Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush and Akshara Haasan

Director:R Balki

Rating: **

Undoubtedly Bollywood is one such place where we very rarely get a chance to see the existence of innovation. That's because these days Indian cine biz is badly stuck in the claws of commercialization. But in-spite of that there is a flock of cine makers who love to go with their hearts and often dish out something innovative every time they decide to register their presence in showbiz.

And undoubtedly R.Balki is one of them. Be it "Cheeni Kum", "Paa" or the recently released "Shamitabh", Balki has always come up with an idea which has not only succeeded in setting a benchmark, but at the same time has succeeded in securing a place in viewers' hearts too. So just like his previous stints this time this ace cine wizard has once again returned with an unconventional cine cantata, decorated with towering performances of legendary Amitabh Bachchan and star in the making Dhanush in the form of cine chronicle called, Shamitabh.

As the premise of "Shamitabh" unfurls it introduces viewers to a born mute hillbilly boy, Danish (Dhanush), for whom cinema and life are synonymous to each other. Just like millions of wannabe actors even Danish fosters a dream to make it big in the showbiz, but despite having an insatiable fascination for acting could never gather the courage to head for the city of dreams, courtesy familial reason and his disability. But in-spite of that Danish remains determined to attain the stardom and after his mother's demise, lands in Film City where he somehow manages to impress an assistant director, Akshara (Akshara Haassan).


On knowing about Danish's fascination and his potential, Akshara and her dad introduce him to a micro-recorders and ear-pieces embedding technique which can enable him in attaining his dreams, but with the help of a borrowed voice.

Danish under goes the implant and then begins his search for a voice. During the search for his prospective voice, Danish and Akshara have a rendezvous with Amitabh Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan), a failed actor and a chronic alcoholic who faced rejection from the industry people due to his baritone voice.

Soon after meeting Amitabh, Akshara and Danish apprise him about their idea to which former agrees, because he too fosters a fascination of making his rejected voice a successful one. And this union of these two blessed performers marks the inception of "Shamitabh" with Danish being the face and Amitabh being his voice.

But then pokes in a sense of envy, when Amitabh realizes that he is not getting the kind of recognition which he deserves. So what follows next? To know watch this out of the box cine enterprise of Balki.

As stated above, that that despite the prevalence of huge conventionality in it Bollywood is one such place which has always welcomed the new story ideas with open arms. And as far as differing from the conventional stereotypes is concerned then undoubtedly R Balki is one such man who has always loved to flow against the current by propounding something thoroughly novel in nature.


So after his previous unconventional cine volumes, this time again this man of conviction has chosen something which not only has innovation garnished over it but at the same time is also emotionally satiating. Therefore without even a minutest trace of doubt, I would like to praise this conceptual baby of, Balki through which he has meticulously come up with an unusual idea and dared to pitch two most sinewy performers opposite each other. In writing department besides story even dialogues add to the mesmerizing fragrance and freshness of Shamitabh.

But contrary to story concept, Shamitabh's major flaw prevails in the screenplay front, where Balki adopted a somewhat lackadaisical approach. Be it the first half or the post interval phase, inconsistency in the screenplay and flow of narration constantly looks like a nasty crevice prevailing on an otherwise tastefully created architecture.

As the narration of "Shamitabh" takes off, your expectations also start touching a new high with every passing moment and when Amitabh and Dhanush come together on the celluloid, your curiosity reaches at its peak, but then in the absence of some of the must have witty monologues which could have taken entire movie to the next level, you start losing your hopes.

Besides, what adds to the extirpation is the length of some of the redundant sequences and titubationing pace of the narration.

On the hind side there are certain portions of "Shamitabh", which will surely succeed in making it to your heart, but then they are too less in number and the only thing which makes them heart appealing is stupendous excellence of legendary thespian, Amitabh Bachchan.


Editing of Hemanti Sarkar again is a big letdown for "Shamitabh", especially in the second half where some of the obtruded over-stretched monologues start testing your ability to tolerate the inutile melodrama. Cinematography of P.C. Sreeram is satisfactory in parts.

As far as music of Ilaiyaraaja is concerned then it is thoroughly delightful, but the ridiculous cine depiction of peppy "Piddly" song somewhere down the conscious hurts your emotions.

When you have a legend like Amitabh Bachchan performing in front of you, then you often run out of words to describe him and his performance. And that's because every time when this classy thespian appear on the screen he takes his brilliance benchmark way too high that no word looks capable enough to describe it. This time again with "Shamitabh" he has done something quite similar, where his persona literally makes you feel that whether it's his acting potential which his more eloquent or is it his baritone voice which speaks volumes.

Dhanush after proving his credentials in, "Ranjhanaa", once again succeeds in making his mark. But at the same time despite flaunting utmost confidence in many of the sequences, he looks a bit hesitant and henpecked too. And for that one can't blame him because while sharing screen space with an acting giant like Amitabh Bachchan it is quite obvious for any and everyone to get overshadowed.


On the other hand Akshara Haasaan looks like a perfect case of "obligatory casting" where she miserably fails in contributing much to the movie. Even two of her monologues with, Dhanush look like obtruded cine chunks embedded to ensure her visibility in the movie.

To sum up, "Shamitabh" certainly has a marvelous concept at its core, decorated with the astounding performance of legendary thespian Amitabh Bachchan to enthrall the masses and classes. But in spite of that it could not succeed in attaining what it could have, because of a lackadaisical execution. Therefore keeping in view this major flaw which ruined the overall appeal of Shamitabh, I am going ahead with two out of five for this superb cine concept which gets wasted because of some really unjustified reasons.