Movie Review: Tevar By Latest bollywood Songs

Movie Review: Tevar

DIRECTOR: Amit Sharma

STARRING: Arjun Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Manoj Bajpayee

RATING:  2 Stars 

Recently, when I met Arjun Kapoor during the promotions of Tevar, I asked him what the most meaningful dialogue in the film is. He said, and I quote, “Kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi, kiski todu gardan, kiski todu haddi?” It was then that I understood the real meaning of facepalm.

Tevar is an unusual love story between Moochi Man (Manoj Bajpayee), Ditsy Dame (Sonakshi Sinha) and Pintu Boy (Yep, that’s Arjun Kapoor's name in the film). Unusual, because characters in this film fall in love for some very strange reasons. For instance, Moochi Man falls in love with ditsy dame because she is dancing. Ditsy Dame falls in love with Pintu boy because he is fighting and Pintu Boy falls in love with Ditsy Dame because the film is getting too long. Trust me the 'I love you’ moment happens only at the climax.

It’s a maverick love story on the run where Pintu saves Ditsy in Mathura. He dodges naked swords of Moochi and his men, ducks from policemen’s bullets, jumps off buildings, races and crashes his car to finally and safely bring Ditsy home in Agra. And guess what? Ditsy doesn’t say sorry or thank you but complains how she has forgotten her US visa papers back in Mathura. Er... what?? Yes, Ditsy has Mathura-to-Manhattan dreams so that she can be away from Moochi.  So you see the action conveniently keeps shifting from Agra to Mathura and back like a convenient trip to Lulu centre every weekend. And, mind you, they make sure we know we are in Agra because every shot in the city has The Taj Mahal in the background. So no matter the shot is set in a garden or on the terrace, the monument looms large. Short of putting Taj Mahal posters in the kitchen and bathroom, it’s omnipresent like it wasn’t just a monument but Burj Khalifa, visible even from Sharjah.

However, Laxman Utekar has done a brilliant job of capturing both the cities beautifully in his lens. The production design by Aparna Sud and the art direction by Amit Lad also earn a special mention for bringing the streets of these cities alive and recreating the festival of Holi so beautifully.

The film even scores in characterization.

Pintu respects women. He really does. In an important scene, he saves a young girl from an eve teaser and in a heartbeat sings a song; ‘Main Superman, Salman ka Fan, jo le panga, kar du MAA-BEHAN!’

Even Radhika is such a sensitive character. The writers have given her so much depth. For instance, she doesn’t like peas. She likes only paneer. See such quirks. Also, there is a pensive side to her character as she loses her beloved brother in the movie. In a very emotional scene she fondly remembers her dead brother and in exactly five seconds she raps in a song, “Let’s celebrate this moment”. The writers don’t exactly tell us ‘which moment’ though! ‘My-bro-died-I-am-so-sad- moment?’

The film is full of such brilliant screenplay, like the death of Ditsy’s brother juxtaposed with an item number by Shruti Haasan.

Arjun-now-available-in-papa’s-production-Kapoor is exactly what he was in Ishaqzaade, slightly brooding, slightly intense and when nothing seems to work, just smile.

Sonakshi-now-available-in-a-new-haircut-Sinha can do such roles in her sleep. And put everyone to SLEEP too.

The real stars of the film are Manoj Bajpayee and Rajesh Sharma. They both infuse such life into their otherwise one-dimensional characters. Manoj Bajpayee is intimidating as Bahubali. What’s interesting is that both Manoj Bajpayee and Arjun Kapoor have dreamy eyes. What you do with them differentiates the stalwart from the amateur.