Customer Reviews

Yuvvraaj (2008) (Indian Cinema / Hindi/ Salman Khan / Bollywood / DVD)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This movie had so much potential. It is filmed in grand and glossy style in Austria and some scenes are a visual feast. They have some really good dance sequences (including one somewhat more doubtful one danced for some reason in costumes from Lloyd Webber's 'Cats')
The overwhelming plus for me is the music. I found I liked almost all of it and it memorable and interesting. It is by Golden Globe (and potentially Oscar winning as I write) soundtrack winner A.R. Rahman. This one is easily equal to the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. In fact if you like your music with full orchestra, rather than electronica, you'll like this even more. I really loved the music in this and it stands out on the horizon for this.
Now the plot is quite a good one. We have 3 brothers, sons of a London millionaire. One brother (Salmon Khan) is estranged from the family and hates his autistic older brother whom his father favoured. Then there is the autistic brother with a musical gift (Anil Kapoor), and a dissolute, callous, gambling younger brother (Zayed Khan) who bullies the autistic one and is also jealous of him. Father dies and leaves all his estate to the autistic one. Salmon's character wants to marry his girlfriend (played by his real life girlfriend Katrina Kaif) but her wealthy father wont let her marry someone who is penniless. So the 2 slighted brothers connive to get their share of the estate. However they increasingly get drawn into the loving simplicity of their musical autistic brother who finds his place in the world of music and helps them find their connection as brothers.
Now the problem. A lot of the acting particularly in the first half was dodgy. Salmon's character was quite unlikeable, Katrina and Zayed seemed awkward and the girls father (Boman Irani) needed reining in as he was way over the top (though looked good for the part and could have done what was required). There were also some caricatured relatives that were there more as symbols that flesh and blood. I wondered if Salmon was just miscast (a musclebound musician??) Interestingly he seemed to be playing some of the dynamics with Katrina's character that they are purporting to be battling with in real-life over a decision over whether to marry (though not for lack of wealth!) One hopes he isn't as dismissive of her in reality as he plays here.
I wasn't sure how Anil was coping with the autistic part initially but he really settled into it and stood out as doing a good job. Sikandar Mirza as the lawyer was quite good too though his part was small.
Anyway most of them settled down enough (or I adapted) that I could also settle down and enjoy the visuals and that superb music.
The acting in this movie disappointed a lot of people I gather and it didn't do well at the box office. Many people don't seem to like Salmon, and a lot of others don't like Katrina in reviews I read before I saw it. However if you avoided the movie for this you would have missed the redeeming features of the music and visuals.
The acting dragged it down from the 5 it could so easily have been with different casting and restrained acting. I have to boost it up to the 4 though in view of the sumptuous visuals and that music.

The movie has been made in Europe. It has good locales. There is evidence of fine taste for paintings. A. R. Rehman's music is good, but not great. Anil Kapoor comes out as competent. The story is quite thin and the narration is unexciting. Boman Irani gives an entertaining performance. Zayed Khan, Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif et al, disappoint.

The story is about a rich father in London who dictates to his friend and Attorney (Mithun Chakrobarty) how to play out his Will. There are millions in the estate. The ultimate aim is to bring about strong brotherhood among his 3 children from 2 marriages. There is a scheming "Mama" (Uncle). And, there is a very little boy. There is a talented singer who has severe asthma.

Increasingly, numerology is dictating the spelling of movie titles. However, the story is thin and the movie falls flat, although Subhash Ghai has directed and made this movie.

If I listened to the critics, I would have missed out on a great movie. Classical music in a Bollywood production definitely works here! A good buy.

The version of the movie Yuvvraaj that I bought turned out not to be an original copy as advertised. This movie turned out to be 24 minutes shorter than the original released DVD. Major scenes were edited out of the movie, and what was left was a seriously butchered version.

I have a copy of the original released DVD, and it is 180 minutes long, and quite entertaining. Salman Khan did a great job portraying the dislikable character, Deven. He redeems himself before the movie ends, but without the missing scenes, the movie really falls flat.

I advise anyone to not purchase the shortened and edited version of Yuvvraaj, because now it is a waste of time. Instead of returning the movie, I tossed it in the waste bin.