The Story:

"London Dreams" is a film about the friendship between two childhood friends from Punjab: Arjun (Ajay Devgn) and Mannu (Salman Khan).

Arjun dreams of being on stage as a performer in the music industry, to live up to his grandfather's unfulfilled ambitions. Mannu however has little interest in his music tutor father's instruments and is content with remaining a child at heart with a simpleton attitude. Through the course of the movie, Arjun diligently pursues his dream, at one point almost leaving an uncle who is his only family. He finally makes it to London which he believes is where he can successfully reach his ambitions.

Arjun creates a fledgling band with Zoheb and Wasim (Rannvijay Singh & Aditya Roy Kapoor), two brothers who'd duped their relatives in Pakistan to travel to London in pursuit of their musical aspirations. He also brings aboard Priya (Asin), a music enthusiast from a conservative South Indian family. The other protagonist of the movie, Mannu is however shown at this stage to be trying to make his livelihood by playing as a wedding band performer at the village back in India.

Arjun eventually invites Mannu to London to complete his band contrary to his own belief that the latter can create competition within the band.

Upon forming the band, Mannu is shown to have musical talent and the qualities of an entertainer. He therefore becomes popular with the audiences with his unique style of performing. This is contrast to the earlier part of the film where Arjun struggles to captivate the attention of the crowd despite the music.

Arjun starts feeling jealous of the rising success of Mannu. As a further extension of the jealousy, Arjun who is starting a budding relationship with Priya starts sensing that she is now smitten by Mannu. While the latter now starts a relationship with Priya, he does become the target of Arjun's frustrations and therefore he seeks to sabotage his career. 

The Cast:

Ajay Devgn as Arjun
Salman Khan as Mannu
Asin as Priya
Rannvijay Singh as Zoheb
Aditya Roy Kapoor as Wasim

The Crew:

Director: Vipul Shah
Producer: Vipul Shah & Paramjeet Singh
Distributor: Studio 18
Cinematography: Laxman Utekar
Music Director: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Salman Khan, Asin, Rannvijay Singh, Aditya Roy Kapoor, and Om Puri

What Worked:

Definitely, the story of this film is one of the best this year, the fact that two hero films are not being made these days especially after the success of multi-starrers also makes this film a memorable ride because this film gives equal footage to both the lead actors. The film does an outstanding job showing the scenery of both Punjab and London by showing the fields to the stadiums, especially Wembley Stadium. 

What Didn't:

The writing has a lot of flaws. Although the film begins with a bang with intense & dramatic moments going hand in hand with romantic & comical moments, it is somewhere dragged in the second half where it became a little silly and slow. I think the script lacks the nourishment because scenes like the outburst of Ajay Devgn could have been written more effectively which I think is the most crucial segment in the film.

The Soundtrack:

The music of 'London Dreams' has been on the charts for the past month with hit tracks such as "Khanabadosh", "Khwab Jo", "Tapkey Masti", and "Barson Yaaro". All the tracks fit in perfectly with the different scenes of the film. This album is certainly one of the best this year and is way ahead of its time which is the reason why people aren’t so fond of the music. It adds value to the goodwill of the music composers Shankar Ehsaan Loy who earlier enjoyed success with 'Wake Up Sid'. The background music done by Salim-Suleiman is soulful and fits in well.

Slated or Rated:

Overall, the film is an intense musical which has a lot of merits in the form of performances, music, story, cinematography and a good direction. This is indeed a Blockbuster material which should be a good watch this extended weekend. The film should do well this weekend for the time being. A special mention for Salman Khan who has given a monumental performance. Very brilliant!

Rating: 3/5