Cast – Sonakshi Sinha, Kanan Gill, Shibani Dandekar, Purab Kohli, Sunny Leone (cameo)
Directed by – Sunhil Sippy Produced by – Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Vikram Malhotra
Production House – T-Series, Abundantia
Entertainment Duration – 1 hour 47 minutes
Genre – RomCom, Drama Genre – U/A
‘Noor’ Lacks The Noor
We are not sure what Saba Imtiaz was inspired by when she sat down to write “Karachi, You’re Killing Me!” But let us tell you which movies Sunhil Sippy has been watching lately. Noor is like a badly made punch of Erin Brockovich, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Page 3, Queen, Dear Zindagi, and perhaps even Life in a Metro – a discordant mix making no sense whatsoever. A very predictable story-line can yet be transformed into a meaningful flick. Problem is, Sunhil Sippy mistook light and breezy to mean incredibly shallow and superfluous.
There are characters like Noor’s friends Saad (Kanan Gill) and Zaara (Shibani Dandekar), her love interest Ayan (Purab Kohli), her editor Shekhar (Manish Chaudhary) that could have added a touch of sincerity and credibility to the story – had the director or our heroine Noor lingered. Right there in the middle of Noor’s teary sulking we are led to wonder what the screenplay trio (Sippy, Althea Delmas-Kaushal, and Shikhaa Sharma) was high on? Did they really think we wanted to watch 2 hours of Sinha’s blundering and moping around peppered by moments of humour? And pay for it? The editing was painfully substandard but perhaps Aarif Sheikh fell asleep, thanks to the inane storyline. Now let’s come to the Junior Shotgun herself. This girl can act. And can put on weight, look round but beautiful. In the hands of a better director, in a better movie, she might just have a shot, if not be a ‘shotgun’.
Plot
Noor will perhaps kill me for saying this, but she is beyond confused. Or is it the scriptwriter? Anyway let’s assume university-topper, 28 something, Noor Roy Chowdhury is an aspiring broadcast journalist who loves to research human interest stories but is stuck in a boring job at a sensation seeking news agency “Buzz”. Why would the Mumbai girl stick around despite an overbearing, grumpy boss? Why would CNN reject her again? Must have something to do with her clumsiness, or her weight issues, or devil-may-care attitude? Or does it have something to do with ‘no brains, no bravado’? Because our Noor apparently lands a sensational organ harvest story without any research at all – based on a single shoddy interview she shoots on her iPhone. Worse, her story is stolen by someone with CNN under his belt. And she manages to solve what could be one of the most terrifying crimes of our times by posting a Facebook video. And the deep-pocketed goons, who manage to run a racket and come off unscathed, ignore the one responsible for it while easily disposing others off. These and a million other inconsistencies like a wannabe CNBC/CNN/BBC journalist running away to London as soon as her father gets his first threat call. And a woman who constantly complains of an INR 10,000 bank balance and higher-than-salary EMIs being able to afford a long London vacation and a designer wardrobe…. I could just go on and on but like I said, Noor, not Mumbai would kill me.
Noor – Music Review
The soundtrack of Noor was released late last month by T-Series. Unlike our heroine, Noor, the songs are indeed quirky and fun. Amaal Mallik has succeeded fabulously when it comes to keeping the songs light and eminently hummable. But if you expected something out of the ordinary, you are in for a disappointment.
Uff Ye Noor is one of the best songs in the collection. Armaan Malik is a delight and keeps the mood breezy with this number. Uff Yeh Noor Duration: 2:05
Imagine taking an RD Burman number and remixing it to come up with a number that will play in discotheques for a good long time. Yes, that’s the fear of Amaal Mallik, Tulsi Kumar, and Yash Narvekar in Gulabi 2.0.
The redux version doesn’t add much, though.
Gulabi 2.0 Duration: 2:24
Redux Duration – 3:30
Jise Kehte Pyaar Hai is a run-of-the-mill love song. Peppy and nice and all that but nothing new, nothing captivating. Sukriti Kakar sounds nice, though. Jise Kehte Pyaar Hai Duration – 3:19
An emotional number that sports a good score and has really nice instrumental interludes. In the movie, though, the song is drowned into oblivion. Sung by Prakriti Kakar Hai Zaroori Duration – 5:20
Assuming you sit through the final credits to listen to Move Your Lakk (written and composed by Badshah) you’re certain to wonder why Diljit Dosanj and Badshah were wasted on the number. A Punjabi rap number was completely unnecessary in a Mumbai tale about a Bengali journalist.
Move Your Lukk Duration – 3:26
What’s Good, What’s Bad?
There are 2 reasons you will want to stick through the duration of the film. First is the incredible cinematography. Keiko Nakahara has been given some pretty breathtaking vistas to work with but manages to make the slums and cityscapes of Mumbai look pretty glamorous too. Great work there. The real heroine of Noor is Smita Tambe as Noor’s hired help, Malati. This is a perfect example of how a skilled actress leaves her mark on the audience, given a very short screen time. Nothing else, can we consider good. A mindless plot, compounded by childish direction, wasted supporting characters, and very loose editing. There are times when you see the potential for a better flick – like when Noor’s friend takes her abroad you wish things would not get romantic and clichéd, like you wish they don’t break out into a Punjabi rap in the final credits – but well, they do!
Our Verdict
Unless you plan to snooze through the two hours or are a compulsive filmgoer not prone to questioning silver screen logic, steer clear of this one.
Ratings – 2 ½ *
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