It happens to every superstar. It happened now to Ranbir Kapoor. After hitting a purple patch in recent films, Ranbir Kapoor has starred in a disastrous film that is neither a love story nor an action film. Directed by Abhimanyu Singh Kashyap, "Besharam" must go down as one of Ranbir's most insane and inane film till date.
The story is like a line that is lifted from TV serials - not suitable for a film befitting Ranbir. Bablee (Ranbir Kapoor) and his flunkie keep stealing imported cars by knocking off the locks with a magic knob. They are chased by an about-to-retire police couple (Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh) in the first case. Bablee keeps running as a furgitive and gate-crashes into a pretty lass Pallavi Sharda (debutant). He bumps into her mother and finds it easier to serenede Pallavi through her mother. He succeeds after many false starts. One day, he flicks her own car from her office and then "shamelessly" tells her to drive down with him to Chandigarh to track the owner who bought her "stolen" car. Pallavi relents after her mother persuades and that loosens the romantic track between Ranbir and Pallavi. There is an anti-hero also for the first time in a Ranbir film - it is Javed Jaffrey - the boogie-woogie judge - who engages Bablee on "car" assignments. The twist is that the car stolen from Pallavi contains a bagload of crores of rupees which he is coming after. In a climactic chase for that car, Javed Jaffrey, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh and Ranbir and Pallavi all come together in a gun-dotted sequence that lasts 25 minutes before the end comes soon. Happy ending but troubled viewing for those who went with expectations.
What went wrong? Story thats loosely fleshed out with poor characterisations and half-baked convictions. Director doesn't have clarity on giving what he wants the many characters to speak out. Javed Jaffrey could have been menacing for a change but he is made a joker in the end. Pallavi Sharda has promising looks but her characterisation lacks punch; her melting point to accept Ranbir's love was inconsistent with her overall tone. Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh look slightly over the top with their inspid lines; they fight, they differ, they want to adopt a child and end up adopting a grown-up like Ranbir in the end - some sort of picturesque justice to a family drawn in the film for the sake of it - a purely avoidable situation. Ranbir is quite good in his role and carries off his performance effortlessly, he fits the role of a "Besharam" - flirtatious, mischievous, innocent and kind well but he could have passed up this role, either he okayed the script after his parents listened to or he must have got sentimental about playing a role with both of his parents seen as a screen couple. The law of averages seems to have caught up with Ranbir in this film - it is slow, cliched and woefully anachronistic plot. Screenplay could have been done by a clap boy, it was that simple or redundant. Music by Lalith Pandit, whoever he is, must be one of the forgettable scores of Ranbir's career so far. It neither enriches the film nor energises it. Comedy in a few scenes is sprinkled which get a few laughs but enough to redeem the film of its cardinal sins - lazy direction, sloppy screenplay, lacklustre story and frivolous handling. 138 minutes is not that long yet found the duration tortuous. What helps is the screen presence of Ranbir, Javed Jaffrey, a few laughs and the engimatic cuteness of newcomer Pallavi Sharda. For all that, it deserves a rating of 2/5.
