"ROY" is an unorthodox, well shot romantic thriller which keeps on oscillating between a heist drama and romantic tracks ultimately culminating in no-man's land, leaving the audience a tad confused. The movie is a bang-on when it comes to stunning visuals, style statements, great art direction and good music but all these aesthetics combined together go for a toss when you don't have a coherent story & screenplay, and this is where the movie falters big big time. Also, rarely you get to see a movie whose title is named after a character 'Roy' (Ranbir Kapoor) and the same very character is eerily sketched with his screen presence being very limited in the movie. On a lighter note, the makers should have taken some inspiration from Love Charger Baba oops Love Charzzer Baba (As he spells g as z while singing) whose movie MSG has released along with Roy. As Baba Gurmeet is playing the title role he is virtually present in every scene of the movie portraying his histrionics. Indian audience has seen two back to back releases whose basic premise revolves around bollywood namely Shamitabh that released last week and Roy, this week. Unfortunately, both the movies have failed to live upto expectations although Shamitabh was far far better and expectations from it were much more cause of two big names involved with it i.e. R. Balki and Big B. Now, coming to Roy, the movie was promoted as a heist drama through its promos which gave the feeling of it being a good cat and mouse chase kind of thriller movie. Alias ! it never happens, instead the movie turns out to be a story of a writer-director Kabir (Arjun Rampal) who is going through a writer's block and is on a journey to self discovery. Roy has lot of factors that could have turned the fortunes in favor of the movie : Stunning visuals through effective cinematography, Two handsome leading men including the suave Ranbir Kapoor, Hot sizzling leading lady adding the oomph factor and the biggest factor being that it is not a rip off from some south Indian or Foreign movie. Yet, to see the snail paced movie squander away these advantages purely owing to ineptitude is pain. Roy just does not make the cut. One of the biggest flaws of Director Vikramjit Singh's film is that it fails to have smooth transitions between the different stories he narrates in the movie.
STORY & SCREENPLAY :: The story as well as screenplay of this movie has been penned down by Vikramjit Singh, who is also the director of this movie. Although, one must admit that his writing is pathbreaking n novel with none of the Bollywood cliches attached to it but what could have turned into an interesting heist drama, ends up as an emotional damp squib for the lack of smooth transition from one narrative to other. And, it is this reason that has made Roy, a more confusing film rather than it being an imaginative one. One has to use his brain cells to the optimum level to connect the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle as the movie keeps on getting complicated scene after scene. Vikramjit has created a soup out of what could have been a brilliantly executed script. The movie begins with Cyrus Broacha taking an interview of filmmaker Kabir Grewal (Arjun Rampal) who is not only known for his hit movies namely Guns 1 and Guns Part 2 but also known for his short lived flings. He is so famous for his flings that media remembers them by numbers which at the time of interview stand at count of 22. Cut next, Kabir is at home and his Production head (Shernaz Patel) comes and informs that Producers are ready to finance his next one in Guns series i.e. Guns Part 3. Kabir tells her to go ahead and sign the deal but the hitch is that the script for the same is not ready. Kabir slips into a bathrobe, puts fedora on his head and sits down to write at his desk. Finally, he starts typing on a typewriter. Unlike everyone in the modern era who like to keep back-ups of important documents on hard drives etc., Kabir types into his typewriter and rubbishes the perishable quantity of ink and paper. Suffering from writer's block, Kabir is not able to finish the script and yet announces that the unit will head to Malaysia to shoot the movie. While in Malaysia Kabir meets independent filmmaker Ayesha Aamir (Jacqueline Fernandez) who is staying in the same hotel where he is putting up. Soon Ayesha becomes his girlfriend number 23. She becomes his inspiration and he begins to type his script paving the entry of 'Roy'. Roy (Ranbir Kapoor) is a smooth operator thief who is proficient at stealing priceless paintings. He undertakes an assignment to find the other half of a priceless French painting which is owned by a woman in Malaysia. So Roy sets off to pursue her and the painting. The woman with the painting is Tia (Jacqueline Fernandez). While it is easily possible to sneak into her house, pick up the painting and leave but Roy decides to add some drama unto it. So he pursues the woman, romances and sleeps with her and then makes a clean getaway after stealing the painting from her. As the story progresses, both men fall in love with their respective Jacquelines. With art imitating life, when Ayesha dumps Kabir, he becomes crestfallen and his inspiration dries up. Also, the death of his father (Anupam Kher) at the same time makes things worse for Kabir. He sits for hours in front of his typewriter unable to complete the script. And as he struggles to write the climax of his movie, Roy is seen floating aimlessly in a sailboat with the painting, waiting for Kabir to decide his fate. Will Kabir be able to complete the script n finish Guns 3, Will Roy be able to leave his past behind and Will Roy n Kabir get the respective loves of their lives is what forms the rest of story. Oops, Did i forget to mention that while all these proceedings are going on, there is one detective D.S.Wadia (Rajit Kapoor) who is in pursuit of Roy but always two steps behind him.
STARCAST :: Arjun Rampal seems to be on a high after his rocking performance in 'Rock On' and has delivered earnest performances after that in 'Rajneeti' & 'D-Day'. Roy is Arjun's show all the way as he is the main protagonist of the movie. He has played the character of Kabir with a certain sense of maturity and has been able to portray the finer nuances of his character. His character required an actor to portray a restrained performance, which Arjun has commendably delivered. Bagging this movie is quite an achievement for Jacqueline Fernandez as she not only got to portray a double role in the movie but also got to romance two of the hottest men in the film industry namely Arjun Rampal & Ranbir Kapoor. She has delivered a descent performance although it's very difficult to differentiate between her two avatars in the movie. The only difference between her two avatars can be gauged by the gloss of her lipstick shades and her hairdo. She has looked stunning especially in 'Chitiyaan Kalaiyaan' song and seems to be improving as an actress with every release of hers. But, it is Ranbir Kapoor who charms everyone with his dynamic role in the movie. He is a natural actor and has portrayed his character with such ease that it seems as if he is sleepwalking in the movie. Watch out for him in a scene where he goes to collect back the painting from the person who has purchased it and a well orchestrated fist fight happens there. Anupam Kher is effective enough in his short stint as Arjun's father. Shernaz Patel too has given a noticeable performance as Production head of Arjun Rampal.
TECHNICAL FINESSE :: The soundtrack of the movie has been composed by Meet Bros., Ankit Tiwari and Amaal Malik which is one of the highlights of this movie. 'Tu hai ke nahin' by Ankit Tiwari, 'Sooraj Dooba hai' by Amaal Malik and 'Chitiyaan Kalaiyaan' by Kanika Kapoor are already very popular and have made it to top of the music charts. Background music of the movie has been composed by Sanjay Chowdhury who has done an excellent job. The background score of Roy gives out a mysterious aura of a thriller which enhances the impact of visuals. The cinematographer of the movie is Himman Dhamija who has done outstanding job behind the lens. Dhamija has shot every frame with utmost passion, and we can call his cinematography an ace of the movie along with the choice of locations. Keeping the suspense element in mind, Dhamija also ensures that all the scenes blend with the background and extensive use of dark shades gives the movie all the class it needs. A special mention of Vintee Bansal for his effective production designing. The movie has been edited by Deepika Kalra who has kept the run-time of the movie to 147 minutes. Her editing is not upto the mark as the editing of movie of this genre should have been more taut n crisp which is not the case. There are lot of unwanted scenes that should have been done away with, long pauses in the movie and some scenes have been stretched that needed to be trimmed down to make this movie entertaining. As a writer Vikramjit Singh has failed to impress as he might have had a wonderful idea in mind for making this movie but while penning it down, it got converted into a flimsy storyline and shoddy screenplay. But, as a director Vikramjit Singh shows some promise as sparks of his brilliance are visible in some parts of the movie. His movie boasts of technical excellence but is let down by the script. He is one of those new age directors who has dared to make a movie sans bollywood cliches and usual formulaic elements.
CONCLUSION :: Roy is one of those movies where an original, novel idea got bogged down by flimsy script and narrative making it a non-entertainer. You can give this one a skip.
ROHIT SHARMA.
STARCAST :: Arjun Rampal seems to be on a high after his rocking performance in 'Rock On' and has delivered earnest performances after that in 'Rajneeti' & 'D-Day'. Roy is Arjun's show all the way as he is the main protagonist of the movie. He has played the character of Kabir with a certain sense of maturity and has been able to portray the finer nuances of his character. His character required an actor to portray a restrained performance, which Arjun has commendably delivered. Bagging this movie is quite an achievement for Jacqueline Fernandez as she not only got to portray a double role in the movie but also got to romance two of the hottest men in the film industry namely Arjun Rampal & Ranbir Kapoor. She has delivered a descent performance although it's very difficult to differentiate between her two avatars in the movie. The only difference between her two avatars can be gauged by the gloss of her lipstick shades and her hairdo. She has looked stunning especially in 'Chitiyaan Kalaiyaan' song and seems to be improving as an actress with every release of hers. But, it is Ranbir Kapoor who charms everyone with his dynamic role in the movie. He is a natural actor and has portrayed his character with such ease that it seems as if he is sleepwalking in the movie. Watch out for him in a scene where he goes to collect back the painting from the person who has purchased it and a well orchestrated fist fight happens there. Anupam Kher is effective enough in his short stint as Arjun's father. Shernaz Patel too has given a noticeable performance as Production head of Arjun Rampal.
TECHNICAL FINESSE :: The soundtrack of the movie has been composed by Meet Bros., Ankit Tiwari and Amaal Malik which is one of the highlights of this movie. 'Tu hai ke nahin' by Ankit Tiwari, 'Sooraj Dooba hai' by Amaal Malik and 'Chitiyaan Kalaiyaan' by Kanika Kapoor are already very popular and have made it to top of the music charts. Background music of the movie has been composed by Sanjay Chowdhury who has done an excellent job. The background score of Roy gives out a mysterious aura of a thriller which enhances the impact of visuals. The cinematographer of the movie is Himman Dhamija who has done outstanding job behind the lens. Dhamija has shot every frame with utmost passion, and we can call his cinematography an ace of the movie along with the choice of locations. Keeping the suspense element in mind, Dhamija also ensures that all the scenes blend with the background and extensive use of dark shades gives the movie all the class it needs. A special mention of Vintee Bansal for his effective production designing. The movie has been edited by Deepika Kalra who has kept the run-time of the movie to 147 minutes. Her editing is not upto the mark as the editing of movie of this genre should have been more taut n crisp which is not the case. There are lot of unwanted scenes that should have been done away with, long pauses in the movie and some scenes have been stretched that needed to be trimmed down to make this movie entertaining. As a writer Vikramjit Singh has failed to impress as he might have had a wonderful idea in mind for making this movie but while penning it down, it got converted into a flimsy storyline and shoddy screenplay. But, as a director Vikramjit Singh shows some promise as sparks of his brilliance are visible in some parts of the movie. His movie boasts of technical excellence but is let down by the script. He is one of those new age directors who has dared to make a movie sans bollywood cliches and usual formulaic elements.
CONCLUSION :: Roy is one of those movies where an original, novel idea got bogged down by flimsy script and narrative making it a non-entertainer. You can give this one a skip.
ROHIT SHARMA.
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rohitreview@gmail.com 
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