So the latest news is, arch nemesis India and Pakistan have settled their differences and have joined hands to beat the British. They don’t use bombs and guns to defeat their colonizers though; their weapons of choice being hip-hop and bhangra this time around. Well that’s the plot of Remo D'Souza’s “Street Dancer 3D”, his third dance flick.
When the dancer turned choreographer turned reality TV judge D’Souza directed the 2013 hit “Any Body Can Dance”, the film with a cast of real dancers and not so popular Bollywood faces, besides Prabhu Deva and Kay Kay Menon, had an organic nature to its production. It was one of the first dance-oriented films in the industry and using actual dancers for the entire cast, the film was special and created a milestone. The director then decided to back this success with ABCD 2 in 2015. This one was more commercial-minded featuring star kids Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor in starring roles.
While D’Souza’s choreography skills are reaching new heights, the director seems to have entered a rabbit hole of filmy clichés in this one. With Varun and Shraddha repeated as the leads, “Street Dancer 3D” is more of a generic Bollywood drama than a full-fledged dance movie.
Shraddha (Inayat) leads a team of Pakistani dancers called “Rule Breakers” and Varun Dhawan (Sahej) is the leader of a team of Indians called “Street Dancers,” both based in London. Inevitably, the two teams are rivals in dance and also in cricket banter. But things change when Inayat discovers a group of homeless illegal immigrants in the undergrounds of London and takes it upon herself to help them. How? By winning a dance competition that has the huge prize money of £100,000. Very typical, right?
Yes, it gets too melodramatic at times. Yes, the incorporation of Bollywood masalas into the movie has stretched it into a lengthy 2hrs 30min run time. And yes, the under par acting performances and direction are evident. But does Street Dancer fail to entertain the audience seated it the theaters? It definitely doesn’t. All sorts of lapses in film production are nullified by the fact that the choreography is unprecedented in the industry.
The centerpiece of the drama takes place in the first half and the second half sees it unfolding with exceptional dance performances not only from the cast but also from different dance groups featured in the film. Besides Varun and Shraddha—both accomplished dancers—the cast includes Prabhu Deva (Ram Prasad), Norah Fatehi (Nora) and a list of familiar faces from Indian dance reality shows including Punit Pathak as Inder, Salman Yusuff Khan as Zayn, Raghav Juyal as Poddy, and Dharmesh Yelande as D.
Coming back to the film’s choreography, combined with excellent cinematography, it sets a benchmark. The music is basically Punjabi hip-hop and RnB but also draws influences from house, trance, trap, and much more. While the songs are not quite memorable in themselves, the combination of choreography, dance routines and photography create a visual extravaganza, especially with the deliberate 3D effects.
Who should watch it?
Anybody who enjoys watching dance will love this movie. Also, if not for anything else, do watch it for our homeboys Sushant Khatri, who plays “Chotu” in the movie and the dance troupe Wild Ripperz who feature as themselves. A stepping stone for Nepali dancers to be featured in such a huge stage.
Genre: Drama
Rating: 3 Stars
Run time: 2hrs 30min
Director: Remo D'Souza
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhu Deva
