ABCD

2013 [HINDI]

Drama / Music

4
IMDb Rating 6.3/10 10 7777 7.8K

Plot summary

When a capable dancer is provoked by the evil design of his employer, naturally he will be out to prove his mettle.

Director

Top cast

Kay Kay Menon as Jahangir Khan
Prabhu Deva as Vishnu
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.23 GB
1280*534
Hindi 2.0
NR
60 fps
2 hr 16 min
Seeds 1
2.52 GB
1920*800
Hindi 5.1
NR
60 fps
2 hr 16 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by sashank_kini-1 6 / 10

Remo is a Dilletantish Storyteller But A Virtuoso Choreographer; With A Committed Cast Who Give Honest Performances, He Gives Us A Mildly Yet Consistently Entertaining Work

Remo D'Souza is a dilettante in the art of storytelling. He isn't able to proficiently explain and construct his character motivations and narrative respectively nor is he able to write something truly novel. His films' themes are predictable and visibly repetitive, his plots have hardly any complexity and both his works are I believe borrowed from Hollywood ideas (his first feature film disaster 'F.A.L.T.U' was the Hindi version of a 2005 movie 'Accepted'). The only difference between his debut attempt and sophomore effort is that the latter has its heart in the right place for the obvious reason that the movie is all about 'dance' and not some faltu 's.h.i.t' (those who've watched Accepted will get the pun).Yes, Remo D'Souza is a dilettante in the art of storytelling, but he is doubtlessly a virtuoso in the arts of dance and choreography and with the perfect theme to complement his talents, he is able to put up a mildly albeit consistently entertaining work that has a clearer vision and cleaner execution than his dismally wonky 'F.A.L.T.U'. His cast in 'ABCD' also has a major role in realizing his vision successfully, mainly because the actors who played dancers are dancers themselves in real life and so they are able to understand their characters and their struggles much easily without looking too artificial or schmaltzy. ABCD, acronym for Anybody Can Dance, uses the classic theme of competitive rivalry with Jahangir Khan (played by Kay Kay Menon) the pompous, calculative and ego-maniacal head of a prestigious dance academy clashing with Vishnu (played by Prabhu Deva), the former head choreographer at his academy who quits after Jahangir relegates him to desk-job duties just to accommodate a new foreign choreographer. Jahangir's monomaniacal ambition is to win awards, name, fame, money and personal glory and he heedlessly crushes anyone who comes in his way. Vishnu on the other hand believes that the best man should win, and so he leads life righteously and encourages his protégés to do the same. When Vishnu moves in with his old buddy Gopi (played by Ganesh Acharya), he discovers immense latent potential in some of the youth there and makes up his mind to teach them everything he knows for free. The motley of youngsters is divided into two rival gangs, one led by Rocky and the other by D; Rocky's gang is less tapori (street) than D's gang, and they are the ones who readily accept Vishnu's offer. Slowly, Vishnu's team builds with D's gang joining in first, then a few others in the locality and lastly Rhea, the lead dancer of Jahangir Dance Academy who quits after being fondled by Jahangir during rehearsals. Both the rival groups enter a national dance event similar to the popular Dance India Dance show (most of the dancers in the movie are former contestants of the show) and try giving their best shot at winning the prestigious title, but Vishnu's group has to overcome many obstacles on the way. A surprising thing about ABCD is that its story is'nt flat. I liked the way they used Ganesh Chaturti as an important motif in the film and was impressed by the manner in which Jahangir and Vishnu's ongoing rivalry parallels with Rocky and D's. There is a scene towards the climax of the film when we realize someone from Vishnu's group has switched loyalty and joined hands with Jahangir's group, and here we are kept in suspense for about a minute where we are keen to know whether the person whom everyone suspense indeed turns out to be the Judas. Well, I do not intend to reveal the suspense which is surprising in an effective way, and the entire sequence leading to the climax is well shot. My personal favorite dance sequence is when Vishnu's group perform dressed as clowns after being told off in the previous round that they were only selected to 'entertain like clowns and get TRPs'. The movie does drag in the middle and I feel it is because the screenwriters didn't have much in mind about what to do with all these dancers and so they added some uninteresting and trivial subplots that don't really add up to anything consequential. The thing that's helped a lot in saving the film is the cast, which is quite likable. Everyone in the theater except me knew the dancers since I'm the only guy who doesn't watch Dance India Dance, yet I smiled often at the cast's peppy presence and genuine attempt at filling their roles; it shows that despite being paid comparatively marginal fee and having zero or little acting experience, these dancers at least bother trying unlike those mega- stars like Salman and Akshay Kumar who've being doing every new role on autopilot. I felt throughout ABCD that Prabhu Deva really cared about the film, and this could be seen in his performance; he is no Gene Kelly, he has little of Kelly's suaveness and charisma but in this particular film, his lack of screen presence works to an extent as his character is supposed to be selfless plus he does compensate for that in his lengthy but exciting dance number. Ganesh Acharya's casual charm made him noticeable but he has got to lose some weight. The dancers all try hard, especially the guy who plays the alcoholic (but his solo creeped me out) and bubbly Lauren Gottlieb whom I instantly recognized being a fan of So You Think You Can Dance. Kay Kay Menon has the best part in the film, and he shines during the movie's resolution which I won't reveal! The title ABCD reminds me of the Pixar film Ratatouille; while the former doesn't explicitly state the relevance of the title, the latter does and the quote, which applies to ABCD goes like this: 'not everyone can be a great artist(or dancer), but a great artist can come from anywhere'. I am satisfied.
Reviewed by

Reviewed by bobbysing 7 / 10

Watch it essentially if you love dancing and watch it as a must if you don't!

Exploring a new genre of dance movies in Indian Cinema (earlier tried in the 80s with DISCO DANCER, DANCE DANCE & more) ABCD straight away comes to the point in its first scene itself featuring a dance competition. And then it takes you on to an energetic dancing journey right till its explosive climax where Lord Ganesha is remembered in a spectacular show on the stage.

To finish with its weaker points first, story wise ABCD may not have got anything novel or fresh to offer but execution wise it does have many exclusive firsts in its kitty, especially for the viewers who share the same passion of dancing in their real life. The film has music, dance and expressions written all over it and it keeps moving around these three things only woven with all the clichéd plots already seen before on screen in various films.

But if it has nothing new to offer then what is so special about this film which forces me to rate it as an essential watch for every young at heart living in India?

There is in fact more than one answer to the above question and they are all mentioned below as the merits of the film intelligently called ANY BODY CAN DANCE which interestingly gets an abbreviation as ABCD.

1. First of all this is a film in which you have "The Indian God of Dance" Prabhudeva(acting after a long time) playing the Master of Dance only for a group of enthusiastic students eager to learn from him. And when Prabhudeva is there as the maestro himself then you are sure to get some exclusive, unbelievable and jaw dropping dance sequences on the screen like never before.

2. Along with Prabhudeva, ABCD has also got another popular dance maestro Ganesh Acharya playing a dance teacher assisting Prabhudeva as a true friend to achieve his desired goal. The lovable act of Ganesh straight away wins your heart as its not easy to accept such a side role, when one himself is running a professional dance academy and considered a Master of the art in his own industry. Displaying this appreciable sportsman spirit, its indeed a treat to watch the two masters together on the screen in one frame.

3. The third merit of the film includes all its stunning stage performances well supported by a breathtaking choreography, innovative cinematography and a dazzling technical show which superbly shines in 3D. Director Remo shows a tremendous growth in his second venture made on his most favourite subject and he does come up with an impressive show with many worth watching songs and dance sequences lead by the grand finale saying "Bappa Moreya" loudly. The film features almost all kind of dance forms and is sure going to be a great watch by the young ones who are into learning the art seriously. Here though I missed an instantly likable composition with some catchy beats in its songs but still the soundtrack of ABCD (by Sachin-Jigar) successfully impresses the viewer while watching it as required. Particularly I loved hearing the track, "Duhaayi Hai" & "Saada Dil Vi Tu" which are both rendered and filmed quite well.

4. Now after these key points, in my opinion ABCD's biggest USP is that it features almost all the winners/participants of the famous TV show "Dance India Dance" who became famous in their hometowns due to their amazing performances on the show.

Here director REMO thankfully found that vision, courage and spirit to bring all his young contestants of the show together in his own film made on dance. Therefore I consider ABCD as a valuable example set by him in the industry by acting like a responsible mentor, giving them the much required chance to showcase their skills on the big wide silver screen. This young brigade in ABCD is lead by Dharmesh and Salman along with many other talented names who show a commendable confidence acting with stalwarts such as Prabhudeva, Ganesh and KK, who is simply outstanding as the cunning, ambitious owner of a renowned dance academy.

Admitting the truth, yes as a film script one may find ABCD just an average flick made with great passion, highly inspired from the STEP UP series of the west. But as a special project collectively made by all the masters of the art together along with the young talent picked up from their own TV Talent shows, I would like to rate ABCD as an important film of the current times which actually shows us a new inventive way of making interestingly appealing films featuring the fresh talent.

Sharing the experience of watching it in the theater, it was really great to see ABCD with a group of young dance students sitting in the row ahead, who were really enjoying each and every dance movement on the screen with their energetic shouts, whistles and comments.

And while its final song was there (in the end credits) with Saroj Khan, Prabhudeva, Ganesh Acharya and Remo dancing together on the screen in one frame, I just had a thought that if me and these young students are enjoying so much watching these masters dancing together, then what a good time they all must have had in shooting the whole project like an unforgettable picnic lived away from all the worldly pains and discomforts...........following only one common mission in mind and that's the passion of dancing.

So as I see it, ABCD is a zealous and appreciable attempt from all the dancing maestros putting their own students in the front, which deserves to be looked upon with love & respect by one and all. In short, watch ABCD essentially if you love dancing and watch it as a must if you don't as it may open your mind towards one of the most precious gifts of nature, i.e. The Joy of Dancing………Cheers!

Read more IMDb reviews

2 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment