Of Luck By Chance

Luck By Chance is a 2009 Bollywood drama starring Farhan Akhtar , Konkona Sen Sharma and directed by Zoya Akhtar. Running at a little more than two hours the movie is about a newbie actor Vikram (Akhtar) who has just landed in Mumbai to start an acting career and Sona (Sen) an extra who's been at it for three years.

I'm not going to tell you the story. But hey, just read that second line. New actor, struggling actress, Bollywood. Surely you must have a plot by now.

Unfortunately that is the problem with Luck by Chance. In the very first scene Konkona Sen is being congratulated by Alyy Khan for bagging a role in his new project. Just looking at Khan, anyone can tell that he's going to ask her to sleep with him. And such is the case with the entire film. It's just too predictable and while watching it I had this feeling of deja vu inside me. It's just very cliche.

Which is actually extremely ironic. The movie parodies Bollywood of the yesteryear where Hindi movies were filled with over the top emotions, jokes that werent funny, love that was too pure to be true and directors who had no idea what they were doing. Luck By Chance, thankfully, is not one of those movies but it retains the predictability of them. You know how every character will turn out (well except for the end), you know what they will do and you know what they will say.

Its unfortunate really. Its a good movie. Very watchable with some really good performances. Akhtar and Sen carry their roles with ease, while Rishi Kapoor is just amazing as the yester-year producer who cant digest the fact that the industry has changed. Dimple Kapadia has another power packed performance as the controlling yester-year star trying to push her daughter into the field. Hrithik Roshan has a very very good cameo and I keep telling everyone that he is an extremely underrated actor. King Khan apparently can only act in one particular style even if he is acting as himself.

I'm sorry. I had to let the King Khan part in. See it for yourself, you'll understand.

But its the script and the story that fails. For one, the Bollywood it parodies does not exist anymore. No sensible producer would ever try to produce a movie like "Dil Ki Aag" the movie for which Akhtar's character is selected. And secondly, its nothing new. I guarantee you that by the end of the movie you will be thinking to yourself: ok, I knew all that.

Dont expect a Rock On!! This is an entirely different movie. It's not a breakthrough. But its a good watch.