Sonam: Khoobsurat Really? (I guess they meant Fawad Khan :) )

By : Juhi Bansal

I saw Finding Fanny last week. I was super-awed with Deepika’s styling in the movie. She must have had not more than 4-5 outfit changes, no accessories to talk about, no fancy hair dos and a completely washed out face! But how she glowed! It was like she made the role her own, like she was Angie herself and not just a character. Full marks to Anaita Shroff for this…and ofcourse to the gorgeous DP for carrying the look with so much ease and aplomb.

DP in Finding Fanny

You must be wondering why I am talking about Finding Fanny when the title of the post clearly says Khoobsurat. I saw the movie last night. Dragged K along too with much emotional blackmailing. And like everytime, he swore never to come for a Sonam Kapoor movie again. He calls me a sucker for pain solely on my “uncanny” ability to watch and enjoy nonsensical cinema.

It would be wrong for me to talk about Sonam’s acting skills (or the gross deficiency thereof) but I just can’t review the styling without getting that off my chest first.

So, she plays this half Punjabi-half Bengali physiotherapist-to-the-IPL-stars from Delhi. Now, imagine how stereotypical Bollywood can get in characterizing the role and multiply that by 1000! Loud colors-check, loud character-check, ill-mannered-check, moohphat-check and the list goes on. What’s worse is Sonam is nowhere close to even the stereotypical Punjabi-Delhi girl. She struggles with her -“rehn de”, “kat le”. So much so, that Fawad Khan, the supposed uber-polished prince does a more convincing “oo teri” than all of Sonam’s overacting put together.

Okay so now to the styling. Remember, how at the beginning I mentioned DP in Finding Fanny. Well, all I wanted to say was that limited budget and role-demands shouldn’t get into the way of styling the character. I am told that the total budget for Sonam’s outfits in the movie was 5 lacs. Agree it’s a paltry sum for someone whose bag (one of many) costs more but with enough high street brands and upcoming designers, there was a LOT of scope for improvement.

Her outfits have made a mockery of the fashion sensibilities of Punjabi and Delhi girls. So many colors….so many abruptly put together layers….so many prints matched mindlessly. It’s surprising how absolutely stunning she looked in the credits song and when she was out promoting the film. I’d mentioned this before and here I go again. She’s definitely the fashion diva but she needs her overpriced designers for it. She just can’t make the cheaper outfits work!

However, I do want to mention the Masaba clad Kirron Kher, the very suave princess Aditi Rao Hydari and the quintessential Rani-sa (in all her modern queen-like fare) Ratna Pathak Shah. Their styling as well as acting more than made up for Sonam’s goofy act.

A special mention to the looker of the year, the Tom Cruise of India (Pakistan) Fawad Khan. He is impeccably dressed and his restrained smile steals the show. I just can’t imagine how in 2014, a simple lip-lock can bring a change of heart in a rough & tough rajasthani prince and make him fall head over heels with a character inspired from the “royal clown”- even for a Disney movie this is too fairytale-ish!