saved is through a heart transplant. So, Doc Rihan packs the mother-son duo on a Franfinn flight to Delhi to get some tests done. This was the height of tackiness as it was very clear that the aircraft that they were sitting in was not a plane by any imagination. Surrogate advertising is fine but you can€™t expect people to settle for collective-disbelief of this magnitude. The end is interesting but here once again the cinematic liberties are taken for granted.

The love affair between Dr Rihan and Kria seems to be more of a convenient tool on Kria€™s part to use for safeguarding the life of her adopted son. But her bonding with Dhruv is truly special. The breakdown sequence in the hospital when Dhruv tells Kria that Dr Rihan is €˜husband material€™ makes you cry effortlessly.

In the acting department, well, this is by far Sushmita Sen at her best. She looks and behaves like a rock star. The intensity while performing on stage or in crooning on the microphone in the recording room is palpable. She is comfortable while lip-locking with Shiney and the warmth she has for her son is unmistakably genuine. Glamour Quotient is high, though she could have done with losing some weight.

Shiney Ahuja is the hottest-newcomer. He is once again playing a second fiddle, yet he steals the thunder by underplaying. Here€™s an actor who€™s an example of composure and poise. His voiceover narrating the flashback is ideally-laidback. After €˜Woh Lamhe€™ he should gear up for more bouquets. Julian Burkhardt as Dhruv is a lovely find. He is a wonderful mix of charming energy and maturity at a very young age.

Anu Malik€™s music is notable for €˜Humko Choone Paas Aaiye€™, €˜Zindaggi Rocks€™ and €˜Rabbi€™. Amirr Syed€™s camerawork is competent but Sanjeeb Dutta€™s editing is lackluster. Many scenes just drag on. Tanuja Chandra€™s direction is a mix of delectable-poignance and absolute amateurishness. She handles many of the emotional moments between Shiney-Sush and Julian-Sush brilliantly. There€™s a novelty value in the relationship graph but there are several scenes like the hospital, the frankfinn flight, Maushmi Chatterjee€™s wasteful performance and Kim Sharma€™s silly role that are an eye sore.

€˜Zindaggi Rocks€™ is strictly advisable for Sushmita or Shiney fans, people who are in mood to enjoy a few songs in the first half and make an early exit and for those who shall be patient enough to pick the good apples from the rotten ones.

Zindaggi Rocks: Wish-It-Did