Luck By Chance: Moments and reactions
I avoid writing about films which every other person is writing about and voicing the same opinion as mine but what the heck! its been a one long long time since I saw a film like this. A film that I liked from first frame to the last. I think the last hindi movie that I liked was OLLO and before that? I don’t remember! Certainly nothing last year.
I am not doing a review here. There are better people who can do that without revealing any details about the film. I have no idea how to do that. If you guys didn’t get it and you are still reading…ITS WAS A SPOILER WARNING
(Darn! I am spoon-feeding!)
Anyway here are a few things that I loved/hated/learnt from the film.
Why don’t we see Rishi Kapoor more often? Ditto for Dimple Kapadiya. Last time I saw her in such a good role was in DCH. This role is perhaps better…more challenging? for it has more shades to it and she makes every scene of hers look better than the other.
An excellent performance by both Rishi Kapoor and Juhi Chawla. Rishi Kapoor was the so bloody good in the
celebration scene after the film’s success and so was Juhi Chawla. Her character seemed a bit too loud in the beginning but she is so damn good in whatever she does in the film….I don’t care if it’s anywhere close to reality, based on any real person or just a stupid imagination….whatever it is its brilliant.
Luck By Chance
Most of the special appearances were nice.
LOVED SRK!!! Loved him in a film after a long long time….may be because he was playing himself and not some out of this world moronic Raj/Rahul character. He was perfect….the superstar look in the eyes, the tone…everything was perfect.
Loved Anurag’s “murder kar dun”!!!
Somebody should make a full movie with Aamir khan with THAT scene. :P
Akshay Khanna :-)
Kareena Kapoor was good but didn’t understand why was she made to look so hideous?
Saurabh Shukla, have always loved him…from Tehkeekaat on tv to Kallu mama to acting teacher here.
Hrithik Roshan. Watch out for him in the scene with Karan Johar. The vanishing smile….perfectly delivered shot. He deserves better roles. It will be nice to see him portray real people and not only larger than life characters.
Ok! I need to stop saying ‘perfect’…but there were too many perfect shots, scenes, acts.
Moving on…
Finally a good song that I liked WATCHING as well. “Sapno se bhare naina….” very well picturized. Dunno why
everything was blue….but who cares! Farhan was brilliant in the song. The expressions, the excitement, the
nervousness, the anxiety….everything right in place. The look when the secretary finally calls his name…I fell in love with that one moment.
Javed Akhtar can write good songs IF he wants to. As far as dialogues are concerned he was always up there. Smart and witty.
“Wo sitting mein baithe hain aur sitting chal rahi hai” Don’t know why I liked it so much!
Ranbeer kapoor still looks like an idiot and acts like one…..or may be thats because he was playing himself, being himself. That small shot of his reminded me of the horrible Bachna Ae Haseeno nightmare that I had to watch on flight!
Dimple Kapadiya and Isha Sharvani…perfect casting (there I go again!).
Seduction scene
The seduction scene is so real. Isha Sharvani is awesome in that one scene…you can feel her nervousness and excitment. Farhan’s next best scene after the song. Look at his expressions…what more subtlety do people want from a film? It’s a film about an industry that has made money for being over the top for years!!! I know I am talking crap here and that’s probably a total bullshit argument but go ahead and give me a more real seduction scene.
Another scene that I totally loved was the post success celebration at producer’s house. So many things in one scene. Brilliantly written and very well executed.
Who was the girl who played Konkona’s friend? She was good.
Has the industry got something against the city of Kanpur? First Tashan and now this!
Last but not the least: Konkona sen Sharma was as usual excellent. DPac might kill me for saying this but she really needs to work on her accent. Too much bengaliness in her hindi. Or maybe it was a lapse on director’s part? Or whoever is responsible for that, if anyone. Didn’t notice it in Omkara.
Inspite of that she was one of the best things about the film. err I know thats not saying much after this loooong gushing list but it’s her film after all. It doesn’t matter how much screen time is devoted to her or her
story….the fact is that the film starts with her and ends with her. Hers is the only character that goes through transitions and grows in the film and she delivers a brilliant performance.
The film may seem like a collage of innumerable characters, caricatures but the first and the last scene bind it together into one coherent story.
Its almost like she (and her story) is lost somewhere towards the second half, in the middle of a chaotic world but when one goes back and checks out what happened to her expecting a depressing story, one finds out that the girl has found her way, her peace and her ‘perfect life’. It’s a perfect non-filmy feel good end.
Even Farhan’s hindi was a bit out of place and they are supposed to be from Delhi and Kanpur? May be it’s a national integration/unity in diversity/freedom of speech thing…koi bhi kahin bhi galat hindi bol sakta hai!
Did I forget something? Hundreds of things I guess. Moments that make this film so good to watch. This is what I call a complete masala entertainer.
Tags: akshaye khanna, Anurag Kashyap, Dimple Kapadia, Farhan Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan, Isha Sharvani, Javed Akhtar, Juhi Chawla, Kareena Kapoor, konkona sen, Rishi Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, SRK, Zoya Akhtar
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Sapno se bhaare naina is the best picturised song in a long long time ..and the lyrics ….killer….
sukh hai alag aur chain alag hai
par jo ye dekhe wo nain alag hai …..
i want to see Rishi kapur in more films ….i will anytime prefer him to AB these days …and who is the guy who played farhans friend …i loved him..loved his character ….
@Anand Kadam
i hvnt seen the film yet but if Im guessing it right frm the promos then the guy who plays Farhan’s frnd is Arjun Mathur..he si good..he featured as a lead in short film on AIDS directed by Farhan Akhtar for Mira Nair productions a year or so back,Boman Irani played his father suffering from the disease..the film ws more than just abt the disease..it beautifully explored the father-son relationship..he featured another film in the same series this time directed by Mira Nair where he played a married Irfan Khan’s lover(yes!)..anyway lookin forward to LBC as soon as Im able to
One moment when juhi was so brilliant was the scene where she reads the article about farhan in the magazine, she will have cunning and very enjoyable smile all through the sequence. IMO that was picture perfect.
I totally agree.. Really hope to see Rishi more often. Dimple’s character graph took such a beautiful turn in just that one scene where she tells Isha to patch up with Farhan. Someone is making a film with Rishi and Neetu in the lead, I read in the papers.. Do Duni Chaar.. Should be interesting!!
Havent seen the movie but
>>Even Farhan’s hindi was a bit out of place and they are supposed to be from Delhi and Kanpur? May be it’s a national integration/unity in diversity/freedom of speech thing…koi bhi kahin bhi galat hindi bol sakta hai!
LOL!
Love the somewhat goofy spontaneity of Rishi Kapoor in general… Never really liked Dimple Kapadia though…
Well yes I had a good time watching the movie last night.I thought Farhan & Konkona were good, but Rishi Kapoor actually rocked.Liked even Dimple, Isha & most of the cameo’s especially Hrithik,SRK & Anurag Kashyap.But why was Vivek Oberoi looking so ugh???
“Has the industry got something against the city of Kanpur?”
hahaa..some one is miffed.:)
That scene between Farhan and Isha at he bedroon was so freaking real..you can see Isha literally trembling with nervousness..and the way farhan denies having a girlfriend.
oh yeah that guy who played farhan’s friend. He was also good. Thanks for reminding Anand.
@KVP
hehehe yeah she was brilliant there.
Isha was hot hot hot! One of the best seduction scenes in Hindi Cinema…You could actually empathise with Farhan’s character for lying about having a girlfriend. I mean who wouldn’t if you have somebody like Isha lounging on your bed…?!
But I felt Zoya was confused with what she wanted to show. Was the movie a commentary on the industry and the people or the story of two people struggling to make it where one tastes success and the other finds failure/self? There was too much of the ensemble cast and too little of the main players for one to be an effective backdrop for the other.
where is PnU’s review the last word on cinema. Where is his LBC review????????????????
Neerja loved Kareena’s 2 bits scene….have that line played on me by so many. I generally have a stupid smile and nod….and have been subjected to the “come to my home anytime….”….VB -”yeh yeh sure…” X – “I was just kidding….” VB still with that stupid smile on.
Anyways nowadays I am in bliss over her caller tone ad with Saif…..forget the company/brand…..”Ho Gayaaaa”….she is oomphamania!!!!!
For once i really thought “Isha Sharvani” doesnt know hindi at all. The acting was so real. Yes the seduction scene was awesome. So was the gesture “kya baat hai” from Rishi Kapoor when Dimple brings in Boman Irani and talks about their relationship. Dimple was awesome, and has great screen presence. There were many many of those little moments well captured.
I liked “Arjun Mathur” as well, and the jealousy part was so well written. Juhi reading the gossip magazine was an amazing scene. Loved the movie, hated the songs except for “Sapno se bhare naina”. SEL sounds same in all the movies.
lol I wnot kill you Neeraja. Kya hai ki KOKo is working on her mallu.. So its a bit dippicult for her to juggle all the accents and get it right. I will pass on the msg though ;-)
‘Maadam, par aapka fridge tho abhi iss duniya mein nahin raha”
‘he was a stuntmaster. Ek bar stunt karte waqt, gaadi ulta ho gaya and he died on the spot, cheeni?’
Koko is working on her Tamil DPac….swords will be drawn…..beware
On her Marathi..i raise my sword!! :-)
Arre oh Talwaar waale saample kirdaaarss
Yeh gaadi nikal chuki hai.. agla pakdo!!!
kya muzeeeebath hai!! :-)
Why don’t you guys learn Bengali rather than making Koko learn mallu, marathi and tamil? :D
Too few ppl laughed at the line “Wo sitting mein baithe hain aur sitting chal rahi hai”
May be they couldn’t understand it but I laughed my heart out on that line …
Farhan’s trademark humor was so visible there ..
One more scene in the movie when he gives Isha that “Horse Trophy” during the rehearsal and after that he says ” Sorry.. I was just Horsing Around …”
Farhan’s hidden Smile when they were watching his friend’s play…
Farhan made me cry when he say to KoKo – “Saala khali jeb ghumta tha diili mein.. kitni baar paise diye hai maine use … Wo mera dost hai yaar …aisa kaise bol sakta hai wo”
TOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD scene …
Farhan is exceptional in everything he does … Be it direction, acting or Hosting(Oye !!!) …
And then Rishi Kapoor says “Cheers !!!” at the celebration scene … That scene was so simple yet so pinning
Too few ppl laughed at the line “Wo sitting mein baithe hain aur sitting chal rahi hai”
May be they couldn’t understand it but I laughed my heart out on that line …
Farhan’s trademark humor was so visible there ..
One more scene in the movie when he gives Isha that “Horse Trophy” during the rehearsal and after that he says ” Sorry.. I was just Horsing Around …”
Farhan’s hidden Smile when they were watching his friend’s play…
Farhan made me cry when he say to KoKo – “Saala khali jeb ghumta tha diili mein.. kitni baar paise diye hai maine use … Wo mera dost hai yaar …aisa kaise bol sakta hai wo”
TOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD scene …
Farhan is exceptional in everything he does … Be it direction, acting or Hosting(Oye !!!) …
And then Rishi Kapoor says “Cheers !!!” at the celebration scene … That scene was so simple yet it pinned me down for a few seconds … Awesome Movie on the whole !!!
the film was full of “Vulcannno of talents”..and the talents were intellegently used.
wht u’ll say about Anurag Kashyap’s bit….!!!
should he start actinig…!!!!
“Too few ppl laughed at the line “Wo sitting mein baithe hain aur sitting chal rahi hai”
May be they couldn’t understand it but I laughed my heart out on that line …”
Avi tu to bhaut bright banda hai yaar….
“” Sorry.. I was just Horsing Around …””
it’s actually “ok, no more horsing around….”
Avi just kidding ya
good to see so many people loving the movie so much.
Donno if many people liked Naach. I liked it. Thought the first half was AWESOME.
AB Jr’s char and FA and Antra and Koko.
But maybe Naach was more about being idealistic or being an opportunist….LBC was more about survival I guess.
just saw the movie…
*yes, the seduction scene, if one can call it that, was very real…very well acted
*and just loved the expression of Anurag Kashyap during the 2-3 scene…made me split up
*but I was mighty disappointed with the final ending shot of the movie…Konkana’s character sits in the taxi and the car starts moving with the credits running…too Micheal Clayton, and its not even a homage thing
*also, everyone who seems to like this movie is someone who has actual experience of the filmi world of bombay, so i have no idea how an “outsider” would react to this film
*but it indeed is a very good product
*on my list for 2009 with President Is Comming…
@rbehemoth
never liked dimple? really?
I soooo loved her in DCH that I am sure I must have given wrong impression about myself to quite a few people.
Vasan, lol. yeah she was good but she looked hideous!!!
Need to get hold of naach asap.
@Umesh(21)
I’ll not say anything about Anurag Kashyap’s bit except that it was good and I loved it but what I’ll say is that you should stop reacting to everything that he does!
It was mainly Anurag’s comments on LBC at PFC that prompted me to go for LBC.I was curious what has made this guy to say this film to be the best debut of this decade and I don’t regret it.One of best movies I have seen in recent times.
Now I am eagerly waiting for his film DEVD this friday.Will it be able to fulfill the sky high expectations?Will it better LBC?
@ASX
I liked the way film ends.Happy that director didn’t play to the gallery with usual bollywoodish endng
@ gony dhoni 12
completely agree with u
ekdum maza aa gaya. Rishi kapoor was in shtyle and Dimple wonderful in every scene. Loved her reactions particularly the one bhashan to her putri at the end.
Juhi’s antics were funny and her sister played a simple wannabe very well.- uski sharmindgi aur uska yaad dilaana bahut natural tha.
Liked Farhan’s theatre actor friend quite a bit. wish they had explored that role further…I got a gut feeling ye banda kahin suicide na karle…
Isha shravani was awesome. irritating to the hilt like she was supposed to be.
During the seduction scene I still held on to a hope that he might show her the dooor…HIs subversive tactics were good too. !!..doosre hunk ka halwa ho gaya.
Konkona’s friend did a good job. I found Konkona’s dialogue delivery a little monotonous. same to same expressions in most movies…..got slotted into such roles maybe… some variety will be much appreciated.
songs were awesome and Hritik ka dance aur neck ke jhatke ekdum fundoo the.
actually accent mishaps shud be forgiven ….subtle aur natural cinema hai to….kitne log bhadhiya hindi bol lete hein?
if you see guys like Hritik and Farhan talking on their show “oye its friday” you will detect a strong marathi accent.
hindi me bol lo yahi kaafi hai.. :-)
bina murder ke !!!
In Tamil movies the female voices are highly anglicised and badly dubbed and sound fakily seductive most of the time . Its a rage…
maybe accent goofs will catch in BOllywood too.
Sethu: Welcome back :-)
I loved Hrithik. The scene when he makes faces to the kids from inside his car – and the scene in which he tells Rolly to relieve him from the film – and the scene in which he looks at Farhan wondering if he has made a mistake (Karan Johar scene) – does anyone agree that there is a connect between these three scenes?
And Anurag’s ‘loud thinking’ scene. Someone has written a post(or was it two?) earlier about special one scene actors who has made a mark. IMO, Anurag Kashyap takes the cake.
Farhan flattering Dimple – the prelude to this conversation was fantastic – Farhan saying a Hi to Dia who smiles non-committally and moves out. Then Farhan goes and flatters Dimple. Fantastic!
Polishing of Grandpa clock – Farhan telling his competitor that the producer liked his confidence(and just turning back and checking him out before he goes inside) – Konkona telling the AD ‘character ka naam lo na’ – Farhan’s suit is clipped on the back to get that right look in the front, during the photosession – ‘hum property ko hi property kehte hain’ – moment after moment, scene after scene, this is a master at work. I’ll wait in the queue for your next one Zoya!
Anand- thanks for the welcome
I had taken a short sabbatical & in the process got married 
Incidentally even my wife loved the movie.
I am a bit surprised to see the box office reports being negative both in the domestic & international markets.But all the people whom I know & who’ve seen the movie have only good things to talk about the movie.
The jury is still out on the collections
I liked the movie and I think Farhan can do no wrong.The guy really is multi-talented for sure.
The thing I loved and Hated about the movie were the cameos.While they were done very well unlike OSO ,in which they wanted us to howl each time we saw some celebrity on the screen,here it fit perfectly into the story.But in the end too many cooks spoiled the broth ,the focus could have been more on Farhan and Konkana I felt.
Loved the way each character had a grey shade.While the other characters were shown to be multi-layered characters from the beginning ,Farhan is all white in the start and becomes a complete a*****e by the end.
rbehemoth@5…yes…barring a few movies like Bobby, Sagar, Jaanbaaz, Rudali…never had the fascination for Dimple
finely etched characters but the plot was a bit too ambiguous for my taste….should have concentrated more on the central story in the second half but other than that it was a great debut.
I’ve been wanting to watch LBC since its release, but somehow could not find the time.
Today I finally saw it, went to the movie all by myself to a half empty cinema hall.
I am not going to go on and on abt the performances, I guess enough has been said already…but I do have some observations.
1) The seduction scene was probably the most subtle and perfect scene I have ever seen. Very believable, real women r not vamps in bed, and Ishas body language was just perfect, fiddling, jumping in the bed, delivery…even the way she folds her legs behind her..just perfect.
2) I honestly think the movie cud have done well to have just one scene, showing konkana paying the bill at a restaurant, or maybe paying taxi fair…jst to establish that farhan was really using her….coz in the climax…it all seemed a lil vague to conclude that farhans character totally used her.
3) Shahrukhs scene definitely needed to be cut at the glare…the bhashan wasn’t necessary…SRK looks thru farhan…farhan gets the msg, feels the guilt…woilah…dats great cinema.
4) The movie really loses its content when konkana calls vikram selfish. she slept with chaudhary, hung around for 3 years…just to get her big break. the whole guilt thing was lost on me. How can a strong character like that have double standards, you dont feel for her becoz in that one scene her hypocracy comes to the fore.
I think thats one of the major reasons why the movie just cannot do well, it doesn’t connect at any level…true strugglers might relate to it, but Zoya failed to get the general audience to empathize.
I’ll wait for her next movie…it just has to be better than LBC
@Cliff
1) Totally agree
2) It was not about money. She stood by him when noone else did. He used her as a support at the time when he needed one.
3) If they would have kept the shahrukh scene shorter other people would have complained saying that a superstar not showing his superstar attitude by not giving bhashan is out of character. :P
4) She was very honest about what she did. Vikram on the other hand was not. She doesn’t cheat anyone(chaudhary or Vikram) whereas he is a liar and cheats on both the girls.
Anyway when you call someone idiot or selfish you don’t think of what you and he/she has done in the entire life. At that point, she calls him selfish because he comes back to her thinking she was his support & that he needs her, not even once thinking that she too has a life.
Dats why I say that Konkanas character was not very believable…she jst cudn’t get the general audience to empathise with her. This is someone whos been in the industry for years, surely she knows that no newcomer is gonna let the chance of a career boostig affair with a starkid slide. It wasn’t surprising for the audience…infact it seemed like a natural progression to be honest. Maybe I have twisted morals
Anurag kashyap’s scene of “faasi ka fanda” was howlarious…
watch rishi kapoor’s expression and the reaction “oye kya kar raha ahi… main yeh film festival ke liye nahi banaa raha”
@Parth, Anurag really should take up acting….like Rishi Sir would say…Volcano of Talent!!
I love the movie , many scenes, far more better than dch.I love the Murder scene(Anurag)
@Vasan
Theek hai bhai .. Galti se thodi hoshiyaari maar li to iska matlab ye to nahi ke maar loge hamaari sare aam…
Pata hai bhai …Dev D ke AD ho …Bahut dhyaan se dekhte ho filmein .. bahut achcha likhte bhi ho … Logo ko apne Condom Shopping ki kahaaniyaa bhi sunaate ho …picture me band bhi bajaate ho …All rounder ho …
Par yaar jab main uss “sitting” wale scene pe hansa tha to mere baaju wala banda mujhe aise ghoor raha tha jaise maine uski biwi ko chunti kaat li ho … neways …
Behatareen film banaai hai Dev D .. Mere kehna koi maayne to nahi rakhta kyu ki PFC pe mere se jyada Gyaani Dhyaani logo ne itni tareef pehle hi kar di hai aap logo ki … but still … Great Film !!! Ek din aapka naam Director ke title ke under bhi dikhega I hope .. tab tak … Keep Horsing Around …