Luck By Chance (2009)
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen, Rishi Kapoor and many more!
Rating: ****
Are you fascinated by the place that is the Hindi Film Industry? Have you obsessed about the superstars there and religiously followed what’s happening in their lives? Have you ever wondered how this Industry works? Have you ever secretly harbored ambitions of being in this dream land? If yes, what are your chances of surviving and making it big? Zoya Akhtar’s maiden directorial venture ‘Luck By Chance’ is a thumping answer to these and many more questions!
If Om Shanti Om was a take on Hindi Cinema of the 1970s then ‘Luck By Chance’ is a highly authentic take on the Hindi Film Industry in the modern era. It’s a fantastic behind the scenes journey into this dream land known as Bollywood. No wonder that this authenticity could have only been given by one of the most well known families of the Industry - the Akhtar family, who are the makers of this film. The tale is essentially of their own immediate environment and it is a story that is told well!
The screenplay revolves around the two central characters played by Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sharma trying to get their first big break and make it big in Bollywood. Farhan comes from Delhi, lives in his aunt’s house and borrows money from all quarters whereas Konkona is in a ‘mutually beneficial’ relationship with some Director to get a lead role and also happens to have a friend who is a homo-sexual, BUT wait, before you scream ‘cliché’ and think that this will go the Madhur Bhandarkar way, you realize that the treatment is not as sensationalistic and hovering around extremes as Madhur Bhandarkar’s movies. Luck By Chance is subtle but highly effective!
The two lead character’s lives take us inside and up-close to the scenes behind the camera. We have the Desi producer played by Rishi Kapoor, a yesteryear’s starlet (Dimple Kapadia) who is launching her talentless daughter (Isha Sherwani) and apart from these characters we have the who’s who of Bollywood playing themselves. Luck By Chance is a casting coup!
The film is an unabashed take on Hindi Cinema and it does not hold back from mocking it. We have one director saying “Mujhe script se kya lena dena hai, mujhe film koi film festival thodi naa bhejini hai.” The same director handing over a Hollywood DVD to the film writer and telling him to Indianise the story! It also shows the corporate culture setting into Bollywood, the corporates who want to model themselves after the Hollywood studios and label the script as the most crucial factor only to re-change their stance later and determining whether to finance or not on the basis of which super-star is playing the lead! Hrithik Roshan is a sport, who in an extended cameo charmingly portrays the character of ‘Zaffar Khan’, a bratty superstar who walks out of a film and creates enormous trouble for a veteran producer. The same role after being rejected by other established actors and after a series of fortunate circumstances, struggle and talent is bagged by the protagonist Vikram played by Farhan AKhtar.
The story of Luck By Chance is well woven. It wonderfully depicts the journey of each of the characters. The negative shades in each of them are shown, not in implausible extremes, but in a true to life way. How charmingly it captures those very real things – jealously and ego battles between friends, relatives who have the word, ‘Riddance’ on their mind when you live with them away from your home, of how the best of relationships break when individual interests become dominant.
It is surprising to see the high degree of naturalness, intensity and charm that Farhan Akhtar brings to his character. It’s an A grade performance which makes you speculate that a few years down the line, Farhan will be known as an actor who also directs and not vice versa. Konkona playing the female lead has a role which was perhaps written with only her in mind and she does an excellent job. The veteran Rishi Kapoor shows us what an enigmatic force he still is behind the camera! Playing the veteran producer his is the most endearing characters in the film! The rest of the ensemble cast – Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sherwani, Juhi Chawla, and Sanjay Kappot do justice to their roles. A special compliment goes out to the guy who plays Farhan’s friend. The flame of jealousy and complexes that this character is meant to convey are tough to depict but he excels.
The cameos are brilliantly pulled off, with Aamir and SRK shining in their separate parts. Aamir is shown shooting for a period film in a brilliantly setup set and you wish that such period movies were actually made more often by the Hindi Film Industry. SRK is in a 2 minute cameo, where in a party, in an interaction with the new star that Farhan Akhtar’s character has become, gives the most powerful and defining lines in the movie, lines which were perhaps not given by the dialog writers to him, but have been SRK’s own firm values that have made him the biggest superstar of this Industry.
As always, Excel Entertainment brings excellent production values to the film in each department. The music composed by the trio of Shankar Ehsaan Loy surely doesn’t disappoint and it slowly grows on you after watching the movie. The track ‘Yeh Zindagi Bhi’ stands out.
Lastly, hats off to Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar for making a film that they knew at the very outset will appeal to only a niche audience. It is this experimentation and willingness to experiment that is required in this Multiplex era.
Luck By Chance is one of the finest Hindi films in recent times. It is a feast that is a must see for every lover of the Hindi Film Industry!