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BANJO – Decent Tempo!!!
The director Ravi Jadhav hits the right chord of rhythm. With Banjo he enters Hindi Cinema showcasing art has no language barriers. Banjo is quite a decent entertainer. With hardly any expectations Banjo delivers.
The kind of cinema we see these days has lavish and exotic locales even houses for that matter. Even the poor houses are so rich that you feel complex about it. Banjo is raw, very much in Mumbai, in the slums, with few right lines “Galiyaan chhoti hai, lekin umeedien badi” it does leave you thoughtful. Showcasing the kind of lives people live in; in a glimpse, director leaves you humble making you feel thankful to God for you to sit comfortably and watch the cinema and live this luxurious lifestyle. Barring you from the queue to get a bucket of water or even tickets for that matter.
Banjo has these small elements that hits the right human chord, musically they pick the right rhythm too in couple of numbers. Listening to Banjo is quite quintessential thanks to the music directors Vishal & Shekhar. Song “Rehamo Karam” touches the soul.
In the first half, in the very first 30 minutes, the pace of the songs is like kind of chhayageet but this is what you would witness in a musical film. Plot is quite stretched and the film craves good editing specially the band member’s introduction, each member been beaten up, too many auditions take away lot of time on your watch and on screen too. The interval arrival is well integrated; second half is where the soul lies and the movie picks it up again. Nargis Fakhri has a meatier role and she does her part well. Rest of the cast is just fine with Dharmesh being an exception. His presence, plus the band, plus the film being set near the shore, does makes you feel you are watching an extended version of ABCD. Yet Banjo shines because of Ritesh Deshmukh his versatility outlines these thoughts.
Banjo has a brilliant cinematography capturing Mumbai’s beautiful skyline. Musical score could have been far better considering a musical film. The Banjo feel is good yet the songs are mediocre barring few, Rehamo Karam comes brilliantly. A refined musical score and rich editing would have rocked Banjo. Nevertheless, Banjo still has a decent tempo, it beats the right rhythm making it watchable.
Verdict: Just Silver 2.5*s