Shakalaka Boom Boom: Potential, but ..

I finally got around to watching Shakalaka Boom Boom, and while I really can't say that it set my heart on fire, I did not exactly find it a dud either. As always, for a lot of movies like these, I actually admire the intent, and give my points for what I feel is the intention and effort, and if the end result is not all the great, well not every movie is great. It was still a change to see a music movie where not everything is hunky-dory, where people are beset by aggression and rivalry. Also where neither of the lead characters is a sweet person.
To set a correct perspective, this is a movie made by Suneel Darshan, whose previous movies include Raja Hindustani, that I detested for its sexist portrayals, and Dhadkan, which I found somewhat better, but mostly because I liked some of its songs, and I like Akshay Kumar :-).
And to make things even more realistic, this is not an original movie, but an adaption of Amadeus, a Hollywood movie.
The story of 2 extremely hot headed and arrogant stars, their clash with each other, and how both suffer is the stuff around which an extremely great movie can be made. So maybe Bobby Deol and Upen Patel are not exactly the best people to portray such roles, even if they have the physique to look like international stars. Maybe more seasoned actors would have been able to portray the angst and emotions in way that the audience could identify with the ego, and made this into a different movie. One could easily think of this being a metro hit, and winning some awards. Well, no point cribbing about what could have been ..
So what the story like ? AJ (Bobby Deol) is a very successful singer, who by dint of hard work has got 5 hits, and is on a roll. He is impressed by Kangana Ranaut, who is an upcoming singer. Upen Patel is Reggie, an upcoming singer with a chip on his shoulder, very arrogant. Dalip Tahil is the owner of the music company, who launches all the albums that have made AJ a hit. Reggie romances Celina Jaitley, who is Tahil's PR person, and she gets him introduced to Tahil. Reggie puts a good impression on Tahil, while at the same time ruthlessly putting down AJ.
This rankles AJ no end, who fears for his success since Reggies seems to be better than him. This feeling gets increased when Kangana falls for Reggie, and AJ is left high and dry. AJ is determined to wreck Reggie's career, and he does this in a very ruthless manner. He pretends to help Reggie, while making his a drunkard and sending his career downhill. He takes the help of Celina, who has been ditched by Reggie.
Somehow, for a film based on music, you expect far more than what you see or hear. In addition, if this is a movie about the egos of two people, one of whom is being ruthless, you should feel the hate seeping through. Bobby Deol does try, but you cannot feel the hate burning through. Upen Patel does portray arrogance, but for a large portion of the movie, he is supposed to be the one who is being victimized, and somehow that feeling does not come through. Kangana is the faithful, and Celina is the ditched one, but don't expect too much. Bet you didn't know that Anupam Kher was also there, he is truly wasted unless he is making a guest appearance. I liked the title song for the beat, but did not concentrate on the lyrics.