Heroine (2012)

Other than the (fake) 'fact' that 'everyone in Bollywood is evil and self-centred' (according to the director), I didn't get what point Bhandarkar was trying to make. While his previous films like 'Corporate', 'Fashion', 'Page 3' etc also present a heavily biased view, the stories had more structure (as flawed as most of them might have been). However, 'Heroine' is one huge mess. Think of it as a disastrous fusion of his aforementioned films with Bollywood as the backdrop. Poorly written caricatures, lacking in focus, the film doesn't seem to be able to make up its mind.Kareena Kapoor in the title role hardly impresses at all. It doesn't help that the character is halfbaked and one-dimensional. Perhaps Bhandarkar was aware of Kapoor's limitations and had the voice-over of a pointless reporter character (one of the most annoying features of 'Heroine') dictate how the viewer is supposed to feel. Talk about spoonfeeding. Even fine actors like Divya Dutta and Lilette Dubey aren't given much scope (mostly due to horrendous writing). The only acting that stands out is that of Shahana Goswami. Her track would have been a nice addition if it weren't for the pointless lesbian fling conclusion. Exactly what was Bhandarkar trying to say here? Apart from Goswami, Govind Namdeo is likable too.The songs are just as dreadful. The execution is mediocre. Sound design is awful. The sex scenes are laughably bad. Were Bhandarkar and Kapoor shooting themselves up with heroin to make 'Heroine'?

Heroine was a film with plot holes and subsequent weak script but was watchable thanks to stupendous and courageous performance by Kareena Kapoor Heroine tells the story of a an popular actress who has everything - beautiful looks , fame , money but still has a very lonely and depressing life due to insecurity as she goes through the various phases of living a Bollywood Dream Directed by national award winner of Chandni Bar , Page 3 and Fashion , Madhur Bhandarkar misses the mark with this film. The film begins on loose ends confusing the audience about the story. Frankly speaking , 1st half is a complete bore and hopeless. However , the silver lining is few grasping moments in the 2nd half coupled by Kareena's brave performance makes it worth-watching at least once. The theme of the movie was good but Bhandarkar's repetitive introduction of character right from page 3 till heroine makes it realize as if you are watching the same movie. Screenplay has lot of loop holes . Story is boring. Art direction is just about OK along with cinematography. Music is decent with Halkat Jawani being the pick of the lot. Coming to the performances , it is Kareena's show all the way. The gorgeous actress proves her mettle and goes one step further to display her histrionic character with aplomb. Shahana Goswami, Divya Dutta and Randeep Hooda were good in smaller rolesOverall , a movie that had potential to be a great film !!! Though the film is titled Heroine but Kareena is actually the Hero of the film. Average 2 / 5

As the title indicates, this is the story of a Bollywood heroine (in fact a collection of some episodes from her life and career). People keep on coming in and going out of her life and she finally ends up running away from the arc-lights and the sounds like Light, Camera, Action, Cut etc., i.e., instead of being a crowd-puller, feels better being a part of the crowd. She is indecisive or confused as to what she actually wants from her life - a successful career or a love-filled life with the man of her choice. And as a Hindi maxim tells - Duvidha Mein Dono Gaye, Maaya Milee Na Raam (in the condition of being in a fix, the person may get neither God nor wealth), she finally gets none of them.The way every coin has two sides, the same way every world or field has two altogether different sides – one bright one and one dark one. And the so-called realistic filmmaker – Madhur Bhandarkar has typed himself as a filmmaker concentrating on the dark side only of the field he is dealing with in his movie. The problem is that he always takes his audience for granted and wants it to believe whatever he shows as true.Madhur Bhandarkar has not shown any strugglers or acting lessons or a sincerity towards the profession. Instead he has chosen to show only the successful heroes and heroines and their activities involving mud-slinging, leg-pulling, scores-settling and dirty politics. And just like Fashion, he has shown smoking, drinking, drug-consumption, unsocial behaviour in the parties and casual sex (both heterosexual and homosexual). Is this all the film industry contains ? Is this the only scenario of a heroine's life ? After spending more than a decade in the film industry, do Madhur Bhandarkar and Kareena Kapoor want to tell the world that this is what they experience in this line ? Madhur Bhandarkar has shown that hype is everything and bad publicity is also considered as commercially beneficial. Well, this applies to this over-hyped film itself.In the beginning sequence of Subhash Ghai's Pardes (1997), Amrish Puri says to a Westerner, 'In your country, love means Len-Den, i.e., give and take whereas in India love means Dena Dena Dena, i.e., give give give. However Madhur Bhandarkar has shown that in this industry (which he himself is a part of), there is only give and take. Every talk, every gesture, every emotion, every relationship is artificial and motivated by self-interest. Well, he and Kareena Kapoor know better.Chums and dress-designers hovering around heroines are shown as speaking and behaving quite theatrically. Every female smokes. Every heroine is addressed by the talking person as 'babes' or 'baby'. Partisan media persons believe in settling their scores with the stars. Awards are negotiated. Heroes' possessive wives decide the heroines of their movies. Heroes do editing themselves, cutting the roles of those who do not come to their terms. Heroines devote more time to backbiting (or bitching) their contemporaries. Well, at least this is one fact which is confirmed through Kareena Kapoor's own life because she used to do it with her rival heroines till a few years back. For the rest, I am not sure to be fully true. All the same, how can I challenge the perception of Madhur and Kareena of their own line of work ? The hard-hitting dialogs serve Madhur's purpose best. In one dialog, the ruthless PRO (Divya Dutta) of the heroine says that in the film-line, if you utter a lie with confidence, people consider it as truth. And in another scene, one party-woman says to her talking companion that who is not a fraud in this film industry. Well Madhur, do you say the same about yourself too ? The movie leaves such an impression only.Technically, the movie is good. Music is in line with the mood of the movie. Though engrossing, the movie appears to be too long and the director seems to have attempted to cover as many facets of the cine-world, as possible which has, after a point, made the movie as burdensome. It has got reduced to a collection of some good and some bad sentences instead of being developed into a well-written impressive article.Performances are all good. Even those who have been forced by the director to go over the top, have not disappointed. Kareena Kapoor has taken her heart out to invest in this movie and this movie seems to be a take on the real life and career of this aging actress (completed 32 years). All others have done well. Special praise is deserved by Divya Dutta as the PRO and Helen as the heroine of the yesteryears. In addition to the entertainment value, it's the performances and the track of Helen which can be considered as the pluses of this movie. Madhur Bhandarkar's realism seems to be a different name for tried and tested entertainment only.The biggest thing that the movie subtly conveys is the dictum which I learnt quite late in my life – 'When you chase things, they run away'. When the 'heroine' in the movie chases love, love runs away from her and when she chases success in career, success runs away from her and all of her efforts prove to be counter-productive only in the end. Hence the great lesson rendered by default is never to run after anything. Let it go after a point.Finally, I conclude my review with a dialog of the PRO to the heroine in a scene – 'Either you manipulate others to your benefit or get ready to be manipulated yourself'. Madhur Bhandarkar seems to have grasped the essence of this dialog and this time he has manipulated.

One of the boring movies from Madhur Bhandarkar. Throughout the film kareena weeps, weeps and WEEPS. The director himself is confused while he portraits Mahi Arora (Kareena) as confused. Its again a mixture of Fashion, Page 3, Dirty Picture which results in a new movie, Heroine. Its glamorous, rich in fashion statement, thanks to cinematographers and Manish Malhotra for designs. Big problem in Heroine is that... that wow moment which usually happens in Madhur's films, doesn't happen at all. There is nothing to cherish when you come out of the theater (Except Kareena's performance) Trust me, after not being a Kareena fan, She is at her phenomenal best in this. She looks gorgeous even when she cries out loud. Sarcastic, attitude, jealous, happy, distort, devastation, frustration and all other emotions showcased perfectly by Bebo (Kareena). She is the star of the movie. While movie itself is sulky, sloppy, boring and bad in all parts. Watch it for Bebo if you are a die hard fan of her. 3 out of 10 for Heroine. 1 for movie and 2 for BEBO