London Dreams
| London Dreams | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Vipul Shah |
| Produced by | Vipul Shah |
| Screenplay by | Suresh Nair |
| Story by |
|
| Starring | |
| Music by | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| Cinematography | Sejal Shah |
| Edited by | Kunal Midtha |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 153 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
London Dreams is a 2009 Bollywood musical drama film directed by Vipul Shah. The film features Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan and Asin in lead roles. It released on 30 October 2009. The music was by the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy with lyrics by Prasoon Joshi.
Plot
The story revolves around two childhood friends Arjun (played by Ajay Devgn) and Mannu (played by Salman Khan). Arjun wants to become a music star, so he inadvertently asks God for his father's death. When he and his uncle move to London, Arjun runs away.
Arjun creates a fledgling band with Zoheb and Wasim (Rannvijay Singh and Aditya Roy Kapoor respectively), two brothers who duped their relatives in Pakistan to travel to London in pursuit of their musical aspirations. He also brings aboard Priya (played by Asin), a music enthusiast from a conservative South Indian family. Back in India, Mannu seduces married women and finds himself in debt with the locals.
After paying his debt, Mannu goes to London to join Arjun's band, but becomes more popular with the crowds. Mannu also flirts with Priya.
The band embarks on a three-city tour spanning Paris, Rome and Amsterdam where Arjun deceives a naive Mannu into a rollercoaster ride of promiscuous sex and illicit drugs. He tricks him, gets him addicted to drugs, and then gets him arrested in a car full of them. While pretending to help Mannu, Arjun leaks the drug story to the press. As the three-city tour concludes, the band heads to London to perform at Wembley Stadium in front of an audience estimated at 90,000 (which is of significance since, earlier in the movie, the viewer is told that Arjun's grandfather had failed before a similar audience). Knowing how important this is for Arjun, Mannu tries to give up drugs. But Arjun decides that his success and Mannu's total failure are related. He pays a girl to pretend to have oral sex with Mannu, which makes Priya break up with Mannu. In this fragile state, Zoheb pushes Mannu toward drugs again so that he can't come on stage.
In the moments leading up to the stage entrance, Mannu comes to senses and chooses the righteous path and runs to support his mate. But Arjun, who has become incensed with the crowd chanting Mannu's name, confesses his envy of Mannu's talent and what he did to finish Mannu off. The audience boos Arjun, the band breaks up and a sad Mannu goes back to his village.
Arjun's uncle (Om Puri), advises him to apologize to Mannu. Then it is revealed that after knowing the truth Priya and Mannu reconcile. Also, she marries Mannu and lives with him in his village. In the village, however, Mannu tells him not to apologize saying that it was his fault that he didn't see Arjun's sorrow and Priya also pardons Arjun for his wrong deeds. They get back together and London Dreams becomes a successful band again.
Cast
- Salman Khan as Manjeet "Mannu" Khosla
- Ajay Devgn as Arjun
- Asin as Priya
- Rannvijay Singh as Zoheb Khan
- Aditya Roy Kapur as Wasim Khan
- Om Puri as Arjun's uncle
Reception
Critical response
London Dreams received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh praised the performance of the principal cast, while criticizing the climax.[2] Rajeev Masand gave a scathing review of the movie, describing it as a "frustratingly foolish film about foolish people."[3] Chandrima Pal of Rediff criticized the background music of the movie, while praising the dialogues, as well as Ajay Devgan's performance.[4] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL said "The last twenty minutes of ‘London Dreams’ take away half its spirit."[5]
Soundtrack
The song style is generally rock inspired to match the motifs in the movie.
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Barso Yaaron" | Vishal Dadlani, Roop Kumar Rathod | 05:48 |
| 2. | "Man Ko Ati Bhavey Saiyaan" | Shankar Mahadevan | 05:14 |
| 3. | "Tapke Masti" | Feroz Khan | 04:29 |
| 4. | "Khanabadosh" | K.Mohan | 04:41 |
| 5. | "Khwab" | Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan | 06:15 |
| 6. | "Yaari Bina" | Roop Kumar Rathod, Milind Diwadkar | 04:32 |
| 7. | "Jashn Hai Jeet Ka" | Abhijeet Ghoshal | 04:11 |
| 8. | "Shola Shola" | Zubeen Garg | 05:31 |
| 9. | "Khanabadosh" (Remix) | K.Mohan | 05:00 |
| 10. | "Man Ko Ati Bhavey Saiyaan" (Remix) | Shankar Mahadevan | 05:30 |
| 11. | "Tapke Masti" (Remix) | Feroz Khan | 04:20 |
References
- ↑ "Asin's London Dreams". Monster Cleaning. 30 Oct 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
- ↑ "London Dreams". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
- ↑ "Masand's movie review: London Dreams is a foolish film". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
- ↑ "Click! London Dreams needs a reality check". Rediff. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
- ↑ "Click! London Dreams review".