Genre: Drama, Musical
Director: Vipul Shah
Producer: Headstart Films UK Ltd.
Presenter: Blockbuster Movie Entertainers
Music Director: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonsa
Lyricist: Prasoon Joshi
Star Cast: Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Asin Thottumkal, Om Puri, Brinda Parekh,
Rannvijay Singh, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Manoj Pahwa
Release Date: October 30, 2009
‘London Dreams’ works in parts! While it scores high on the emotional quotient, the music part is simply 
disappointing. Vipul Shah has beautifully brought out the subtle nuances behind human emotions, be it friendship, love or jealousy (especially the last one). ‘London Dreams’ is the story of two friends, diametrically opposite to each other, and how jealousy destroys the beautiful relationship that they once shared. The film is said to be inspired from Milos Forman's ‘Amadeus’ (1984), which was based on Salieri and Mozart's life.
disappointing. Vipul Shah has beautifully brought out the subtle nuances behind human emotions, be it friendship, love or jealousy (especially the last one). ‘London Dreams’ is the story of two friends, diametrically opposite to each other, and how jealousy destroys the beautiful relationship that they once shared. The film is said to be inspired from Milos Forman's ‘Amadeus’ (1984), which was based on Salieri and Mozart's life.The first half of ‘London Dreams’ has a few interesting moments, but it serves as more of a build-up to the engrossing second half, where the actual drama comes into play. One of the main flaws of the movie is that Devgan’s character is sketchy and seems to be quite unrealistic. Some of his scenes seem to be right out of an 18th century flick and make you laugh, rather than stir your heart, like his self-flagellation (he also seems to have made it big in the alien land of London without any support, which is not at all believable).
While ‘London Dreams’ seems to be dragging on towards the end, the climax comes way too quickly and you get taken by surprise. Yet another problem with the movie is that though it has music as its background, it fails to become a strong point. The film revolves around rock band, music, and concerts. However, the songs failed to provide it with the kind of support a music-based film needs. On the plus side, the cinematography is excellent and even the background score impresses you with its international standards.
As for the two leading male stars, both of them gave a wonderful performance. While Salman Khan woos you with his innocent charm and mannerism, Ajay Devgan leaves an impact with intense emotions and power-packed performance. Even Asin charms the audience and shares a good chemistry with Salman. Om Puri is good in the short role that he has played in the movie. Ditto for Aditya Roy Kapur. On the other hand, Rannvijay Singh didn’t get to do much in the movie. On the whole, if you can overlook a few flaws here and there and are not looking for exceptional music, this film might work for you!
London Dreams Pre-release Review
London Dreams Pre-release Review
Bringing you a taste of London once again, Vipul Shah is all set to come up with his next directorial venture ‘London Dreams’ (the last one was ‘Namaste London’). Based on the story of two childhood friends, whose relationship strengthens and then is put to test by the only thing common in them - music, it stars Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Asin Thottumkal in the main leads, with Om Puri, Brinda Parekh, Rannvijay Singh, Aditya Roy Kapoor, and Manoj Pahwa as the supporting cast. It has been produced by Headstart Films UK Ltd. and will be released on October 30, 2009.
‘London Dreams’ takes us into the life of Arjun (Ajay Devgan) and Mannu (Salman Khan), two childhood friends who share a family connection with music, but have little else in common, be it in terms of their personality or their dreams. Arjun has a single aim in life, to get on stage and realize his grandfather's unfulfilled dream. He devotes his life, his talent and his music passionately towards this aim. On the other hand, Mannu is a simple guy, a kid at heart, who is hardy interested in the instruments of his father (who teaches music). He is more interested in enjoying the good things life has to offer.
With a single-minded determination, Arjun starts off on the course of his dream. He risks everything, even runs away from the single person who constitutes his family in a foreign land - his uncle. Soon, he starts roaming around on the streets of London, till the time he finds shelter in a music shop. Day and night, he homes his music skills, at times pushing himself to the limit. Soon, that day comes, when he feels that he is ready to make an entry into the world of music and showmanship. He forms a band with Zoheb (Rannvijay Singh) and Wasim, two brothers from Paskistan, who have fooled their relatives to come to London.
Not much time later, Arjun bumps into Priya (Asin Thottumkal), a music lover from an old-fashioned South Indian family, who ends up becoming a dancer in his band. Far away from all this, in Punjab, Mannu takes to playing in the wedding bands in his village, as a means of livelihood. Still, he is happy with what life has given him, but Arjun is not. He brings Mannu to London and makes him a part of his band, without having any idea that this particular step of his is going to change his life soon, as Mannu, though unknowingly, becomes a threat to Arjun’s dreams and ambitions.
Mannu, unlike Arjun, has been blessed with a musical gift right from his birth. With his innate talent and impertinent style of performing, he soon wins over the crowd and becomes an instant hit. Over the period of one night, he lays a claim on all that Arjun had taken years to achieve. Now, Arjun not only starts getting jealous of Mannu, but also feels deceived by the very God to whom he had submitted everything, just to fulfill his dream of gaining fame and recognition in the field of music. The insecurity reaches its maximum when Mannu inadvertently ends up winning over Priya as well, with whom Arjun was in love.
Feeling like a person who lost everything by the fraction of a second, Arjun starts formulating a sinister plan to bring down the person he once considered as his best friend. Soon, the band leaves on a three-city tour, spanning Paris, Rome and Amsterdam. With the start of the tour, Arjun’s plan comes into action and Mannu ends up getting involved in a devastating ride of sex and drugs overdose, which not only breaks his spirit, but also puts a full stop on his love life (well almost!). To top it all, this happens just days before the band is scheduled to have a show at Wembley.
Years ago, Arjun’s grandfather had failed before a crowd of 25,000 people at Wembley! And it is at Wembley only that Arjun hopes to rise up to the eminence that he had aim at for so long and fulfill his grandfather’s dream. However, what he doesn’t know is that there is still a major obstacle in the way of his dream. As he puts his foot at Wembley, Arjun comes across a shocking truth. Now, his band, his friendship and his credibility is at stake. As he tries to rise about the petty envy, an overwhelming experience follows, which makes him realize the true meaning of acceptance in life.
