'Roy' review: A pretentious snoozefest!

Film: ROY 
Starring: Arjun Rampal, Jacqueline Fernandez & Ranbir Kapoor
Directed by: Vikramjit Singh
Rating: *

WHAT’S IT ABOUT:

There’s a scene in Roy where Arjun Rampal says, “Pata nahin yeh film kaise ban gayi?” After seeing the film, everyone walking out of cinema halls will be wondering the same. Here’s the story (or the lack of it) of successful film director Kabir Grewal (Rampal) who begins work on his next venture, which is based on a mysterious thief named Roy (Kapoor). The make-believe Roy is out for his next big heist involving a painting that will fetch him over 200 million dollars. The diversion in the screen hero’s objective happens when he begins to fall for the owner of that painting, Tia (Fernandez). The same happens with the film’s Casanova director Grewal when he gets emotionally embroiled with a young filmmaker Ayesha Amir (also Fernandez) while he is shooting his movie. The two tracks run parallel with both the protagonists helping one another thereby leading to the eventual culmination. 
 
WHAT’S HOT:

It’s an interesting concept – to have a film within a film, where the creator of a character and the character itself facing the same challenges and confrontations. But that’s where it all ends. Debut-making director Vikramjit Singh seems so enamored by the idea itself that he’s forgotten the basic rule of storytelling – every idea needs a structure and soul. Cinematographer Himman Dhamija and costume designer Niharika Singh try to add a certain degree of credence to this lifeless offering but their efforts are sadly wasted in this colossal disaster.
 
WHAT’S NOT:

Roy will stun your senses – because there hasn’t been a film this boring, this ridiculous and this pretentious since the time you can remember. Singh stretches his idea so much that after a point, you start wondering if this is a film at all. The characters look defeated and devoid of any purpose. The screenplay is simply an amalgamation of scenes with no connect and no sense. At a time when Hindi films are finally coming of age, you have a film that not just pretends to be intellectual but is absolutely unbearable. It is shocking because this film is a result of collective and experienced talents like Bhushan Kumar (producer), Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal – did no one see this coming? There isn’t a single ‘high’ note in the film – in fact, the lows keep charting new heights scene after scene until it finally ends and you want to thank your stars for that. The songs of Roy are huge chartbusters but in the film, they look lost and highly misplaced. Suddenly, a Malaysian street singer is seen crooning the Punjabi song  ‘Chiitiyan Kalaiyaan’ as Jacqueline storms out of character and dances wildly as if she is competing for Nach Baliye. The ‘Sooraj Dooba’ club number has tranquil moments of Ranbir on the beach, as if they desperately wanted to make him a part of the song. As for the soulful ‘Yaara Re’ – we can almost imagine Bhushan Kumar pulling it out of Aashiqui 3 and thrusting it into this film. We also wonder why and how Ranbir Kapoor’s role can be justified as a ‘dynamic’ (another word for special) appearance – he’s present throughout the film. Except that he has one confused look (with dark circles) throughout, as if he is asking himself one question all along, “What the hell am I doing in this film?” Arjun Rampal looks disinterested (perhaps the need of his character?) and Jacqueline Fernandez is so consistent that both the parts she plays look and feel the same. She needs to be careful about her close-ups where she looks puffed-up mostly.
 
WHAT TO DO:

Roy is boring, exhausting and pretentious – save your money and time by staying away.