Most
stories
sound
interesting
on
paper
or
when
narrated
in
10/15
minutes
flat.
But
when
you
watch
the
full-blown
cinematic
version,
you
realize
why
most
Hindi
films
fall
flat
on
their
face.
Sujoy
Ghosh's
Aladin
promises
the
moon,
but
what
you
get
is
a
mere
flicker.
This
fantasy
had
the
trappings
to
transport
you
to
fantasyland,
but…
Seriously,
Sujoy
could've
run
his
imagination
wild
and
come
up
with
a
film
that
would've
made
the
child
in
you
jump,
scream
and
clap
with
glee.
But
15/20
minutes
into
the
film
and
you
realize
that
Aladin
is
merely
a
visual
spectacle.
A
film
that
lacks
soul!
After
having
watched
Aladin,
I
too
desire
three
wishes...
*
Wish
1:
Henceforth,
actors
shouldn't
ask
for
scripts
before
they
sign
on
the
dotted
line;
*
Wish
2:
Producers
should
act
more
responsibly.
They
shouldn't
be
mere
moneybags,
but
have
creative
control
too;
*
Wish
3:
Directors
and
writers
should
stop
taking
the
intelligent
viewer
for
granted.
Will
a
genie
appear
and
fulfil
my
wishes?
I
doubt!
Aladin
Chatterjee
[Riteish
Deshmukh]
lives
in
the
city
of
Khwaish,
an
orphan
who
has
been
bullied
since
childhood
by
Kasim
[Sahil
Khan]
and
his
gang.
But
his
life
changes
when
Jasmine
[Jacqueline
Fernandez]
gives
him
a
magic
lamp
because
it
lets
loose
the
genie
Genius
[Amitabh
Bachchan].
Desperate
to
grant
him
three
wishes
and
seek
the
end
of
his
contract
with
the
Magic
Lamp,
Genius
makes
Aladin's
life
difficult
until
the
real
threat
looms
on
the
horizon:
the
ex-genie
Ringmaster
[Sanjay
Dutt].
Why
does
Ringmaster
want
to
kill
Aladin?
What
is
the
dark
secret
about
Aladin's
past
that
Genius
is
carrying?
Let's
give
the
credit
where
it's
due.
Aladin
starts
with
a
bang,
with
the
initial
portions
holding
a
lot
of
promise.
But
no
sooner
does
the
genie
appears,
he
breaks
into
a
song
and
you
realize
that
Aladin
is
no
different
from
those
mundane
films
churned
out
week
after
week.
Sadly,
Aladin
only
slides
downwards
after
this
point.
Sure,
there're
some
interesting
moments,
but
you
can
actually
count
those
sequences.
The
problem
is
not
with
the
story,
but
the
screenplay
[also
penned
by
Sujoy
Ghosh].
It
rests
on
absurdities.
Okay,
one
expects
absurdities
in
a
fantasy,
you
can
be
pardoned
for
it,
but
at
least
they
should
have
the
power
to
keep
you
hooked.
In
this
case,
they
don't!
You
can't
overlook
two
major
flaws
in
the
writing...
*
One,
Amitabh
refrains
from
revealing
the
past
to
Riteish,
till
Sanjay
Dutt
arrives
on
the
scene
and
spills
the
beans.
*
Two,
the
flashback
portion
-
which
resulted
in
Riteish's
parents
losing
their
lives
-
is
haphazard.
It's
not
easy
to
comprehend.
Also,
the
entire
track,
when
Amitabh
loses
his
powers
and
becomes
an
ordinary
mortal,
looks
gimmicky.
At
the
same
time,
it
looks
weird
when
Amitabh
fights
an
entire
army
of
Sanju's
henchmen
in
the
end.
It
gets
very
formulaic
at
this
point.
Not
just
that,
even
the
climax
is
ridiculous.
Sujoy
Ghosh's
screenplay
is
bad,
to
put
it
bluntly.
Given
the
kind
of
stars
and
budget
at
his
disposal,
the
director
should've
come
up
with
a
slick
entertainer,
but
Aladin
comes
across
as
a
feeble
clone
of
a
poor
Hollywood
film.
Like
his
last
outing
Home
Delivery,
this
one
too
is
high
on
gloss,
but
low
on
content.
The
visual
effects
are
excellent
at
places,
but
tacky
at
times.
Vishal-Shekhar's
music
is
strictly
okay.
However,
too
many
songs
in
the
initial
reels
act
as
roadblocks.
The
cinematography
is
top
notch.
Aladin
belongs
to
Riteish,
who's
easy
on
the
eyes.
The
best
part
is,
he
looks
the
character
and
enacts
it
without
going
overboard.
He's
at
his
natural
best
here.
Surprisingly,
Amitabh
Bachchan
is
over
the
top
this
time,
which
puts
you
off
after
a
point.
Sanjay
Dutt
has
two
standard
expressions
from
start
to
end.
Jacqueline
Fernandez
gets
no
scope,
but
she
looks
gorgeous
nonetheless.
Ratna
Pathak
Shah
is
wasted.
Ditto
for
Victor
Banerjee.
And
what
is
a
wonderful
actor
like
Mita
Vashisht
doing
in
this
film?
Saahil
Khan
and
Arif
Zakaria
are
okay.
On
the
whole,
Aladin
is
a
terrible
waste
of
a
terrific
opportunity.
Hugely
disappointing!