Madhur Bhandarkar is known for his movies which have more than a mere account of real life incidents. He works based on such dramatic incidents and for this movie he has chosen Bollywood as his ground. Initially planned with Aishwarya Rai, Heroine comes today with Kareena Kapoor as its face.

This flick is the fictional account of Mahi Arora, an impulsive, bipolar and eccentric actress who just can’t handle the workings of the industry. The influx of newcomers, her personal affairs, the manipulative ways of the industry etc. disturb her to no end and she takes solace in alcohol and tobacco. All her moves to stay in the limelight and to prove that she is still a saleable name, form the crux of this Madhur Bhandarkar movie.

The movie has excessive doses of drama and theatrics. All the clichés that we have read about Bollywood like gay designers (this is getting too much), MMS scandals, egotistic superstars, back-bitching heroines, and alcohol and cigarette addiction among stars have been detailed in this movie. We even have a cricketer who dates Mahi for awhile while Mahi also casually comments about starting an IPL team after her film career fades off. We already know the above thanks to the media and there is nothing new that we haven’t read or heard before. Talk of shallow research by the director.

The movie also suffers due to the very limited entertainment that it offers. A similar movie that released in late 2011, ‘The Dirty Picture’ was a runaway hit as it had adequate doses of entertainment mixed with drama. Here just the drama element shines through.

All this said Kareena Kapoor sizzles! She looks fab and hot to say the least and confidently carries herself in short revealing clothes in scene after scene. Her fan base is sure to increase post this movie. But the looks are just one part. Her acting is also spectacular. We have seen her as the bubbly young girl in many films but in the tight close-ups in this movie, she shows some serious caliber in no uncertain terms. Towards the end, she arrests the audience’s attention as she watches all the frenzy unfold post the MMS scandal.

There are many good support characters like Arjun Rampal as superstar Aryan who has an on-off relationship with Mahi. Randeep Hooda as the Indian cricket team’s vice captain, Angad Paul, though a blatant caricature of Virat Kohli, is adequate as well.

Shahana Goswami as the Bengali actress in a low budget movie that Mahi works in, scorches in the few scenes she comes in. That suggestive lesbian scene between her and Kareena is unwarranted though. Ranveer Shorey is a riot too, as the Bengali film director who directs this low budget movie about prostitutes.

Helen as the aging actress with whom Mahi empathizes is earnest and endearing. There are other notable characters too like Mahi’s ruthless PR played by Divya Dutta and her longtime loyal secretary. There are more glamorous women and men playing the other stars while Sanjay Suri as superstar Abbas Khan is a horrible caricature of Shahrukh Khan.

As said before, the movie’s entertainment is limited and the song Halkat Ki Jawani is among the very few such enjoyable sequences. But Kareena’s gracious skin show may also be considered as entertainment for the male masses. In fact, ‘Heroine’ has skin show all over it.

Salim – Sulaiman are in charge of the music and just one recurring theme is repeated in the movie’s BGM score.

The movie has a lot of glitz and glamour and hence each frame is rich and glossy. A rich production, it sure is.

On the whole, Heroine owes whatever little it has to Kareena Kapoor. This is a lifetime performance by the feisty actress and she turns out to be the only consolation in a slow paced movie. If only the drama and stereotypes had been reduced, the movie could have offered a bit more than just a solid Kareena performance

Verdict: Kareena Kapoor is a sensational ‘heroine’; but the movie as a whole is ridden with clichés and too much drama.