After watching 'Aiyyaa', one actually feels bad for Rani Mukerji who is definitely made for better films. In fact even from promotion perspective she went all out for the film.
However the makers are just not justified in roping in a talent like her and expect that it would be good enough for a film to succeed. There is some bit of content that one expects and ironically, 'Aiyyaa' neither gets into a commercial zone not explores an arty setting to the fullest.
You can pretty much sense that the film may not really be taking an intended direction when Rani's take on Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi and Juhi Chawla in a dream sequence turns out to be rather abrupt.
There is an attempt made to entice humour through her family members but all of that is given such a cliched treatment that you wonder how Rani actually survived in this reaaaaaaaaly long film that runs for around two and a half hours.
By the time Rani gets a job in an arts college and a really irritating colleague of hers (played by Anita Date) is introduced, you start gaining an idea around the film quickly losing steam in its first lap itself. `Bizarre' is pretty much the word to describe the chain of events that unfold from here. To begin with, there is this entire long drawn sequence in a theatrical setting where Rani talks about her 'sapney' to her new found friend. It is expected that entry of her dream man, Prithviraj, may change things for better but then Rani's constant sniffing and hunting doesn't help the cause either.
In fact all of this becomes so repetitive that one ends up wondering what made director Sachin Kundalkar and his team to be so emotionally attached to the portions they had shot.
The silent one sided love just goes on and on and on, and though the aim must have been to establish emotions gradually, the fact remains that for audience it only accounts to patience being lost. Arrival of the proposed groom in the story, Subodh Bhave, makes one assume that the film would take a funnier route but instead, it only ends up slipping all the more.
The film only goes totally haywire in the second half. So right from Rani stepping out of a couple of formal events centred on her marriage to the bizarre turn of events where her brother gets hitched to her colleague to the predicament that actually doesn't turn out to be one really, 'Aiyyaa' nose dives, and how.
In fact the film only manages to push you back so much that arrival of anthem songs like 'Dreamum Wakeupum' and 'Aga bai' is also not celebrated as their placement is also clearly the case of an afterthought.
The reason why you could still possibly sit through in this weird film is Rani Mukerji who gives her all to the role. One wonders how she actually maintained a straight face in this film because right from getting her coming timing right to the belly dancing as well as other 'masala' antics, she is simply perfect. As for Prithviraj, he hardly has a role to boast about and one wonders if he would be continuing with more Hindi films. Subodh Bhave is decent.
'Aiyyaa' is a film that can be termed as a sure shot recipe for sheer exasperation. Really, the film comes across as so directionless that it manages to lose your attention within 20 minutes of its play.
Now that's quite a disastrous outcome of a film that appeared to be so promising when it's first promo came out and only added on to the excitement as it's songs started catching steam. Alas, but the only moments which are truly impressive are already there in the promos and in the context of the film's narrative, not each of these really works.
Rating: *
