The film is based on the life and times of a superstar heroine from the dream factory we call 'Bollywood'. The film is an entertaining, daring, emotional, shocking, glamorous, scandalous behind the scenes account of the reality behind the world of glitz and glamour that our film stars inhabit. For a country obsessed with films and film stars, HEROINE will take audiences on a voyeuristic journey to see what really goes on behind the closed doors of make up rooms and vanity vans. It will give them a chance to go beyond the gorgeous smiles and politically correct quotes, to see what really happens in the lives of India 's sweethearts - The sniping & the politics, the secrets & the lies, the incredible highs of fame & the lonely depths of failure. This is the film Bhandarkar has been subconsciously preparing for ever since he joined the industry and one which he considers his magnum opus.

Coming Soon!

After Page 3 and Fashion, Madhur Bhandarkar returns with another movie that reveals the murky secrets of the ‘big bad world’ called Bollywood. After the movie created enough buzz even before going on floors (with Kareena replacing Aishwarya), a lot was expected out of Bhandarkar, especially when, unlike his other ‘eye-openers’ Page 3, Corporate, Traffic Signal and Fashion, he talks about the industry he actually is a part of.

Plot

An apt title to Madhur Bhandarkar’s magnum opus would be Bipolar rather than Heroine as the movie seems more like a peek into the head of someone with a serious psychiatric disorder than into the glamorous world of acting, movies and the like.

Mahi Arora (Kareena Kapoor) is the moody, spoilt actress on top of her game. Not only does she have the best movies in her kitty, she’s also in a relationship with the much married superstar Aryan Khanna (Arjun Rampal). While Aryan is trying to get his divorce finalized, Mahi goes from being the adoring lover one moment, to stark-raving-possessive girlfriend in the other. Going with the flow, our pouty actress also has a drinking problem and regularly visits her shrink for prescription drugs. The ominous narrator announces how Mahi was always about extremes: consumed in love or withered with fury.

After another of her screaming incidents, Mahi gets humiliatingly dumped by Aryan. Her career is down in the dumps and so is she. Enter fairy godmother/PR person (Divya Dutta) who waves her magic wand and gets our heroine out of the molasses. Mahi also finds love again, this time with the charming cricketer Angad Paul (Randeep Hooda). To sharpen her skills as an actor, Mahi also signs up for an art film directed by a national award winning director (Ranvir Shorey), which co-stars Shahana Goswami.

The movie does a rinse-and-repeat from here on with heartbreak, love and heartbreak again. Watch the rest of the movie for more close-ups of Kareena’s blood-shot eyes, her incessant break-downs and some really confusing blocks in the story.

Performances

Kareena darts off F-words and other expletives, chain smokes and reveals a fair amount of skin (and dark circles). At the same, she's so effective in the scenes where she appears her most vulnerable and wounded. The actress has never used her eyes this emphatically before; they change their colour and sparkle with the tone of a scene.

Arjun does a good job. Randeep, as usual does justice to his role. Shahana Goswami is brilliant, but it is unfortunate that her role is limited. Helen has a charming role and she plays it effectively.

Most characters’ uncanny similarity to some or the other real life celebrity – a ‘Khan’ with a jealous wife, a Punjabi cricketer who dates only actresses – is disturbing.

Overall

If you are a Madhur Bhandarkar fan, I would recommend you skip this one. One, it may be disappointing; two, you’ve seen all this before. If you are a Kareena Kapoor fan, it’s a treat.

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