Luck By Chance

Flicks based on tinsel town aren’t new to the world of cinema. Be it Krzysztof Kieslowski’s ‘Camera Buff’ or Federico Fellini’s ‘8 ½’; these avant-garde films dealt with intrinsic something more than filmmaking. Precisely, it was far away from shooting spots of clapboards and ‘Camera Rolling –Action-Cut’. To start off with, ‘Luck By Chance’ is worthy to be called as the best of its kind. Earlier, the same producers brimmed with an extraordinary flick ‘Rock On’ and again, here’s one more tremendous piece of work accommodating itself across the ‘Changing phase of Bollywood’.

Hats off to Zoya Akhtar for a splendid debut! Unlike debutants, there is nothing to be called as ‘amateurish’ about her work on any quotient.

Ye Kaise Ho Saktha Hai?

When you’ve a legend Javed and a fantastic filmmaker accompanying her on the button, with a gripping storyline and perfect casting (including guest appearances of superstars) is what makes ‘Luck By Chance’ fantastic. The fantasy sellers and the devoted audience, the insane love for Cinema mixed with the eccentric notion of divinity and archaic beliefs; these are the contradictions that keep this world spinning.

The stark reality of living in India juxtaposed with the fantastical world depicted on screen suddenly begins to make sense…

Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma) arrives in Bombay with her dreams of becoming a film star. Wide eyed but ambitious, she does whatever it takes, to make it. She lives on her own in a rented apartment - a luxury for most in this bustling city, and spends her time with a motley crew of loyal friends whose lives are also entwined with Bollywood, each one in search of a bigger dream.

Vikram (Farhan Akhtar) has just moved to the city leaving the comforts of his parents’ Delhi home. He is a mover, he is used to getting what he wants and is smart enough to know when to demand it and when to manipulate it. He is young and handsome, and full of promise. Sona begins to enjoy Vikram’s attention and affections; they develop a romantic relationship.

Rolly (Rishi Kapoor) is a successful but superstitious producer who only works with the biggest stars. He is making a potential blockbuster launching the nubile Nikki Khurana (Isha Sharwani), the 18-year-old daughter of 70’s superstar, Neena (Dimple Kapadia). The hero of the film, Zaffar Khan (Hrithik Roshan), is Rolly’s favorite superstar. He was launched by Rolly and went on to become a huge draw at the box office.

The wheels of fate indeed continue to spin favorably for Vikram, as elsewhere in the industry, havoc spreads on the sets of producer Rommy Rolly’s new film. Vikram is called in for an audition and uses this opportunity to the fullest.

The film is about a slice of Bollywood life, in which “Kismet” plays a huge role. Here, notions of superstition, fate and destiny underline every life, as grand desires and opportunity converge to form strange patterns.

In such an unpredictable climate is success and failure that others define for you… or is it something you decide for yourself?

As mentioned earlier, casting happens to be the most promising attribute for the film. Farhan Akhtar is marvelous with his casual air. The actor never seems to have exposed his strained take of performance in any scene. He’s cool carrying off everything with his penchant for perfection. Not far away is Konkona Sen Sharma. The actress with her top-notching show emotes stupendously well in various situations.

She doesn’t complicate herself while getting emotional outbursts. It’s merely with her facial expressions and simple gestures that she emotes so well. Precisely, watch out for her final conversation with Farhan Akhtar on shooting spot, it is too good. A 5-star credit to Rishi Kapoor for an excellent performance throughout the show. Watch out for the reflections of disappointment on his face with a lowered voice, when Hrithik Roshan walks out of his project. And again, a glimpse on his actions while Hrithik congratulates him over the phone; he eclipses everything in the frame. His intonations of appraisals for Farhan like ‘Volcanoes of Talents’ doubtlessly gets us to laugh.

Dimple Kampadia’s flare-up lines with her daughter are worthy of applause. Juhi Chawla in her minimal role is brilliant.

Getting on with superstars making their cameo, this isn’t something of a lavish show. Apart from very few, everyone has a vital role to perform. Need an illustration? It goes off with Karan Johar’s talk with Hrithik Roshan at Kareena’s party. Above all, Shah Rukh’s portion in the penultimate sequence is worth a mention with a strong substance.

Musical score by Shankar-Ehasan-Loy is of mediocre quality as only a couple of songs ‘Bhaaware’ and ‘Sapno Se’ do well on the screen. The same scenario persists with the background score as well but it is well established on few parts. Cinematography by Carlos Catalan offers an enriched visual quality with distorted tones. He has well-designed cuts with his innovative angles adhering to emotional touch.

This is more evident during Konkona’s talk with her agent (First, both the characters focused clearly, towards the end, the camera pans depicting them in silhouette). Javed Akhtar’s dialogues are gripping, especially with Konkona portion during climax.

Zoya Akhtar comes up with a good screenplay that’s quite lively in the first half. But it turns to be slightly flimsy in latter part till the last few minutes. Nevertheless, an appealing climax diminishes those flaws.

On the whole, ‘Luck By Chance’ is sure to be loved by film buffs, multiplex audiences or those related with tinsel town. With no biggies slated to release for next couple of weeks, the producers can ‘Rock On’ filling their sacs with profits.