Before you come at me with brick bats I will defend myself by saying that my only crime is by omission…
Now that I have your attention,I would like to tell you that the UN does not approve of our movies…
Why should we care …?
They say that our portrayal of women in our movies has a direct correlation with gender crimes.They have done a study which shows that our movies rarely show women in lead roles and they are objectified.
But hey,are we really that bad?
English movies show worse, don’t they?
Their music videos are enough to shock us…
I don’t think they censor their music videos,or if they do,they are fine with Miley Cyrus having a ball,Nicki Minaj’s pet anaconda or Jennifer Lopez’s latest pajama party video…
But with our movies it’s hard not to notice that the main lead will have a well drawn out description,his likes and dislikes,and what he considers morally right or wrong or his attitude towards life.
Then they realise that he needs a female character in life to bring him some happiness and to alleviate his boredom.
Enter the girl-next-door who falls for the guy,so obviously she doesn’t need a backstory because she is a foregone conclusion and by the end you are most likely to forget her name.(Sheila,Munni,Laila and the quintessential Tandoori Murgi-Because she doesn’t deserve a name,does she? )
Her thoughts are shallow,and she is never shown in the workplace doing serious back breaking work and is probably good with kids and elders.(Had to see that coming,not that its a bad thing… )
Which is pretty shallow and you will notice it in all the movies you watch if you haven’t already…
Its pretty hard not to foam at the mouth when you hear lyrics that are downright insulting and degrading for any self-respecting woman.(Feminist speaking..)
eg.:”Main toh tandoori murgi hoon yaar…
Patale mujhe missed call se…”
(Sorry,JNTU students habitually explain by example 😉 ,
But on a serious note-is KFC doing home deliveries ?)
So back to point,what makes Khoobsurat different?
I would say that the sole fact that Disney is involved sets a precedent for what’s going to happen….
Like all Disney stories,there is a prince and a royal family,a chirpy girl who tries not to interfere with the royal family…
Ends up falling in love with the prince and they are too different to make a life together….
Boring!
Kirron Kher as always does a very good job as the strong Punjabi mother…
Her fights with the Royal mother is interesting to watch…
But then we have Sonam Kapoor making it ridiculous with ham acting…
Never in my life have I seen any doctor who does everything, but work…
Not to mention her visit to seedy theatre/establishment for reasons that are stupid and weakly fit into the plot,just so she can get kidnapped to catalyse the “knight in shining armour” moment…
She makes it hard to believe that she really went through 5 years of medical training to earn her degree.
This does show that UN hits it hard on the nail…
Fawad Khan does a good job at playing the uptight ,no fun prince who moves around expressionless exuding pompous superiority.
To add to the plot we’ve got the stuffy “Royal ” family who are trying to take over another palace to keep their palace running…
Sonam runs around the palace pushing the king who is in a wheelchair for a major portion of the movie(direct lift from Munna Bhai MBBS) and her chirpy can do attitude however trite or overdone it may be sets the tone for the whole movie.
So overall,its a weak plot and a gooey romance story,but if you’re into the Disney princess kind of thing it will definitely give you the warm and fuzzies…
But if you’re not into chick flicks you might just wind up with a headache and the characteristic irritation with Disney and all that goes with the name…
