London Dreams (2009)

The story revolves around two childhood friends Arjun and Munnu who find a way to get from a small village in India to Wembley as Rock stars, having overcome their personalities.

Director:

Vipul Amrutlal Shah

Writers:

Ritesh Shah (dialogue), Suresh Nair (story)

Stars:

Salman Khan, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Ajay Devgn

Cast

Credited cast:
Salman Khan	...	Manjeet 'Mannu' Khosla
Aditya Roy Kapoor	...	Zoheb Hayaat Khan
Ajay Devgn	...	Arjun
Asin	...	Priya
Om Puri	...	Mr. Khosla
Lee Nicholas Harris	...	Passerby
Goldy Notay	...	Sima - The Reporter
Mandi Sidhu	...	Maria
Chris Wilson	...	Airline Pilot
Roxanne Gregory	...	Pole dancer
Rannvijay Singh	...	Wasim Hayaat Khan
Paul Gregory	...	Simon
Johnny Lynch	...	Paparazzi
Manoj Pahwa	...	Bhatinda Resident
Dilyana Bouklieva	...	Rock fan, person on a queue

Storyline

Bhatinda-based school-going Arjun wants to follow in his much-maligned grand-father's footsteps and attain fame at the Wembley Stadium much to the chagrin of his father. After the latter's passing, he re-locates to live in Britain with his paternal uncle, and when admonished about his career, runs away. Years later Arjun will attempt to gain fame along with two associates, Zoheb and Wasim, and his sweetheart, Priya. He returns to Bhatinda and asks his childhood slacker and trouble-maker friend, Manjeet Khosla, to also join his band - a decision that will not only cost him his popularity, his career and dreams, but also his love.

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Plot Keywords:

childhood | friend | wembley stadium | childhood friend | love triangle | 

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Taglines:

Live your London Dreams...

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Genres:

Musical

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India UK

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

30 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rashque

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

INR 200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£142,722 (UK) (30 October 2009)

Gross:

£142,722 (UK) (30 October 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blockbuster Movie Entertainers, Eros International, Headstart Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Rajkumar Santoshi conceived this project a decade before it finally started production, with Aamir Khan in the role of Manu and 'Shahrukh Khan' in the role of Arjun, it was originally titles 'Rashque' but neither of them look interest in the project.

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Soundtracks

"Shola Shole"
Lyrics by Prasoon Joshi
Music by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa
Performed by Zubin Garg
Courtesy of Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series)

User Reviews

Ajay Devgan did very well....

London Dreams plays out like a classical Cain and Abel type story, where two brothers, one jealous of the other for his talent and recognition, plots the downfall against the other behind his back in betrayal most foul. Arjun has a dream, and that is to take his music to London, and play at the renowned Wembley stadium, where his grandfather had failed in his time and returned to India a broken man. He spends his early teenage life honing his musical skills, and ever ready to sniff out any opportunity to scale the music ladder until his goal is reached. His is a singular mind obsessed with the single goal, so much so that he's willing to self-flagellate (!) himself when his mind gets swayed by Priya and the chance for romance, or any other distractions that crosses his path that day actually.

Ajay Devgn plays Arjun with enough menace and envy to make him believable as a man who would go to great lengths and at any costs to ensure his road to glory is not jeopardized. Salman Khan's Mannu on the other hand, is blessed with great musical talent without even trying, and while Arjun sees this as an advantage to be gained should he bring Mannu back to London and join his band, little did he realize that Mannu's country boy demeanour would start to win the fans over, as well as Priya. There are plenty of scenes which set up this innocent usurping of another's thunder, and the decisions that come to spark off the entire turn of events just after the intermission.

As a musical film, somehow the songs and dance sequences didn't really stand out, although in general they weren't that bad, but not too memorable as well, other than the pulsating number first performed at Trafalgar Square. Salman Khan proves why he's one of the three King Khans of Bollywood through his rendition of a simple boy with simple pleasures, with plenty of cheekiness combined with great comic timing to bring in some laughs. That airplane scene was a classic light hearted touch in what was a dark tale about bringing down a best friend using the cruelest of methods and exploiting the weakness of another for no good benefit.