I checked DBH out against my best instincts. To be honest, I was lulled into it by a masterful Shahid performance in Kaminey. I was so wrong.
The movie is terrible in terms of pretty much everything except Kapoor - who is reduced to playing a supporting role.
Everything else is way below average in this movie. The script is typical YRF fare with a utopian Punjabi theme with its cast of annoying characters. The movie caters to romantic refugee notions of Indo-Pak friendship centered around an annual cricket game. The game is played by teams sponsored by two old friends who learnt to play cricket and woo girls at the same time in pre-partition Punjab played by Anupam Kher (India) and Dilip Tahil (Pakistan).
However, even assuming the dudes were 15 in 1947, they would be 77 now. However, both of them look like they are in their early 60s - and one has even managed to score a ravishing, if estranged, Poonam Dhillon for a wife. That anomaly aside, the sporting nature of the contest is tarnished because the Pakistani side keeps winning - and is led by an arrogant captain. Shockingly, he gets his comeuppance at the end.
So Kher invites his England-bred son (Kapoor) to construct a team worthy of representing the India pind (village). Unbenkownst to them, a superstar lives in their midst - only it's a girl (Rani Mukherjee, who else). She routinely challenges men and hits them for 6 sixes without pads, gloves (a cup was not necessary for obvious reasons), helmet while still in her salwar kameez. She also introduces the concept of switch-hitting to cricket - 5 sixes right-handed and 1 left-handed!!! (Anyone who follows cricket probably knows that this has happened about 4-5 times in all forms of cricket. So I am not even going into the credibility of the cricket action in this movie.) At the same time she manages to provide support for a local drama company singing, dancing and doing sundry back-stage tasks. Quite the ambidextrous all-rounder you would think already. But there's more.
The young scion wants to set up a cricket team from scratch. Rani predictably shows up as a woman first but is denied entry much the same way Gandhi was tossed from the train in Petermaritzburg. Only this is Bollywood, so they show a procession with a Goddess passing by and all the men bow her heads to her while treating Rani like an outcast. Oh the ironic tragedy! So given her acting prowess, Rani transforms her Veera into Veer with the help of facial hair and contact lenses. Given her 6-hitting talent, she makes the team after a minor hiccup. However, when she is Veera, she keeps making an impression on the young NRI Kapoor who is also being wooed by a short-skirted bimbo who does not know her Indian (agri)-culture. Obviously, the earthy Rani wins his still Indian heart.
Anyway, romance blossoms over a couple of Punjabi songs and we are on to the match. All goes well until Rani takes a blinder of a catch by Indian standards and everyone jumps on her. At this point a contact lens falls out and is noticed by Shahid who loses it, allowing the opposition to get from 46/5 to 216 in about 12 overs! Quite the meltdown - and a phenomenal run rate. I am sure some of the viewers (anyone with an IQ above 45) will wonder how he wasn't able to tell the difference before given that Rani makes no effort in voice modulation or even covering up her figure. And suddenly when the lens fell out, all was clear!
So of course, Rani isn't allowed to open the batting, and it is left to an impassioned father-son bonding moment over the drinks break with 8 wickets down to retrieve the situation. It ends with a rousing speech that does little for women's lib and even less for the movie.
I gave the movie 3 stars out of 10 - mostly for Shahid who holds his end up with a Dravid-like performance. Rani has a couple of moments, but fizzles out in trying to dominate the movie - a la Sreesanth. She is terribly miscast as a Punjabi girl - much like the fast bowler from Kerala. Kher plays the YRF Punjabi father perfectly. Although, he has had tons of practice. The rest of the supporting cast has little to do.
The script and direction are both terrible. Every time Rani bats, we are subjected to "Ek Onkar". As a Punjabi, I found it extremely patronizing and almost offensive. And this is just one nugget. The juxtaposition of the mini-skirted bimbo vs. the rustic salwar kameez hearkens back to the days of Manoj Kumar. All we needed was an evil vamp who was divorced (OMG, the stigma!) who had convinced Dhillon to leave her husband who had actually broken his promise - not on stamp paper though.
The dialog writers should start seeking alternative employment almost immediately - although I suspect they already have day jobs. The conversations in the movie are banal and lack any sort of genuine Punjabi flavor. Even Love Aajkal - a masterpiece by comparison, but a terrible movie when viewed absolutely - had more convincing Punjabi dialog.
All in all, the movie doesn't know what's going on or what it's supposed to be. Much like the Indian team from the late 90s. If you are looking for a cricket movie, go watch Iqbal or Lagaan. If you're looking for a Punjabi-centric movie, go watch Oye Lucky or even Singh is Kinnnnng. However, if you are in that masochistic frame of mind, do go watch DBH - for 10 minutes. Any more and you could actually harm body and mind. Make sure you have a safe word and a seat close to the exit.
The movie is terrible in terms of pretty much everything except Kapoor - who is reduced to playing a supporting role.
Everything else is way below average in this movie. The script is typical YRF fare with a utopian Punjabi theme with its cast of annoying characters. The movie caters to romantic refugee notions of Indo-Pak friendship centered around an annual cricket game. The game is played by teams sponsored by two old friends who learnt to play cricket and woo girls at the same time in pre-partition Punjab played by Anupam Kher (India) and Dilip Tahil (Pakistan).
However, even assuming the dudes were 15 in 1947, they would be 77 now. However, both of them look like they are in their early 60s - and one has even managed to score a ravishing, if estranged, Poonam Dhillon for a wife. That anomaly aside, the sporting nature of the contest is tarnished because the Pakistani side keeps winning - and is led by an arrogant captain. Shockingly, he gets his comeuppance at the end.
So Kher invites his England-bred son (Kapoor) to construct a team worthy of representing the India pind (village). Unbenkownst to them, a superstar lives in their midst - only it's a girl (Rani Mukherjee, who else). She routinely challenges men and hits them for 6 sixes without pads, gloves (a cup was not necessary for obvious reasons), helmet while still in her salwar kameez. She also introduces the concept of switch-hitting to cricket - 5 sixes right-handed and 1 left-handed!!! (Anyone who follows cricket probably knows that this has happened about 4-5 times in all forms of cricket. So I am not even going into the credibility of the cricket action in this movie.) At the same time she manages to provide support for a local drama company singing, dancing and doing sundry back-stage tasks. Quite the ambidextrous all-rounder you would think already. But there's more.
The young scion wants to set up a cricket team from scratch. Rani predictably shows up as a woman first but is denied entry much the same way Gandhi was tossed from the train in Petermaritzburg. Only this is Bollywood, so they show a procession with a Goddess passing by and all the men bow her heads to her while treating Rani like an outcast. Oh the ironic tragedy! So given her acting prowess, Rani transforms her Veera into Veer with the help of facial hair and contact lenses. Given her 6-hitting talent, she makes the team after a minor hiccup. However, when she is Veera, she keeps making an impression on the young NRI Kapoor who is also being wooed by a short-skirted bimbo who does not know her Indian (agri)-culture. Obviously, the earthy Rani wins his still Indian heart.
Anyway, romance blossoms over a couple of Punjabi songs and we are on to the match. All goes well until Rani takes a blinder of a catch by Indian standards and everyone jumps on her. At this point a contact lens falls out and is noticed by Shahid who loses it, allowing the opposition to get from 46/5 to 216 in about 12 overs! Quite the meltdown - and a phenomenal run rate. I am sure some of the viewers (anyone with an IQ above 45) will wonder how he wasn't able to tell the difference before given that Rani makes no effort in voice modulation or even covering up her figure. And suddenly when the lens fell out, all was clear!
So of course, Rani isn't allowed to open the batting, and it is left to an impassioned father-son bonding moment over the drinks break with 8 wickets down to retrieve the situation. It ends with a rousing speech that does little for women's lib and even less for the movie.
I gave the movie 3 stars out of 10 - mostly for Shahid who holds his end up with a Dravid-like performance. Rani has a couple of moments, but fizzles out in trying to dominate the movie - a la Sreesanth. She is terribly miscast as a Punjabi girl - much like the fast bowler from Kerala. Kher plays the YRF Punjabi father perfectly. Although, he has had tons of practice. The rest of the supporting cast has little to do.
The script and direction are both terrible. Every time Rani bats, we are subjected to "Ek Onkar". As a Punjabi, I found it extremely patronizing and almost offensive. And this is just one nugget. The juxtaposition of the mini-skirted bimbo vs. the rustic salwar kameez hearkens back to the days of Manoj Kumar. All we needed was an evil vamp who was divorced (OMG, the stigma!) who had convinced Dhillon to leave her husband who had actually broken his promise - not on stamp paper though.
The dialog writers should start seeking alternative employment almost immediately - although I suspect they already have day jobs. The conversations in the movie are banal and lack any sort of genuine Punjabi flavor. Even Love Aajkal - a masterpiece by comparison, but a terrible movie when viewed absolutely - had more convincing Punjabi dialog.
All in all, the movie doesn't know what's going on or what it's supposed to be. Much like the Indian team from the late 90s. If you are looking for a cricket movie, go watch Iqbal or Lagaan. If you're looking for a Punjabi-centric movie, go watch Oye Lucky or even Singh is Kinnnnng. However, if you are in that masochistic frame of mind, do go watch DBH - for 10 minutes. Any more and you could actually harm body and mind. Make sure you have a safe word and a seat close to the exit.