Saahil Prem the actor who played beefcake to Sunny Leone’s sizzle in ‘Ragini MMS 2’ goes several steps further -into writing , directing and starring in a film about dance(Bop and Pop).The film has a decent enough storyline but the standard issue plotting and the tokenisms about family strife, make it a little less exciting. To top it the dance sequences are not choreographed or shot well enough for visual appeal. For a genre pic about dance this one is in fact lacking quality in that main ingredient.
In fact the narrative gets a little too embroiled in set-up and exposition to be able to do full justice to the Dance form it was meant to showcase. The storyline takes us through struggles and anxieties of small town and Asian immigrant youth telling the story in particular about a young man Aarav(Saahil Prem) who chooses to go the dance way to further his career.
His struggle to make it in the underground dance circuit forms the crux of the story. The film starts off with Aarav sitting in a bank discussing the possibility of a loan of Rs.25 lakh, for him to participate in an international dance competition. The proposition flabbergasts the officers concerned so they ask him to spell out why they should even consider it?
Aarav then goes into flashback, telling us about his arrival in Sheffield , UK in search of his dance God , Caesar(Mark Monero), a mysterious youtube superstar who is indefinably exacting in his choice of pupils. So when Aarav finally meets up with him he has to face humiliation in a dance off with Caesar’s star performer Henry(Jon Jo).
Aarav then gets friendly with a fellow Indian from Caesar’s troupe, Aashira(Amrit Maghera) and inveigles an invite to another dance-off which he again fails. Thereafter it’s about setting up a troupe of Asian performers for the team he leads, getting briefly into their practice sessions and the anticlimactic finale . And it doesn’t end there, there’s another event at the end, one designed to get the Asian community to support the home team against the Goras.
The narrative is a little confused in the telling with very little dance action and a little more into hackneyed drama about friendship, family dysfunctions and delayed understanding.
Right through the film the dance moves shown are not as entertaining or smartly choreographed as they should have been, The dance on display is not exactly graceful with the lead performer looking a little out of sorts in all his routines. It’s only when the star performer Salah Benlemqwansa gets on the floor that the film ups the skill quotient and picks up interest.
Unfortunately that bit comes a little too late in the narrative to suffice. Also it’s difficult to buy into Aarav’s obsession with Caesar when we never see Caesar performing with any great expertise or skill. The narrative meanderings into melodrama take the interest away and the British-Punjabi/Bhangra-pop numbers appear a little unsuitable for the type of dance the film strives to showcase.
Saahil’s attempt to give the film an international look works some but the laidback sensibilities and the predominantly Asian theatrics fritter away even that advantage. Performances are also a little too casual to get you affected. Saahil Prem is just about passable as an actor while the rest of the cast manage to look the part in a very superficial sense.
So as far as dance genre pics go, this one is far short of moves to make the grade!
Rating: **1/2
Comments