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'Superstar' - Could have been better

By Aparajita Ghosh
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

‘Superstar’ falls just a wee bit short of becoming a real nice and watchable film.

The strength of ‘Superstar’ lies in its story, which has a strong element of irony. However, the film’s main weakness is a lack of consistent build-up in the plot, particularly in the second half.

The

movie has Kunal Khemu in double roles.

Kunal (Kunal Khemu) is a struggling actor who, much against the wishes of his father, pursues his dream of becoming a Bollywood superstar some day. He has talent, but doesn’t get more than fleeting roles as an extra in films.

Karan (Kunal Khemu again) is the pampered son of a rich producer (Darshan Jariwala) who is fixated on creating a superstar out of his talentless son. Karan, however, has little passion for acting and more inclination towards women, a beautiful actress named Barkha (Aushima Sawhney) in particular.

Life plays a strange joke on Kunal after he is picked as a body double for the film that has incompetent Karan as its hero. Stepping into his lookalike’s shoes, Kunal finds his dream of becoming a superstar fulfilling at the cost of losing his identity and losing his loved ones.

Such a superb story had a great scope for several undercurrents. But the film’s script fails to rise to the standard that the story merited. On top of it, the editing could have been slicker. Though the film breezes past in the first half, the second half begins to drag.

But credit must be given to Kunal Khemu for infusing life into both the characters he plays in the film. Playing the look-alikes with contrary qualities, Kunal captures the nuances of his characters with the command and control of a polished actor. He also proves his ability to carry a film on his sole shoulders.

Tulip Joshi , paired opposite the middle-class Kunal, doesn’t have a substantial role. Aushima Sawhney gets a little more footage and she plays her part well.

Darshan Jariwala is excellent as the greedy and ambitious producer unhesitant to pull out all the stops to make a superstar out of his boy.

Rohit Jugraj, the director of ‘Superstar’, shows remarkable growth after his lackluster film James . But what Jugraj fails at is to ensure a gripping script and a solid execution of the subject.

Still, ‘Superstar’ does have some touching and humorous moments. Most of all, you empathize with the protagonist. And if you really like to see an underrated actor perform beyond expectations, then you might even end up liking ‘Superstar’.

Rating: **

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