Heroine Movie Review – Roundup

Kareena Kapoor’s Heroine releases worldwide today. Reviews have already started pouring it and so far the movie seems to getting mixed reviews however Kareena is getting all the praises for her performance. Let’s take a loot at Heroine reviews so far!

Times Of India 3 stars: And Heroine would have been crisper had it not digressed to cover every Bollywood insider account. When the maker attempts to show mainstream cinema’s condescending attitude towards art-house films, precious screen time is lost. Mahi’s attempt to play a prostitute and say scandalous lines are clearly attempted to woo the front-benchers but the gig lacks conviction. The music is a complete let down and even the item song Halkat Jaawani fails to give the required `rise’ to proceedings.

Bollywood Hungama 3.5 stars: HEROINE is Kareena’s film all the way and she delivers an award-worthy performance. It can be said without a shred of doubt, HEROINE is her most valiant effort so far. Apparently motivated by real-life episodes, this is a role not many actresses would have taken the peril of implementing. Kareena arrests the viewer’s attention from Scene A to Z. The triumph and disappointment, the innocence and conceit…, every emotion, every sentiment is projected with sheer brilliancy.  

NDTV 2 stars: The screenplay would have us like her and empathize with her plight. We cannot because besides being far too remote to facilitate easy identification she is a rather unlikeable woman, prone to flying off the handle at the slightest provocation and tying herself in emotional knots. Get a life, lady! My life is fully under control, Mahi tells her social climber mom (Lilette Dubey). Trouble is that the film isn’t.

IndiaGlitz 4 stars: It is these very episodes that ensure that there is something happening every 10 minutes. Yes, in the initial few minutes you get a brief sense of deja vu, what with a usual coterie surrounding an actress, all around flying kisses, fake compliments etc., all of which has been seen in many a movie related to the world of glamour, some of it being inspired from Madhur’s own films.

Koimoi 1.5 stars: It’s annoying to see the stereotypes played out in almost every character: the designers are gay, reporters have a bitchy aura and always sport funky jewellery, the path to the dark side begins with cigarettes and alcohol, bad people sleep around etc. Except the few lead characters, everyone else is as good as cardboard cut-outs. The writers seem to be intent to stuff in as much tragedy as they can into Mahi’s woe-is-me life and towards the end you just can’t stop rolling your eyes.

Zee News 3 stars: Does ‘Heroine’ work? Yes, but only because of Kareena Kapoor. From doing the raunchy act in ‘Halkat Jawaani’ to the scenes where she is battling depression and popping pills, to the I-don’t-care-attitude of a confident actress, Kareena makes Mahi memorable and lovable. One little request to Mr Bhandarkar; when the next time you use gay characters in your films, please don’t make them so obviously effeminate. All gays aren’t like that. Let’s not stick to the stereotypes time and again, please.

Nowrunning 2 stars: Claiming himself to be a realistic filmmaker, Madhur this time around chose to expose the secrets of the big bad world of Bollywood. However, as Mahi in the film kept losing her sheen in her career, Madhur’s film also kept spiraling down in its narrative. Much like his earlier films, there seems absolutely no flow in the narrative, leave alone a storyline. The film keeps going on in circles and gets tedious and monotonous.

Daily Bhaskar 2 stars: Consumers of cheap gossip are satisfied. Anyway, they were never looking for an inside story on how actors and filmmakers in Bollywood are actually more sincere and brighter than their films might suggest. Do these silly, petty, unprofessional people before us actually also end up making movies that become national phenomena? I guess they do.

Bollywoodlife 1.5 stars: The biggest weakness of the film is that there is no structure. Where is the beginning, the middle and the end? The flaw is with the basics. A high point is followed by a very predictable and dreary development – a bummer. A rather boring and flat first half gives way to slightly more promising second half. But as the story unfolds you are just going through the motions, mainly because of a confused plot.

Mid Day 3 stars: Like Satta and Fashion and Chandni Bar, Heroine is the typical Bhandarkar film aimed at showing the underbelly of an industry, high on sensation and scandal, but very little story or even sense. Like a news channel, Heroine hyperactively narrates episode after episode of a Bollywood actress’ life without caring to explain the whys and wherefores.

DNA 2 stars: Heroine, though, is not just like Fashion, but resembles every film Bhandarkar has ever made before, and in the most terrible way. In other words, if you take every bad moment in every Bhandarkar film ever made, put them together in a two-and-a-half-hour long loop, the result will be a lot less distressing and a lot more entertaining than Heroine.

Rediff 2 stars: Formulas have a shelf life too. And styles fade. But if Madhur Bhandarkar thinks by tweaking his standard format of rise and fall (Page 3, Corporate and Fashion) of a female protagonist to concentrating on an absolute decline, he has made some sort of a breakthrough, he’s only kidding himself.

We will keep adding more reviews as they come in. Stay tuned!

Related Articles