Luck by Chance Review

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Star Cast: Farhan Akhtar,Konkona Sen Sharma,Rishi Kapoor,
Isha Sharvani, Dimple Kapadia, Hrithik Roshan and others;
Director: Zoya Akhtar;
Rating: ****; Is quality cinema.

Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan) comes down to Bollywood town Mumbai from Delhi to become a star. At his fellow struggle friend’s house he meets Sona (Konkona) for the first time. Sona too has dreams in her eyes of becoming a lead actress in an A grade film. For the past three years till then she has been living with this hope in her eyes. Taking advantage of her is Chaudhary (Aly Khan) a small time producer who has been assuring her of that one big break and in return of which he is sexually exploiting her and assigning her B grade projects. Both Sona and Vikram start getting closer as they are doing their struggling. At the same time, a big producer Romy Rolly (Rishi) is making a film starring one of industry’s hottest stars cum his protégé Zafar Khan (Hrithik) and launching Nikki (Isha) opposite him.


Nisha is the daughter of famous yesteryears actress Nina Walia (Dimple). When Zafar gets the opportunity to work in Karan Johar film along with Shah Rukh Khan he dumps Rolly’s film despite the shooting for it having begun. Destiny plays a crucial role then and the smooth talking struggle Vikram manages to bag the lead hero’s part whereas on the same day Sona’s dream of becoming a lead actress get shattered when Chaudhary ditches her. What happens next as Vikram manages to grab that one lucky chance and how it takes the toll on his love life forms the rest of the film.

Luck By Chance just like Rangeela or to some extent Om Shanti Om takes you right into the true to life functioning of the Hindi film world. Zoya for her directorial debut deserves a huge applause for making a brilliant film which manages to strike the fine balance between art house cinema and a commercial entertainer. Her characterizations and selection of right actors deserve special mention. While it may appear as Vikram’s story you realize as the film comes to an end that the main protagonist is not him but Sona. The ending may not be everyone’s cup of tea but the way it has being treated you do get the feeling that this is the perfect and most logical way how the story could have ended. Zoya has handled the emotional moments very sensitively. Giving Zoya perfect aid is her father Javed Akhtar in the dialogues department. Right from philosophy laden ones to extremely witty liners, the dialogues manage to touch your heart.

The production values of the film are of high standards with Carlos Catalan’s camerawork giving the film a very international look. Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s music is already climbing the charts and is well mixed in the film’s proceedings. Don’t miss the opening song sequence.

Konkona delivers an award winning performance which lingers in your mind for a long time even after the film is over. Farhan is extremely natural in his act and has brilliantly underplayed his part. Rishi Kapoor and Juhi give able support. Dimple is extremely charming and is brilliant in the pre-climax scene where she brings out her frustration on her daughter very well played by Isha. Sanjay Kapoor is very funny as the film director. Hrithik Roshan in an extended special appearance is simply superb. His dance sequence is awe inspiring. The film has quite a few guest appearances right from Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Akshaye Khanna, Kareena Kapoor to Shah Rukh Khan and are very well treated. But it is writer-director Anurag Kashyap making his acting debut who is simply outstanding in his 2 scene appearance as a frustrated writer.

Luck By Chance is quality cinema that takes you straight into the heart of the Hindi film industry’s functioning, showing you both the good, the bad and the ugly side of it and yet keeps your love intact for the film industry.