Magic that fails to enchant...

The story of Aladin and the Magic Lamp from the Arabian Nights has inspired quite a lot of filmmakers who have come out with their own versions in many languages. It is one of the most used and abused Fairy tales that exist but Sujoy Ghosh (Jhankar Beats, Home Delivery) deserves kudos for taking this one and turning it completely around to give us something as different as "Aladin".

Aladin deals with the sufferings of its lead player (Riteish Deshmukh, his best performance ever!) who is bullied by all and sundry because of his name. He hates his name and hates the sight of lamps but he has to accept the lamp that is presented to him as a birthday gift by the most beautiful girl in college (Jacqueline Fernandez, heavenly in looks and confident in performance). Before he can say 1-2-3, out comes a Genie (Amitabh Bachchan) who can fulfill 3 wishes for Aladin and has to go on retirement. Aladin wants the girl to fall for him but none of the Genie's tricks would work. In the meantime, we have the evil Ringmaster (Sanjay Dutt) who wants to usurp the lamp and the Genie to become the most powerful man on the earth. Will Aladin be able to propose his love? Will Ringmaster be successful? Will the Genie be able to save both Aladin and the world? These are the questions that Sujoy Ghosh tries to answer in the concluding reels of his magnum opus.

The good thing about "Aladin" is that it has its heart in the right place. Add to it the marvelous special effects and you end up feeling you are watching one from the Harry Potter franchise. Riteish and Jacqueline are good. Sanjay Dutt lends an evilish tinge to Ring Master and Amitabh Bachchan is deliciously over the top playing the Genie. These actors are so much in control that you can comfortably ignore the irritating Saahil Khan and the awfully miscast Ratna Pathak Shah in a role that smells so much of Juhi Chawla.

Then, where does it go wrong? Its the script that pulls Aladin down. Sujoy tasted success with his maiden venture "Jhankar Beats" thanks to the uber cool and lazy script. The writing style suited something like Jhankaar Beats but you cannot use the same medicine always. "Home Delivery" was a confused piece of work and "Aladin' also suffers from the same syndrome. When one sets out to retell a Fairy tale with a top star like Amitabh Bachchan and at such huge a budget, there should not be any room for complacency. It is here that Sujoy fails miserably. His casual script and lack lustre direction take Aladin a few notches lower than where it would have otherwise been.

Its time Sujoy got out of his complacent mood and start working hard on his script and direction. Better luck next time!