Exceptional, but lengthy about flying and freedom, the
Bollywood film “Hawaizaada,” directed by Vibhu Virender Puri, spins
legend into more legend. The year is 1895, and the setting is Bombay. The story
concerns a quest by two Indians to build an airplane and to show the British
rulers of India — “A monkey can’t make a machine!” one says — what their
subjects can do.
Debutant director Vibhu Puri has a vision. He picks up an
unexplored plot, determines to mount it big and then add on elements for worldwide
appeal. But, what goes missing is depth to the theme, direction to the bigness
and placement of the elements. What could well have been a tremendous story of
an underdog making an airplane turns out to be a two and a half hour affair that
boasts of brilliant grandeur but wanders into numerous directions while packs
in too many things, quite of which seem unnecessary.
One can well sense that to begin with, the makers would have
felt that this one was an heroic in the making. No wonder, crores have been
spent on creating a period feel for Hawaizaada. Right from the locations to the
art design to the costumes to the props to the paint on the walls, everything
has been assembled brilliantly well by Puri and his team to create late 1890s.
The period is set well and you are indeed transported well into the time that
carries its own intrigue.
In fact you quite like the first half of the movie which has
a good mix of core theme (that of building an airplane) being integrated well
with the love story of Ayushmann Khurrana and Pallavi Sharda. Yes, there could
have been more of the basic theme and less of the love story but still you
don't mind as there scenes play themselves well. As a buildup, you do like to
know more about Ayushmann's family background, his ideology when it comes to
being free, his love for a nautch girl, his admiration for his mentor (Mithun
Chakraborty) and his genius as somebody with brains and common sense.
No surprise, you are pretty much attached to him and his
antics right till a very well-crafted interval point which has superb build up
towards it. A magnificent background score only emphasizes the impact further
and though it takes a long time to reach this point, you like what you see,
though well wondering if there is much left to be told in the second half.
Well, this is what turns out to be a problem are actually as
the movie drags, and how, in this part of the tale. What could well have been
an under-two hour film, has an altogether different run of events from this
point on as disloyalty, sorrow, failures and dissatisfactions make Hawaizaada
an almost unattractive affair. Unexpectedly, the mood shifts to being gloomy
and unlike that superb Marathi biopic Harishchandrachi Factory which had kept
its momentum undamaged even in face of difficulties that its central hero
faced, Hawaizaada ends up losing its direction.
So while you find Ayushmann's desperate and imprudent act a
little too unexpected, his love story with Pallavi turns out cool affair too,
despite them actually reuniting. His hunt for the flawless formula to run a
plane gets so much extended that it turns out to be a major episode in itself.
As for the climax, one would have anticipated a lot more build and euphoria.
Now if only it would have carries the same energy (if not more) as the interval
sequence, Hawaizaada would have finished on a good note. But it doesn't turn
out to be the case.
While the background score of the film is as uninspired as
its screenplay, the many songs are generic at best.
On the whole, it is praiseworthy to watch once for director’s
noble effort.
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