Crew Review: Kareena Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Tabu Starrer 'Heist' Film Fails To Leave The Runway

Gone are days when star power alone could ensure a smooth sail for big banner projects at box office. knee-jerk shift in trends explains why establishing oneself in film business has swiftly - and appropriately so - become an increasingly uphill task. With some of biggest names in Indian showbiz bearing brunt of this shift, Crew, does not appear to stand much of a chance.

Hot Take

Crew starts off honest. audience is presented with ir leing lies - a trio of small-town women daring to dream big. Kareena Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and Tabu's introductory montages set tone for chaos to come. tempo, however, does not sustain for long. This is an absolute bummer for anybody who walks in to watch film, never quite receiving exciting cinematic pay off that usually entails a heist flick.

Does Crew live up to hype?

No. Not by a mile. Crew gets jarringly real, a little too soon. While re is absolutely nothing wrong with films that jolt you into reality, when it comes to Crew, audiences were simply not set up for it.

One might even go as far as to say that tastefully crafted trailer, with all its sass, was misleing.

Crew reeks of lost potential

most pressing issue with Crew is that it is me up of a host of half-baked elements which are never really exploited to ir full potential. In moments leing up to trio turning criminals, film was peppered with moments which called out stereos by turning m into satire - weighing air hostesses and deeming m unfit to fly being a moment that stands out in this regard. Fighting male gaze could have very easily been me an undercurrent through course of film, but that beat was left practically untouched.

It is not that writers for Crew, Nidhi Mehra and Mehul Suri, were out of depth with ir vision. feisty character backgrounds in congruence with simple-yet-telling dialogues like "to make money, you need to have money", are testament to this. lack of a convincing context giving se elements a solid foundation is key issue here.

leing lies play mselves

Crew jumps into action with strongly armed backgrounders for its leing trio - Kareena Kapoor's Jasmine Kohli, Kriti Sanon's Divya Rana and Tabu's Geetu Sethi. While Kareena's Jasmine grasped reality of ever-present haves versus have-nots dynamic early on in her childhood, Tabu's Geetu long abandoned her beauty pageant pursuits for a life of labour in sky, all in hopes of enjoying a smooth retirement with Mr. Sethi (guest appearance by Kapil Sharma).

Kriti's Divya in this regard, is probably most elaborately set up - all-rounder, he girl, state champion and a trained pilot - oodles of potential flushed down drain due to an uncooperative economy. While se facets and quirks could have traced outline of a memorable film, none of m are actually all that relevant to story, barely making a dent in film's two-hour long runtime. In recounting what Crew's female les failed to be, delightfully hilarious Ocean's 8 (2018) comes to mind, a succinct example of having character's elaborate backgrounds feed into plot and progress of film.

Where's thrill?

Stereos, if not overplayed, can actually evoke nostalgia, something that can become quite selling point for a film at a time when industry trends are changing by minute. first quarter of Crew actually manages to tap into this reservoir of potential. Director Rajesh A Krishnan, however, quickly tres out same for a poor attempt at crafting a heist film.

Speaking of stereos, occasional bursts of melodrama from Jasmine, Divya and Geetu are pretty much only appreciable chick flick stereo that manages to inject some life into film. On heist front, actual proceedings of air hostesses going rogue, are un-stereotypically bland. It is more a too-little-too-late realisation of ir dreams - still more, than what audience leave atres with.  Diljit Dosanjh, who plays charming customs officer Jaiveer, enjoys playful chemistry with Divya - something which could have definitely been played on more to pack some punch.

audience is misled

Crew's mundanity, works as both a curse and a blessing. Showing air hostesses in ir element really dismantles perceptions of so-called glamour associated with airline hospitality industry. In a previous media interaction, director Rajesh A Krishnan h pegged Crew as an "important film", one that showcases how "maids in sky" are usually ones who pay price in tussle between corporate greed and government red tape.

One cannot help but wonder why film was not promoted along same lines. Does every female-led film n, have to be packaged as a fancy chick flick for commercial traction?

Watch it or skip it?

Crew is at best a one-time watch. self-branded 'chick flick', however, neir manages to exploit its talented star cast, nor deliver on professed mes of sisterhood, heists or even slapstick humour for that matter.

Bottomline

Kareena Kapoor plays herself, as does Kriti Sanon. Tabu is underwhelming. trio, however, simply make do with what little y are given and are not to blame. Crew's biggest setback is lack of a convincing story.

Rating: 2/5