Koi alag sa script likhta hai... Koi star film nahin karta hai... Aise hi toh outsiders ko film industry mein chance milta hai...

These lines from Yash Johar’s son Karan Johar to Rakesh Roshan’s son Hrithik Roshan in Javed Akhtar’s daughter Zoya Akhtar’s Luck By Chance hit you straight as an arrow, but their self-referential irony makes you wonder if the toasts of tinseltown did not flinch saying them.

Karan goes on to tell Hrithik — who doesn’t play himself but a similar superstar called Zaffar Khan — that both Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan became who they are because the stars of the time turned down Darr and Zanjeer.

So is the insane cocktail — that’s how SRK describes stardom in the film — just “luck by chance”? Or is it what Farhan’s Vikram says in the film — you choose your destiny, destiny doesn’t choose you. Zoya’s directorial debut is a collision of these two forces at play and she leaves it to you to find the path that works.

Farhan’s Vikram Jai Singh and Konkona’s Sona Mishra have chosen their paths. Both are struggling actors. He is from Delhi and after a crash course in acting (and dancing and fighting and horseriding) is ready to play along the rules of the Bollywood game. She has done a couple of Bhojpuri films and C-grade fare like Teer Aur Talwar and is convinced that the producer she is sleeping with will give her the big break.

Things don’t go as planned and luck intervenes, bad for one, good for the other. One life changes overnight into success while the other plunges into further despair. He becomes a superstar by chance, she stays an actor by choice.

Madhur Bhandarkar meets Farah Khan in Zoya Akhtar’s first effort. As with Bhandarkar there is an attempt to give the audiences an insider’s view of the ideologies and idiosyncracies of an industry. And as with Farah, there is a liberal sprinkling of inside jokes but never at the cost of the plot.

But Zoya’s unique voice comes alive in the way she paints her characters with real colours and not as the caricatures we have become used to. So you have the leading man being a heartbroken crybaby one moment and a conniving manipulator the next. Then you have the leading lady getting rid of morals one moment but celebrating pure love the next.

It is this realness that elevates Luck By Chance to great cinema. And, of course, the autobiographical nature of the characters. It’s easy to compare Zoya and Farhan with Niki’s (Isha Sharvani) character in the film — a spoilt brat born to a star parent getting everything on a platter.

Though that’s not how it had played out for the talented Akhtar siblings. Farhan himself struggled to get Dil Chahta Hai made because he did not tell Aamir he was Javed Akhtar’s son and the superstar conveniently chose to do Laagan first. And Zoya has been waiting for seven years for the script of Luck By Chance to see the light of day. Yes, she wrote this bare-all tale of the industry a good three years before Page 3.

That’s why you can see the earnestness in the storytelling, the honesty in Farhan’s performance. Here’s a director only in his second film as an actor looking and sounding as convincing as a struggler as he does as a superstar.

Konkona, of course, is fantastic. She’s done this role — a girl madly in love nursing a broken heart — a couple of times before but she takes you through it again. Isha Sharvani in the other meaty role in the film is a revelation as the poker-faced star daughter caught in the media and marketing mayhem.

But the “cheap” thrills make Luck By Chance a must-watch. Rishi Kapoor as the roly-poly producer Romy Rolly and Dimple Kapadia as “the crocodile in a chiffon sari” at the top of their game are the real treats. Hrithik, in what can be best described as an extended cameo, is awesome. It’s so good to see him on screen after so long, that too as a man of flesh and blood. His scene with the street kids is a complete delight.

The special appearances are that — special. From Mac Mohan to Anurag Kashyap, Aamir Khan to Kareena Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla to Rajkumar Hirani, everyone brings himself to the movie. The hero montage with Abhishek, Ranbir, Vivek, John and Akshaye is simply hilarious!

The camerawork by Carlos Catalan is good, especially the lamp-lit rooftop shot framed at dawn. Shankar Ehsaan Loy have done better work before even though Baawre and Sapnon se bhare naina work beautifully. Especially the latter which punctuates the auditioning for the hero, leading up to Farhan’s very Taxi Driver-ish look-up into the mirror.

Besides the obvious Bollywood in-jokes, the references to foreign films are unmistakable. Whether it is the Fellini-inspired circus song sequence, or the quick little foot massage Vikram gives to Sona (remember Pulp Fiction?) or the Raging Bull poster hanging from a wall, Zoya mixes it great!

At 160 minutes, Luck By Chance may seem a tad too long but it will perhaps give you a more straightforward perspective in life — Apne raste pe chalte raho, saari duniya us raste pe aa jayegi... The path Zoya has obviously followed.

Did you like/not like Luck By Chance? Tell t2@abpmail.com

PRATIM D. GUPTA

 

The Zoya factor

What are you trying to say through your directorial debut Luck by Chance?

The story revolves around how luck can change one’s life. That’s why it’s called Luck by Chance. Farhan plays a struggling model who comes from Delhi to Mumbai to become a Bollywood hero. How he struggles and becomes a hero is all by luck. The film is all about today’s youth — anyone can match their story with the film, not only those who are struggling in Bollywood.

Have you been in a situation when you felt: “Luck by chance ho gaya?”

Lots of times. I think this film has happened to me “luck by chance”. I got Hrithik, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, all thanks to my luck. And I feel lucky and proud to belong to a family like mine — we are very supportive of each other and are intelligent individuals.

Did you ever think of doing something different from your family — and not do something connected to films?

As my whole family is in films, I have them in my genes. See, whatever skills you have inside, will have to come out one day. So I decided to become a director and assisted Farhan on Dil Chahta Hai and Lakshya.

You cast your brother Farhan in the lead even before the release of his successful Rock On!!. Wasn't that risky?

I cannot have those concerns; those are my producers’ concerns. Ritesh (Sidhwani) was game for it. I have to choose the best actors for the part. The film didn’t happen earlier because it wasn’t economical. When I wrote the script there were no multiplexes, but now the audience has changed so much, they are interested in watching new actors and fresh stories.

Scared of being compared to Farhan?

This is my first film and if I get compared to one of the best directors in the country then I’m more than happy.

Did Farhan give you tips on directing?

He was so busy with producing and acting in the film that he didn’t get time to give me any salah.

How did you manage to bag stars such as Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia and Juhi Chawla besides of course Hrithik Roshan?

Ummm …see, I don’t have to struggle to make them sign for my film. Rishi uncle and Dimple aunty just went through my script and agreed at once. And Juhi is actually a good friend of mine and I had in mind that whenever I would make a film, I would take her as she is one the greatest actresses of Bollywood who can do any kind of roles. Hrithik is also a very good friend of mine so it was known that he would agree to the film. Farhan toh ghar ka hi hai, poochhne ki bhi zarurat nahi padi.

What does Hrithik play in the film?

He’s Zaffar Khan who had debuted in a movie made by Rishi uncle. We see him on sets and on camera but we also see him as being selfish, juggling his career, being insecure — he’s real, he’s human.

You were supposed to begin with Kismat Talkies starring Hrithik. Why didn’t Kismat Talkies work out?

We were working on that script with Hrithik. Then we began working on another script with Hrithik and he wanted to do that movie first. But to get everything in order would have taken me a lot of time and I wanted to make a movie. So I told Hrithik that I would make Luck By Chance with Farhan and asked if he would play Zaffar in it. He said “Cool”.