Last weekend I saw “Ta Ra Rum Pum”. I do not think it will appeal to the three humans, S.S. Sunderam of Bihar, and the goat that live in Jhumritalaya. It is essentially a metro centric movie which might also appeal to NRIs.
You can definitely see that Sidharth Anand as a director is a notch or two behind Kunal Kohli (while Kunal Kohli is a notch behind Nikhil Advani). Nonetheless the thing that does stand out in Ta Ra Rum Pum is Saif Ali Khan. He is excellent, a sheer joy to watch. This late bloomer springs a new surprise (a pleasant surprise) with every new movie of his. The scene that I would want you to focus (should you choose to see this movie) is the one where in his hour of need, when he is given a mere $300, he tells off his former boss. Watch this scene and see Saif’s intensity and the unqualified honestly with which he brings forth the right expressions & emotions. Now compare that with Lil C’s performance is a similar type of scene in Guru where he tell off the trader at the market. When you watch Saif you see a seasoned actor in total command of the scene. On the other hand, when you watch Lil C you feel sorry for him because even the no name actor, who plays the trader, manages to take over the scene from Lil C. Saif, in the scene I am talking about, comes off as an actor’s actor, while Lil C in similar type of scene in Guru appears like a lame kid trying to pretend that he also belongs in the big leagues. I just don’t know what is up with Lil C and the air pockets behind his cheeks that he blows up before making his dialogue delivery, seriously what’s up with that, is it just nervous energy ?
As a matter of fact, while we are on this track let us compare Lil C’s Lallan (Yuva) to Saif’s Langda Tyagi (Omkara). Saif in Omkara is perfection personified while Lil C in Yuva is trying to get away with a wink and a nod (see the Tamil version of Yuva with Maddy in that role and see how it should have been done).
It took about 5 years and 15 flops for Lil C to come up with a somewhat decent performance (ofcourse his nutty father went gaga over that) in Yuva. It took about 7 years and 30 plus movies before Guru happened. At this rate, in about the year 2075 Lil C will become a super star.
Anyway, Saif in Ta Ra Rum Pum shows us who really the prince of Bollywood is. Needless to say, The King is …. (now repeat after me) Shah Rukh Khan.
