In the 80s we had the trend of introducing star-sons with an entertaining mix of almost all the elements in a project ranging from a disturbed childhood, unaware youth, budding romance, betrayal, revenge and more including emotions, action, songs, dance, drama and everything Hindi films are known for.
The formula went through a qualitative change in the new millennium when even debut movies were carefully planned focusing on the subject and storyline catering to a whole new generation well aware of the cinema being made around the world. And then the net revolution changed it all in the last decade since 2010. However a few veteran directors refused to change themselves and their style olf filmmaking according to the new-age cinema and Anil Sharma sadly happens to be one of them, coming up with his son Utkarsh’s debut film GENIUS, which is nothing but the same 80s kind of show-reel made by a concerned father.
To be fair, Sharma’s basic idea of placing two geniuses in front of each other working for and against the law had enough potential to be an engrossing crime thriller offering some sudden twists and turns. But surprisingly, he chooses to execute the plot and characters in such amateurish manner that they never appear to be real or convincing for even a minute in the film’s tiringly long duration of more than 160 minutes.
Following a non-linear format that confuses as well as puts off the viewers in the first few minutes itself, GENIUS is a poor film which never makes an impact with its content or performances till the very end. And it’s really painful to write about such a film that has been specifically made by a father launching his young son, making all the efforts in the world hoping for a positive outcome.
As a young debutant Utkarsh (the kid who played Sunny Deol’s son in Anil Sharma’s all time blockbuster GADAR), does his job sincerely with an appealing, innocent child-like smile but the writing as well as the execution forcibly tries to present him as an unusually matured genius, which never actually suits or matches his presence on screen. And the blame for the same entirely falls upon the father-director, who strangely could visualize him doing such a matured role.
The project has everything ranging from a good budget, production design, backing of a reputed name to a couple of good songs too as required for a debut film. But if only Sharma had presented Utkarsh as a young wizard who assists another veteran officer on a secret mission, he probably could have delivered a much better launch both in terms of content as well as an individual performance. However, in the present over-burdened kind of act (trying to do more than required), the young boy only manages to get some attention and has a long way to go along with the beautiful Ishita Chauhan playing his love interest in the college.
GENIUS can also be called a lengthy, avoidable film since apart from the deliberately added patriotism and other amateurish references we also get to see one of the most forgettable (as well as hamming) performances coming from even Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Mithun Chakraborty (and many more in the supporting cast). The dated dialogues and direction rarely helps the film and it’s only the campus romance and a couple of catchy songs that at least give you something to watch in this pointless fare.
In short, there is no genius at work here in this film called GENIUS and the good investment made on such a poor launching pad could have easily helped many talented film-makers with scripts waiting for their required finances.
Rating : 1 / 5
