The much awaited ‘Happy New Year’ marks the return of the very successful Shahrukh Khan – Farah Khan combination which has two superhits to their credit in the form of ‘Mein Hoon Na’ and ‘Om Shanti Om’. While their previous collaborations were successful thanks to Farah’s directorial ability to churn out tongue-in-cheek masala entertainers while backed by Shahrukh’ charisma, it remains to be seen if these two can recreate magic again at the box-office given that their last movie released seven years back. This multi-starrer also has Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah, Jackie Shroff and Deepika Padukone in other roles.

Story

‘Happy New Year’ has a simple enough storyline which involves Charlie (Shahrukh) wanting to take revenge on Grover (Jackie Shroff) for falsely implicating his father (Anupam Kher). Charlie goes around recuiting his “Charlie’s Angels” (as he calls them) who are Boman Irani (the safe-cracker), Sonu Sood (the bomb expert), Abhishek (the look-alike of Jackie’s son) and Vivaan (the hacking expert). They plan to rob Jackie’s diamond vault from his hotel in Dubai while participating in the World Dance Competition being held at the same venue. Soon enough, they end up roping in Deepika (the bar dancer) to train them for the dance competition. Through sheer luck, this motley group team reaches Dubai where they start putting their plan in action. Though they have their plan chalked out neatly, there are a few twists as expected before it all ends in the form of a spectacular dance finale of the World Dance Competion. How this team pulls off the heist, how they survive the international dance competition, the unspoken romance between Shahrukh and Deepika is what forms the core of the ‘Happy New Year’ narrative.

Performance

Shah Rukh Khan looks droolworthy. I am not a fan of the Superstar but the actor’s caliber despite remaining unused in the films he takes up, he easily is one of the things in the film that keeps you latched. The role doesn’t do justice to his caliber but the SRK swagger helps in an underwhelming film like this.

Deepika Padukone is earnest and doesn’t have merely an arm candy role. Though her screen space isn’t a lot, the actress has done a terrific job.

Abhishek Bachchan is effortless and hams well. But then again, despite a lot of screen presence his character is not well invested in the film.

Boman Irani brings in his wicked humor and is immensely endearing in his role. Though a lot of the antics, Farah made him do were weird, Irani pulled it all off smartly.

Sonu Sood goes almost unnoticed and wasted. I think he shouldn’t accept such thankless roles where all he is required to do is flaunt his body.

Vivaan Shah wasn’t as much a misfit as one would have thought. He is good and blends in smoothly with the rest of the cast.

Jackie Shroff goes wasted despite his menacing demeanor. Farah doesn’t build his character into anything meaty and anyone could have easily filled in for him. Shroff doesn’t get his usual quirk because the role barely allows him anything.

Plus Points

What works for ‘Happy New Year’ is that Farah uses the ‘Keep It Simple’ funda very effectively. Thirty mins into the movie and you already know what the plot is all about and what part each character will play in the narrative. As soon as the motive is established, the film moves at an easy entertaining pace thanks to Farah’s control on the screenplay which doesn’t stretch the movie. In her style, she makes a heist movie with all the ‘masala’ elements!
Coming to performances, all the characters have a ball. Abhishek deserves a special mention for his tapori ‘Nandu’ act which smartly uses his comic timing to make him an endearing character. Deepika is another good act with her Marathi accent and killer dance moves. It’s a welcome change watching the normally serious Sonu Sood pulling off some dance moves with a smile.

Coming to Shahrukh, he pulls off a good performance as the man on a mission while gamely pulling off the expected laugh, cry, sing, dance, fight routine in the “SRK” style. His tongue-in-cheek references to his previous movies are smartly weaved into the dialogues.

The songs are shot lavishly and the final ‘Indiawaale’ song is a visual spectacle. The ‘Lovely’ song is another stand-out thanks to Deepika’s sensuous moves.

Minus Points

To start with, Boman Irani can get on your nerves with his over-the-top act of a Parsi bawa where he hams it up while Vivaan also doesn’t make much of an impact in his role of a genius hacker. Also, if you are looking for a movie that spends time detailing out the heist, then you will be disappointed since it doesn’t go into too many details. What is missing at times is the nail-biting suspense around the heist or the dance competition and what we see is that things fall into place conveniently.

Technical

Farah Khan has created a confused film. Happy New Year is a misguided, misfired product that doesn’t know where it wants to end up. The humor was lame and though the design calls for it, one expects better from the other half of Sajid Khan (for some strange reason). I am glad, atleast the film doesn’t go vulgar and offensive, that would have been the final nail. Not attempting to sound preachy and righteous but it also  warranties misdeeds in a very ‘Karma bites back’ tone. Had Farah stuck to one theme, Happy New Year could have been a much better film. As far as the editing goes, a three hour long film is enough to convey the expertise of the editing department. On the brighter side, it could have been a tirade probably but we were saved because of them. The forgettable music of this apparent dance film is another flaw with the film.

Analysis

Final Word

As mentioned earlier, Farah decides to keep it simple and so we are treated to a masala film that entertains. The potent mix of winning a dance competition for India while taking revenge for the family is always in the forefront and this is where Farah scores by maintaining this emotional connect rather than stuffing it with gags (probably a lesson learnt from her previous disaster ‘Tees Maar Khan’). Given the expectations from a Farah Khan – Shahrukh movie, it definitely meets expectations of a time pass entertainer & so go for it!