Film Review: 'Aladin'

The Story:

'Aladin' is a contemporary take on the popular fairy tale "Aladdin". The story is about Aladin Chatterjee (Ritesh Deshmukh) who grows up an orphan in a fantasy-like small town called Khwaish and despite his name, he doesn’t have anything in common with his famous namesake in the classic fairy tale. He is constanlty bullied by school mates who make fun of him and force him to rub lamps in the hopes of seeing a genie appear. One day, a beautiful girl named Jasmine (Jacqueline Fernandez) comes to his college as an exchange student from the U.S. Aladin falls in love with her immediately but so does his biggest bully Kasim (Sahil Khan). But on Aladin’s birthday something strange happens and the movie all of a sudden takes a magic turn as Jasmine gives Aladin a magic lamp that comes out to be a genie named Genius (Amitabh Bachchan). Genius makes Aladin's life a living hell when his three wishes cause chaos in the town. The real destruction begins when a former genie by the name of Ringmaster (Sanjay Dutt) battles out with Genius.

The Cast:

Ritesh Deshmukh as Aladin - a young man in college who lost his parents when he was just a child and who is constantly bullied by his class mates for his name.

Jacqueline Fernandes as Jasmine - Aladin’s love interest. She comes to Khwaish university as an exchange student from America.

Amitabh Bachchan as Genie - he is funny, he is charming and he can really bust the moves for a man of his age, but then again he is a genie whi can do just about anything!

Sanjay Dutt as Ringmaster - the villain who once was a Genie himself but who used his powers for selfish reasons and became an outcast in the Genie community. He is trying to get back to lamp to take over the world.

Sahil Khan as Kasim – the leader of Aladin’s bullies. He also falls in love with Jasmine.

The Crew:

Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Screenplay: Sujoy Ghosh
Writer: Sujoy Ghosh, Suresh Nair and Ritesh Shah
Producer: Sunil A. Lulla and Sujoy Ghosh
Cinematography: Sirsha Ray
Art Director: Sabu Cyril
Music: Vishal-Shekhar

What Worked:

Jacqueline Fernandes makes her movie debut as Jasmine and this former model is a good fit for role of cute Jasmine, and even though her dance moves need to be perfected, she pulled off the choreographies with style. Ritesh Deshmukh will have every girl’s heart skip a beat. He puts on a charming performance as the lost and bewildered Aladin who just wants to live a calm and peaceful life without any complications. Amitabh Bachchan has good comic timing while Sanjay Dutt, who plays the Ringmaster, does a great job as the movie’s villain. Where the story was weak the impressive special effects made up for it.

What Didn't:

Sometimes the jokes became a bit too predictable and a few scenes too cheesy and you almost walk away with an aftertaste of charm overload.

The Soundtrack:

The soundtrack of the film has some pretty preppy dance numbers with the song "Genie Rap" sung by the Big B himself as well as "Giri Giri" by Sanjay Dutt. Vishal-Shekhar's music is strictly okay, however too many songs in the initial reels act as roadblocks in the film.