The movie is more of a satire on Bollywood (or should I say the Hindi film industry). The movie is about Sona Mishra (Konkana Sen) a struggling actress who wants to make it big but still getting the second fiddle roles. She meets a young vibrant Vikram(Farhan), falls in love and somehow due to her he gets his first break. How the couple’s life gets complex after Vikram getting a break forms the rest of the story. The pain, the misery, the sacrifice people have to go through to achieve stardom or even getting recognized in this Industry is well shown.

Zoya Akhtar has chosen a difficult path for her first movie but has sailed through quite easily. Many scenes are handled so intricately that it shows no sign of a debutants work. There are many messages passed on to our youngsters without getting too preachy. But she has confused herself and us, as the story of Sona Mishra soon wanders away and shows the life of Farhan more. If only she stuck to Sona a little longer her pain could have affected the audience too, which would have made a brilliant movie. The scene when Dimple- talks about her past life, is not needed and clearly shows just the desperation of the director to scrape in a emotional dialogue. Why was Farhan’s friend given more weight in the first half, and his role cut half way cruelly? Even the screen play post intermission does go out of steam for a while but not too much to complain about. The last end credit role was a lift from Michael Clayton but does give the touch, which is needed.

Cinematography by Carlos Catalan is brilliant. The work in Baawre song needs special mention. Editing by Sreekar Prasad was good but if only the work in the second half was better he could have got ace marks. Music by Shankar – Ehsaan – Loy was engaging, sounded much better on screen too. Yeh Zindagi bhi, Sapnon se Bhare naina, and Baawre were the pick of the lot. Baawre was well choreographed and Yeh Zindagi bhi, the title credit song was well picturized.

The movie clearly belongs to the talent powerhouse Konkona Sen, she has given a performance which is sure to add some more fans to this rustic beauty. Farhan Akhtar who was decent in Rock On excels as Vikram, a role which demanded a seasoned player was given life by this two film old talented youngster. Isha Sharvani looks cute and has acted with maturity in a role, which is on a girl who lacks it. Dimple Kapadia and Juhi were likeable. Sanjay Kapoor was passable. Hrithik in a cameo excels. Rishi Kapoor as the producer was exceptional in both comic and tragic sequences. The special appearances will surely fill this page up but Shahrukh does get the best role and does impress with his natural elegant characteristics. Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap come a close second.

Overall it’s a well made entertainer. A movie, which will be loved by the multiplex audience but a single screen will be a tough place to woo the audience. A movie which will make you laugh but tries desperately to make you cry too - that could be a minus. But go for it, it’s worth the ticket price.

Verdict: An uplifting entertainer