Zero Movie Review: Shah Rukh Khan’s Film Draws Harsh Words from the Critics
Here is what the critics are saying about Zero.
The fans have been waiting for Zero for two and a half years now, since the time we knew the movie is going on floors. Who would not want to see Shah Rukh Khan team up with the maker of Tanu Weds Manu and Raanjhana, Aanand L Rai? The movie is finally out in theatres after a heavy marketing spree that began earlier in November. The movie also stars Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles. Well, seems like if Yash Chopra could not make this trio work, then no one can. Because the critics' reviews for Zero are not exactly praising the movie. All have noted the flaw to lie in the writing. Beginning on a positve note, here is what the critics are saying about the movie.
Latestly's in-house movie critic, Sreeju Sudhakaran liked the movie quite a lot. He wrote in his review, "Zero has both the strengths and the issues to be a movie that will invoke a mixed response from the viewers. It is flawed, but Zero sails through thanks to Aanand L Rai's direction and the excellent performances from Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma."
Showsha.com enjoyed the film. They wrote in their first-impression review, "In Zero, you will find it hard to stop smiling at SRK's Bauua Singh. This is partly due to his effortless performance, and partly due to Hemanshu Sharma's witty screenplay."
Times of India found the movie to be above average. They wrote, "Zero has a story with an interesting and inspiring concept that doesn’t hold back with its outrageousness. This Meerut-to-Mars romance dabbles with ideas of science, interplanetary travel and closer to home, conventional themes like unrequited and undying love. In doing so, the film tries to put forth too many ideas and doesn’t quite do justice to any one,"
Now, let us move on to the not so glorious reviews of the movie. Hold your breath. Times Now found the movie to be average. They wrote, "The story takes unwanted, long and stressful time to unfold and even when it does, it doesn’’t make sense. Logic goes out of the window and for some reason, SRK’s character suddenly becomes a super-human who doesn’t get affected by things that regular humans ideally should,"
"The trouble with Zero is not just that the mini-me SRK is just SRK minus the inches. Every twitch is familiar," wrote The Indian Express. They added, "Zero fails spectacularly at giving us anything we can believe in, and we go from start to finish, with disbelief growing with each passing frame,"
Film Companion's Rahul Desai thought all was a subtext in the first half of the film only to be proven wrong in the second half. "Once the 580-minute-long second half begins, however, I realize that maybe – just maybe – the writer didn’t quite intend for subtext, or even text at times, as much as I set about looking for some," he wrote, and added, "I’ve always maintained that writer Himanshu Sharma is better at colouring a scene – with banter, energy, personality – than connecting them."
Scroll.in wasn't very happy with the movie either. They did give an insight on the chimpanzee that appeared on the recently released poster of Zero. They wrote, "The presence of a chimpanzee completes the feeling of the film being a freak show whose main attraction is a severely diminished version of one of Hindi cinema’s most outsized idols,"
The Quint found even Jab Harry Met Sejal to be better than Zero. They wrote, "Zero is a fantasy ride that ends up nowhere. From writing to direction and editing, everything has failed the project,"
Livemint while giving out a minor spoiler said, "The flaws of Zero lie not in the physicality of the characters, but in the story. Too ambitious in its vision and indiscriminately illogical, Rai falters in exploring both inner spaces and outer space,"
We are sure you are going to watch Zero no matter what the reviews say. So, once you have watched it, please tell us your thoughts about the same. Tweet to us @latestly.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 21, 2018 10:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).