Marjaavaan Movie Review | Dekh ke mar mat jaana

After seeing the Marjaavaan, I started questioning myself, what is the true definition of a 'massy' movie?

I couldn't find a dictionary meaning anywhere, so I curated people's expectations from social media and made a definition out of it. 

Well below is what people expect out of the a massy movie... Power of 5 as they say...

1. Truly Massy - content / situations that connects to masses at large. Who are masses today? It is a no Brainer... Poor till middle class. Everyone above them are niche. 

2. Resonates to the masses with current level of issues, situations, beliefs or socioeconomic environment, etc etc. 

3. Mass doesn't mean illogical. They like a rebellious protagonist but 'a rebel without a cause' is a dead man. 

4. Entertainment / repeat value should be high. So songs, dialogue, action and most important the actor's persona should mesmerize. 

5. A start of unique style, may not be that sophisticated but that goes viral. Something new...

Now when we have understood the definition of a masala massy movie, then let's try and see how Marjaavaan fair to deliver on these points. 

It is a story of orphan man Raghu played by Sidharth Malhotra who is picked by a South Indian don as a child and is raised almost like his own child. Don's own son Vishnu is Dwarf, a mean character and is jealous of Raghu as he is liked by Don a lot. Vishnu is played by Riteish Deshmukh. Raghu's love interest is Zoya (Tara Sutaria). 

Story progresses and Zoya sees Vishnu killing someone. Now Vishnu who doesn't like Raghu, wants to hurt him by killing the girl in order to erase all proofs of killing. In an intense fight, the bad guys hold Zoya and other basti girls on gun point. The gang of men beats the shit out of Raghu and he is ordered by the Don to kill Zoya or rest of the basti girls will be killed. Raghu hence is helpless and kills Zoya, her love. 

Huhhhhh.... Then come the revenge after the interval. We all know that the villain dies in the end. For further detailing see the movie at your own risk. 

But lets see what went for and against the movie. Don't forget the massy definition while you read.

1. Trailer and the first view - An over the top trailer with 90s dialogs and a strong villain (Riteish ) got people's attention. The director Milap Zaveri has just given a hugely successful movie Satyamev Jayate and people thought even Marjaavaan would be similar. 

2. Old vine in a old bottle - Mr. Director lost the plot even before shooting the first scene when he decided to shoot the movie like literally 60s old style with cut to cut scenes, no continuity, dialog baazi, item numbers etc etc. He made no attempt to atleast narrate the story in a new bottle and that's where the movie fails on definition no. 2 above. 

3. Protagonist is an over the top movies have an additional responsibility of making things believable on the screen. Therefore, this actor should be either able to act well, have a suave that's unique or is a great action action hero. Examples in today's times - Shahid Kapoor can act, Salman or Hrithik has the suave and Tiger can do action. 

What can Sidharth do except a shadow personality of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. Some similarities here and there doesn't make him 'the angry man'. 

Sidharth to me hasn't made any scene believable - romantic or action. Dialog delivery is very flat. By the way dialogs aren't bad but they simply aren't delivered rightly by him.

He is shown as a He-Man but when it came to save her love Tara, he shot her. A man in true love will fight it out. In such moments, killing a loved one isn't a natural behavior.

Female lead Tara ties very hard to be cute and tries to be  another Shraddha Kapoor of 'Ek Villain' but fails miserably. 

Her hair style also looked dated of early 2000s. 

4. One department in which the film excels is the choice of villain in the form of Riteish. Superb job done. Always in control. Freaks you out but isn't utilized by the director well. He is mean and shrewd but is scared of Raghu's / Sidharth 's raw strength. Really???? A psycho isn't afraid that way...  So the movie fails to build characters effectively. Characters behavior isn't consistent and the audience is kept confused. 

5. The story is very old age. The so called massy audiences have also evolved and they have different issues to relate to. Why isn't any movie showing a a village with zamindar and farmer issue anymore.. Because it is tackled and isn't mass any more. 

Then why would Milap Zaveri want to show 60s issue of an orphan guy and his revenge in 2019. 

I can always see an old Amitabh Bachchan movie be more contended then seeing expressionless Sidharth Malhotra.

So the movie again fails on the massy definition no. 1 above. 

6. Songs or items are not hummable. No repeat value. Shot poorly as well. Isn't a visual delight.

7. Action and Screenplay is such a type  of movie is seen ten thousand times. Sidharth just doesn't have the demeanor of a man with extraordinary strength.  He body language is so dheela. So the definition point no. 4 is also defeated. 

Too much read above... Please assume 2-3 more such loop holes that makes it unbearable. A perfect 10 for a flop.

Biggest issue is that Milap Zaveri has assumed massy audience is an idiot. They don't need anything fresh.

Like Riteish building an army to protect himself from Raghu but goes unused. Why was it even shown? It did not add anything to the movie.

Every 6 months there is a Dussehra. Really?

Mumbai basti with dance bar and sex trade of teenagers openly? Really?

Sidharth stopping two trucks? Even Sunny Deol can't do it. Really?

Raghu is raised by the Don like his own child but doesn't give him enough money. Really?

Raghu is all inspected hard for any weapons before meeting the Don like father every time. Why? Really?

Movie is a big let down and I predict a big drop in bookings after the first two days of release. Another flop for Sidharth. He should find a differentiation for himself soon or he will sit at home soon.