London Dreams

London Dreams is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film directed and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. The film stars Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn in the lead roles while Asin plays the female lead and Rannvijay Singh, Om Puri, and newcomer Aditya Roy Kapur are featured in supporting roles. The film had a worldwide release on 30 October 2009 and was a critical and commercial failure. It marks the second collaboration between Khan and Devgn after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999).

London Dreams
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVipul Shah
Produced byVipul Shah
Screenplay bySuresh Nair
Story by
  • Suresh Nair
  • Ritesh Shah
Starring
Music byShankar-Ehsaan-Loy
CinematographySejal Shah
Edited byKunal Midtha
Distributed by
  • Headstart Films UK Limited
  • Blockbuster Movie Entertainers
Release date
  • 30 October 2009 (2009-10-30)[1]
Running time
153 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹50 crore[2][3]
Box office₹41 crore[4]

Plot

The story revolves around two childhood friends, Arjun (played by Ajay Devgn) and Mannu (played by Salman Khan). When Arjun was 17 years old, he was more focused on becoming a singer but his father disagreed therefore he began praying for his death so he can go to London. The only one who consoled him was his 15 years old friend Mannu. After Arjun's father dies, he finally travels to London with his uncle (Om Puri) whom he later runs away from after arriving.

Arjun, now 35 years old creates a fledgling band with Zoheb and Wasim (Rannvijay Singh and Aditya Roy Kapoor, respectively), two brothers who duped their relatives in Pakistan to travel to London in pursuit of their musical aspirations. He also brings aboard Priya (played by Asin), a music enthusiast from a conservative South Indian family. Back in India, Mannu seduces married women and finds himself in debt with the locals.

After paying his debt, Mannu goes to London to join Arjun's band, but becomes more popular with the crowds. Mannu also flirts with Priya.

The band embarks on a three-city tour spanning Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam where Arjun deceives a naive Mannu into a rollercoaster ride of promiscuous sex and illicit drugs. He tricks him, gets him addicted to drugs, and then gets him arrested in a car full of them. While pretending to help Mannu, Arjun leaks the drug story to the press. As the three-city tour concludes, the band heads to London to perform at Wembley Stadium in front of an audience estimated at 90,000 (which is of significance since, earlier in the movie, the viewer is told that Arjun's grandfather had failed before a similarly huge audience). Knowing how important this is for Arjun, Mannu tries to give up drugs. But Arjun decides that his success and Mannu's total failure are related. He pays a girl to pretend to have oral sex with Mannu, which makes Priya break up with Mannu. In this fragile state, Zoheb pushes Mannu toward drugs again and his mental state is now so fragile that he can't face appearing on stage.

In the moments leading up to the stage entrance, Mannu comes to senses and chooses the righteous path and runs to support his mate. But Arjun, who has become incensed with the crowd chanting Mannu's name, confesses his envy of Mannu's talent and what he did to finish Mannu off. The audience boos Arjun, the show ends in chaos, the band breaks up and a sad Mannu eventually returns to his village.

Arjun's uncle advises him to apologize to Mannu. Then it is revealed that after knowing the truth Priya and Mannu reconcile. Also, she marries Mannu and lives with him in his village. In the village, however, Mannu tells him not to apologize saying that it was his fault that he didn't see Arjun's sorrow and Priya also pardons Arjun for his wrong deeds. They get back together and London Dreams becomes a successful band again.

Cast

Production

Initially Raj Kumar santoshi was supposed to direct it with Aamir Khan & Shah Rukh Khan but things didn't work out and he left the project. Later Vipul shah made it with Salman Khan & Ajay Devgn. Asin gave audition for it in 2008. Akshay Kumar was first choice of Vipul but had date issue so he was unable to sign the movie. Also initially A.R Rahman was approached for the music but he opted out citing date issues, then trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy were approached for the music.

Reception

Critical response

London Dreams received negative reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh praised the performance of the principal cast, while criticizing the climax.[5] Rajeev Masand gave a scathing review of the movie, describing it as a "good film about foolish people."[6] Chandrima Pal of Rediff criticized the background music of the movie, while praising the dialogues, as well as Ajay Devgan's performance.[7] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL said "The last twenty minutes of ‘London Dreams’ take away half its spirit."[8] even though it was a box office success.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy with lyrics written by Prasoon Joshi.

Main article: London Dreams (soundtrack)

The song style is generally rock inspired to match the motifs in the movie.

No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Barso Yaaron"Vishal Dadlani, Roop Kumar Rathod05:48
2."Tapke Masti"Feroz Khan04:29
3."Man Ko Ati Bhavey Saiyaan"Shankar Mahadevan05:14
4."Khanabadosh"K.Mohan04:41
5."Yaari Bina"Roop Kumar Rathod, Milind Diwadkar04:32
6."Khwab"Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan06:15
7."Jashn Hai Jeet Ka"Abhijeet Ghoshal04:11
8."Shola Shola"Zubeen Garg05:31
9."Khanabadosh" (Remix)K.Mohan05:00
10."Man Ko Ati Bhavey Saiyaan" (Remix)Shankar Mahadevan05:30
11."Tapke Masti" (Remix)Feroz Khan04:20

References
  1. "Asin's London Dreams". Monster Cleaning. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  2. Will Singham be Ajay Devgn's most hit film ?
  3. Ajay Devgn's Singham Will be a super hit. It is grossing to more than 150 crore by a budget of 55 crore. Indian Economic Times.
  4. -Ajay Devgn Box Office Records : Lifetime Collections Talking Movies
  5. "London Dreams". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  6. "Masand's movie review: London Dreams is a foolish film". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  7. "Click! London Dreams needs a reality check". Rediff. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  8. "Click! London Dreams review".
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