Movie Review - Roy

The camera lovingly caresses Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal’s sinewy torso and Jacqueline Fernandez’s toned arms in the relationship drama Roy, but we wish that the same attention had been lavished on getting a semblance of a story together.

Roy, which showcases Rampal as maverick filmmaker Kabir Grewal, is high on style and resembles a slick music video rather than a taut psychological drama.

The story is simple: film director Grewal is quite the ladies man. When he isn’t dumping his conquests unceremoniously he’s bashing away at his ancient typewriter completing the script for his next film Guns 3. The third instalment ofGuns, which revolves around a suave thief (Ranbir Kapoor) and his slick robberies, is barely complete when Grewal takes off to a beautiful island in Malaysia to begin filming. There, the reclusive filmmaker, who never socialises with his actors, meets the bodacious beauty Ayesha, a filmmaker with some indie credit.

Grewal, who has women eating out of his hands on a normal day, is struck down by love. After some flirtatious sparring and some sensuous ballet moves on the beach, the two are inseparable.

So what happens next leaves you a bit flabbergasted. After a night of passion, Ayesha decides to break it off with her shabby-chic lover. Without giving the plot away, it’s suffice to say that her reason for conflict and break-up is painfully trivial. Grewal, who up to this point had shown some great sense of self-preservation, hurtles down the path of destruction. He refuses to turn up to work and is on the brink of bankruptcy.

All this would have worked had Rampal’s character been a hormone-riddled teenager. Unfortunately, he’s no such novice. After 22 girlfriends, it’s tough to buy into his act of being a love-sick man. Meanwhile, there’s another love story blossoming between Roy (Kapoor) and Tia (Fernandez in a double role here).Tia’s painted as some kind of rich socialite with an enviable collection of paintings. Roy is out to steal a precious painting hanging in her home, but ends up stealing her heart.

Kapoor, whose role is not a mere cameo, does what is expected from him. He exudes an aura of mystery and gives a tightly controlled performance. In some scenes, he just looks a bit too aloof for our liking.

Rampal, who is on the big screen after two years, looks haggard, but there’s no denying his supreme good looks. Fernandez should ideally stick to doing ballet moves and yoga poses on the beach because her attempt at being alluring looks contrived.

The music, barring the song in which Fernandez breaks out into a dance crooning “O baby, my fair arms”, blends well with Roy.

Watch this if your are in the mood to see a pair of good-looking men act like boys.

Rating - 2/5