Movie Review – Secret Superstar – By Suhel Johar

Secret Superstar Is A Must See.

 

After Last year's Dangal, Aamir Khan and his onscreen daughter Zaira Wasim make a comeback to silver screens, this time with an emotional tale of dreams, aspirations and ambitions trying to come out the chains of misogyny, chauvinism, and liberate itself, in debutante director Advait Chandan's Secret Superstar.

The film revolves around Insia Malik (Zaira Wasim), an average small-town girl, who aspires to be a singer. She isn’t a stellar student. She sits through the classes with a dull face, sometimes humming a song inside her head. She isn’t much of a head turner. But don’t you pass her for a mouse.

This unflinching 15-year-old Vadodara girl is the protagonist of Advait Chandan’s Secret Superstar. Her household isn’t a very warm space. Her father Farook Malik (Raj Arun), a brooding man with a white collar job, is a wife-beating misogynist. When he goes about hitting and harassing his wife Najma (Meher Vij), the girl and her little brother, a very spirited Guddu (Kabir Shaikh), shut themselves in their bedroom, trembling with fear. What keeps Insia going even in the face of this domestic violence, is a burning dream that she has been nurturing from childhood – to be a star singer; a rockstar the world looks upto. Supporting her in every way possible is her mother, a very endearing woman.

With her mother's constant support, the girl tries to seize whatever small opportunities she gets, and soon begins to post videos by singing and playing guitar wearing a burkha, in the name of 'Secret Superstar' and soon her videos become viral on the internet, catching the attention of out of form music director Shakti Kumar (Aamir Khan), who tries to elevate her to next level. Does Insia achieve her dreams with Shakti Kumar's help is what the rest of the film all about.

 

The plot is Secret Superstar is very simple, but the emotional connect Insia's character makes with you not just evokes empathy for her and but makes you become part of her struggle and success. That's what makes Secret Superstar work, despite some cliches and some melodrama in the second half that drag the film at places.

It is not overtly sugary or hideously warm. The film, like an expert mind reader, tugs the right parts of your heart. Even when Insia is delivering a much filmy line like, “dream dekhna toh basic hota hai!” it doesn’t induce cringe. The film, at right instances, grows bigger than life, giving the audience what they want. That is what a good mainstream film does.

Director Advait Chandan has really crafted a wonderful film. The way Advait Chandan has weaved the screenplay and executed it on celluloid makes you realise how it is to have been trained by Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan himself, as the screenplay just connects instantly with the audience.

Anil Mehta's Cinematography is brilliant. Editing by Hemanti Sarkar’s intelligent editing structures the narrative with perfect pauses and punches. For a subject revolving around music, Amit Trivedi's music is top notch, with an amazing background score, and songs like Main kaun hoon, Sapne re, Sexy baliye instantly striking a chord.

Performancewise, Secret Superstar totally belongs to Zaira Wasim. She is an exceptional actress. She handles every scene with an incredible maturity, careful enough to not let any expression go overboard. The girl who shined in Dangal proves that her performance and talent displayed in the movie wasn't a flash in the pan. Meher Vij as the mother, Arjun Raj as Insia's father and Kabir Shaikh who plays Guddu are apt and impress you with their act. Tirth Sharma as Zaira’s boyfriend has also performed well.

In an extended cameo as the out of form music composer Shakti Kumar, Aamir Khan makes his presence felt, despite the fact that he has gives full scope to Zaira to shine and dominate. Shakti Kumar, is narcissistic and big-mouthed and proudly creates nonsensical party songs and juicy controversies on a routine basis. Not a second does he appear real, thanks to Khan who overdoes the act, like a spoof. Yet Shakti isn’t totally cringe-worthy. He is occasionally funny. Although he doesn’t transform into a saviour or a hero at any point, but Shakti Kumar sure entertains.

On the whole, Secret Superstar is yet another Aamir Khan film that serves as a lesson on making a perfect feel-good drama using all stereotypes available.