A few months back, rumours broke out that Will Smith is making a cameo in Karan Johar's production, Student of The Year 2. We were like, 'No Way!' Then pictures came out of Will Smith, who was on a trip in India, meeting the lead stars of SOTY2, Tiger Shroff, Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria, on the sets. We thought it must be a friendly visit. Then news came out that Will Smith will be shaking a leg with these stars in a song, and the clip of that appeared in Smith's 'Bucket List' video. We were excited. We shouldn't have been, though. Will Smith’s India Tour Has Awakened a New Understanding of Himself and Truths of the World.
For what we saw of Will Smith in the little clip in the Bucket List's video is exactly how long we see the Aladdin and Men in Black star in the film too. Will Smith comes out of the blue during the 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Hai Deewani' song, does a couple of steps with the lead stars and then goes away. Most of the crowd in the single screen theatre, where I watched the film, couldn't even get the time to figure out who that guy is.
Basically, Will Smith's cameo in the film is what Kajol did in the first Student of the Year movie - she appeared during the 'Disco Deewane' song for a few seconds. So if you had high hopes from Will Smith's cameo in the movie, perhaps you have never understood Bollywood at all.
Will Smith's 'blink-n-miss' appearance is just the latest example in the list of how Bollywood loves to screw up Hollywood actors. For some strange reason, some of the popular stars from the West often turn up in some really bad Bollywood movies. Student of the Year 2 Movie Review: Tiger Shroff, Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria’s Film Is All About Good Looks, Good Looks, Good Looks (and Some Flying)!
Let's go back in time in the '90s when British singing icon Samantha Fox danced with Govinda to the tunes of Bappi Lahiri. The movie was Rock Dancer, and frankly, no one remembers this film save for how the makers manage to fool Fox in appearing in the movie.
What about the time when Kylie Minogue did 'Chiggy Wiggy' with Akshay Kumar in Blue, in what is to be one of AR Rahman's most disappointing tracks?
On the other hand, rapper Snoop Dogg's appearance in the final song of Singh is Kinng fares much better. Even if all he does is mostly sit on a throne and sway his hands in the air!
Then there is Ben Kingsley, the Oscar winner for Gandhi and who has Indian roots in him. The actor appeared in an extended cameo in Teen Patti, that starred Amitabh Bachchan, R Madhavan and Shraddha Kapoor. However, his much-publicised role turned out to be a damp squib, as his character never had any sort of impact in the weak thriller.
The biggest culprit of them all is Kambakkht Ishq, that wastes not one but three Hollywood stars in Brandon Routh, Denise Richards and sigh, Sylvester Stallone, in ridiculous roles. You guys had Rambo and all you did was give him the silliest action scene of his career!
Now with Will Smith cameo turning out to be a wasted opportunity, it is time for Bollywood fans to learn a lesson - never get too excited when you learn a Hollywood A-lister is appearing in a Bollywood movie.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 10, 2019 08:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).