Haseena Parkar Movie Review: Shraddha Kapoor's Stuffed Cheeks Draw More Attention Than The Film!

Plot

The opening scene begins with Haseena (Shraddha Kapoor) being summoned to the Mumbai sessions court for her involvement in her brother Dawood (Siddhant Kapoor)'s illegal activities and using his name for extortion. 'Main Hoon Haseena Parkar'- as these words roll out from the 'Chubby Cheeks' lady's mouth, you get a fair amount of idea about what you are plunging into.

The film then shuttles between past and present where we get a glimpse into Dawood's rise as a dreaded gangster and the repercussions of his activities on his family especially Haseena's life.

Haseena's father Ibrahim Kaskar is a head constable in Mumbai police. He doesn't get along with his brash and rebellious son Dawood who soon with his brother Sabbir transforms into a crime lord. Meanwhile on the other hand, Haseena is happily married to a small-time actor Ismail (Ankur Bhatia) who also owns a vegetarian restaurant.

After Sabbir is shot dead by a rival Pathan gang, Dawood takes his revenge and flees from the country when the police tightens their grip on the underworld. Soon, Haseena's husband Ismail is riddled with bullets in broad daylight.

After the death of her husband and in her brother's absence, she takes over the rein of the business and becomes 'Aapa'. The rest of the plot revolves around finding out whether Haseena was really a shrewd woman or just a victim of unfortunate circumstances.

Direction

Apoorva Lakhia's courtroom drama lacks substance and Shraddha Kapoor falls flat when it comes to portraying Haseena Parkar on the big screen. What could have been an engrossing take on one of the controversial women from the Mumbai underbelly, is simply reduced to a tool that tries to manipulate you to sympathize with Haseena for all the injustice that she had to face by the virtue of being Dawood Ibrahim's sister!

The abrupt screenplay adds more to the woes and some of the dialogues seem just absurd. Lesser said about the characterization the better!

Performances

A 'bronzered' Shraddha Kapoor may have given her honest shot, but sorry girl, you are a miscast here! For the mature version of Haseena, she seems to be hiding roshgullas under her cheeks as she slurs while mouthing her lines. The poker face doesn't help either.

To play coy in a wedding night scene, she quivers, blinks and makes some weird expressions that just make you go WTF! One moment she is picking up a fight at the chawl's water tap and also bashing up a goon for unpaid bills. The next minute she's back to her being Blinky-Eyes all clueless. There's no built-up about her transformation. Instead, the makers just place a camera at her feet, take a low angle shot of her perched on a huge sofa (oh yes, there's stuffed cheeks too) and voila, there you have a feisty version of Haseena!

Siddhant Kapoor as Dawood Ibrahim lacks a screen presence and makes a mockery of his role. Ankur Bhatia too fails to charm.

Technical Aspects

Fahasat Khan's cinematography is average. The snail-paced narrative is also one of the villains. Some of the dialogues especially the courtroom ones make you giggle for all the wrong reasons.

Music

Haseena has nothing outstanding to offer in the music department. Out of all the numbers in the soundtrack- there's only Tere Bina and its sad version which make it to the film.

Verdict

There's a scene where Shraddha's Haseena says, 'Aapa yaad reh gaya na... naam yaad rakhne ki zaroorat nahi.' Unfortunately, there's nothing worth remembering in this snooze-fest. Skipping this one won't do much harm!