 UK Rated: PG - Runtime: 155min 52sec - Directed by: Siddharth Anand - Written by: Habib Faisal |
Plot Outline
Rajveer Singh (Saif Ali Khan) is a pit-crew worker in a racing team with a passion for driving who gets discovered by a team manager, Harry (Jaaved Jaaferi). The same day he accidentally bumps into a music student, Radhika (Rani Mukerji), who he falls for instantly.
He gets drafted into ‘Speeding Saddles’ – a failing race team and transforms from Rajveer Singh to “RV” – the race car driver. While his racing career takes off instantly, his love life also blossoms after a whirlwind romance. A few months later, he is both a happily married man and one of the country’s best racers.
Fatherhood and greater success both follow and soon he is the Number 1 race car driver in the USA, as well as the proud father of two precocious kids – Priya (Angelina Idnani) and Ranveer (Ali Haji), but as a result of a bad racing accident, RV is hospitalized for a few months.
When he tries to make a comeback, he realizes that he has been mentally scarred by the accident and has lost his edge. His life now takes a turn for the worse and after a string of failures, he is forced to auction his house and move with his family to a run-down neighborhood. However, RV and Radhika decide not to tell their children the truth and construct a skillful masquerade of a reality show where they have to live a poor life in order to win a mythical grand prize.
The family struggles to survive a life that they are not used to, using a mixture of fantasy and cheerfulness to pull through in the face of adversity. But an incident forces RV to reclaim the life that was taken away from him.
Can he, once again and perhaps for a last time, face down his inner demons on the race track? Can the family remain together in the wake of what could perhaps be their biggest challenge yet?
Review:
Since Shakalaka Boom Boom a few weeks back, we now have another terrible title, in an otherwise decent enough film. Seems to be the 'in thing' these days. It's beyond my comprehension, but it's not like a terrible title will put 'me' of watching a film so moving swiftly on to what the film is like?
Though encompassing a couple who struggle towards and beyond married life, thankfully this isn't primarily a love story. It's about a passionate racer who's family depends on him who goes through a major crisis, trying his best to come through it, and this is the stronger part of the enterprise as it is done extremely well.
The race sequences and stunts are totally believable and something the Indian audience has to date never seen to this level of quality. With Krrish, Don and Dhoom 2 up our sleeves, we do seem to have picked up the pace when it comes to special effects and stunts, that's for sure.
That said, it certainly isn't flawless, in fact the flaws though minor, stand out too sharply to be over-looked as blemishes on this occasion. These include the cliche'd stuck up father-in-law looking down upon RV as the enemy. Also, the unnecessary integration of the romantic scenes and songs in a huge flashback. Though the flashback includes necessary setup of our protaganist, the romance quota though little still seems over-served. It doesn't help that the songs themselves are pretty weak, which certainly comes as a surprise for a Yashraj film.
Music:
You only really walk away with the theme tune in your head (which was utilised better in the theatrical trailer for the film).
The picturisation of the songs are pleasant but pretty generic-fare of the New-York, big-budget film variety. In fact I even felt like I've been at some of the locales (though I've never been to the US) due to having seen earlier Yashraj ventures such as Kal Ho Naa Ho, and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Repeated usage of the same landmarks, definitely a no-go, but this is my perspective and passable otherwise.
What does stand out is the kiddie song in the latter half, merging live with animated characters at the Disney store, impressive visually and it certainly catches your attention as the animation here matches international quality, however it is random as hell. It's what I'd expect of perhaps a breakfast cereal advert rather than a feature film.
Negatives aside, as I stated earlier the one aspect that shines through is the car accident that makes RV's life divert from a smooth ride to a screeching halt. I was surprised as were much of the audience that the intermission point was not here. A couple of scenes take you on to a few years later as RV has recovered physically yet hasn't come to terms with the fact that his financial situation is spiralling downwards. No big deal, but I would have expected this to kick off the second half rather than end the first.
The substance of the latter half is much more interesting, The plight and stuggle of the family really does moves you. From skipping meals they fund the children's school fees and as the children realise this is the case they themselves secretly decide to raise some money too by skipping meals at schoo. The son even picks up leftovers from the throwaways of others. It's all rather painful yet totally believable. A great setup for what is to follow.
The high point of the film as it should be is the last half hour of the film. Right from the moment RV breaks down into tears as he finds himself struggling, resorting to driving a Taxi, to the pre-climax where he needs money urgently and storms into a hotel, asking for a loan of $65,000. Here kicks in the adrenaline, old friends and new friends unite and roll-on the climax race scene. All superb, almost allowing you to forget the comparably terrible first half, almost.
A slight glitch with the climax in my opinion is it didn't seem much different (except reversed roles) than the interval point -- correction the part I though should have been the interval point. In fact it seems like the exact same scene but with reversed cars. The supposed villain gets his due, but does this not 'literally' reverse the roles pushing our hero into a rather dark side? I wonder. I also wonder if this would indeed be feasible, but I guess this is passable, after all this is fiction & not a 'based on facts' documentary.
Performances
Thankfully, performances all-round keep this from folding apart, they're top notch all-round. Saif is extremely likable and easy to relate with. He conveys his passion for the sport, his ambition and the varied emotions with a much natural flair. Rani enacts her role of the mother/wife with ease, I had my conerns that this would be another cry-fest but this isn't the case.
Jaaved Jaaferi is the hidden ace in the pack, he is likable in a more serious role. (More serios than his outing in Salaam Namaste previously with the same Director/Producers). The children Angelina Idnani and Ali Haji are not annoying, which is all I tend to ask of child artists these days.
On the whole, Ta Ra Rum Pum isn't the best of films churned out by the Yashraj banner, but they do only pick the best so they can't all be the best of the best. Though it has to be said with great performances and the racing stunts in its kitty, it will certainly do wonders for their reputation individually.
It's a shame I walked out with mixed feelings about the ending, also reminding me of the prior parts that I wasn't too impressed with. It certainly had a lot more potential than the end-product they have churned out.
A good attempt at a an underdog story of survival, however comes a little short. (6 out of 10)
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