Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Deepika Padukone, Piyush Mishra, Namit Das, Manish ChoudharyDirector: Pradeep Sarkar
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Music: Anand R
Rating: ***
'Lafangey Parindey' arrives on a whole lot of apprehensions. Over the years Yash Raj Films have lost their golden touch and director Pradeep Sarkar's name too has been tainted enough by the last film he made – 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag'. That takes a lot of expectations off 'Lafangey Parindey'. That, however, does not take the sheen off this film. Sarkar after all made a hit like 'Parineeta' too besides many well-received commercials! Plus, the film boasts of some great talents like Piyush Mishra and Manish Choudhary apart from bright young Neil Nitin Mukesh and Deepika Padukone. 'Lafangey Parindey' is the first time Neil and Deepika are together and all eyes will be on them and the chemistry they share.
Pushing over cobwebs of expectations, the film looks like a non-starter in the first 20 minutes, appearing just a collection of scenes put together to form a longer film. But soon things take shape and the story starts flowing, justifying the screenplay. And at interval point the film is evenly poised. Post interval too, as the love story unfolds, there is a fair amount of suspense.
The film is about two people, Nandu (Neil) and Pinky (Deepika), who belong to the lower middle class strata of the society. It is a section of the society which doesn't make to the big screen too often, and when they do they make really colourful stories. We have seen Aamir Khan doing the act in 'Rangeela' and 'Ghulam'.
Pinky dreams of making it big on the basis of her dancing talent. Nandu in the meantime is just happy being One Shot Nandu, the guy who fights boxing matches for money, and has no future plan. Their lives change when Pinky goes blind and Nandu decides to help her out. He trains her to use her other senses to go about her regular life and also dance.
After the initial experiment there is nothing exceptional about the screenplay and it rolls out plainly. There are times when you wish the film had more pace. Also, if you expect to get emotionally charged while watching a film, you won't derive that from this film except in a couple of scenes. On the good part, there is a lot of work on the dialogues and they come out well giving life to the characters. Music too works very well in the film.
Among the highlights of the film is the art direction. The fact that the film is shot majorly in sets created in a Mumbai studio is remarkable as it seems very genuine. Performance wise, Neil scores yet again confirming that he has the talent to be in the reckoning when you speculate on the future stars. And Deepika asserts that she has matured immensely as an actress. This is her best performance yet as she plays out the blind girl with conviction. It definitely is no easy task to dance on roller skates and both the lead actors deserve claps on their efforts. The supporting cast does a great job. Kay Kay who makes a surprise five-minute cameo is delightful.
Overall, 'Lafangey Parindey' is a sweet love story which justifies all the primary characters. This one should be seen for the effort by the actors. Expect fun and you won't be disappointed, expect goosebumps and you may be!
PS: Neil does his first on screen kiss in this film!
By Noyon Jyoti Parasara / Sanskriti Media & Entertainment
