I thoroughly agree, the background scoring was dire. Individual pieces were quite Hollywoodish but the use of tracks was terrible. There was music in every fricken scene. A suspenseful scene with suspenselful music would cut to a lighter romantic moment where lo and behold, romantic music would play. How amateur can you get. This film had a number of scenes that would have worked better without any generic "elevator" music jangling away in the background. The different music tracks in back to back scenes made the film feel even more fractured. Funnily enough, this was not the case in Gangaajal and Apaharan. Different sound designer here, methinks.
I also agree about the performances. Ranbir Kapoor cannot act beyond the usual flip 20-something type, which is essentially him always playing himself. Sorry, but his parents were way more talented. It is excruciating to watch him pause a 100 times while delivering his sentences. In real life, people talk in one flow, all great actors know that. One can see he is trying hard, but we are never allowed to forget that he is performing. I agree, watching him channeling Pacino was painful. Abhishek Bachhan sucked at it as well in Sarkar. These second generation kids just don't have the heft or the inner complexity required for such quiet, intense parts.
Manok Bajpai just hams it, tho' at least he manages to ring true some of the time. Arjun Ramphal veers between out of his depth to quite sincere. He was better than Ranbir. Katrina Kaif is charming and pretty and doesn't have much to do except look dewey-eyed or teary-eyed. At least Devgan looks alive and animated in Jha's films. And that Shruti Sheth, dear God. The half-baked sex (or foreplay?) scene with Ramphal while she kept asking for a seat at the same time...horrendous. I just cracked up. The singular, best performance came from Bajpai's right hand man - the plump, old grey-haired bloke who finds his lover killed in his own bed. I'm told he is Vinay Apte, a stalwart of Marathi theatre.
Compared to this farce, Gangaajal had an embarassment of riches in terms of talent...so many great performances.
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