London Dreams

About the film

London Dreams is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film directed and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. The film stars Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Asin in lead roles.The film had a worldwide release on 30 October 2009 and was a commercial failure. It marks the second collaboration between Devgn and Khan after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999).

Plot

The story revolves around two childhood friends, Arjun Joshi and Mannjeet "Mannu"Khosla. When Arjun was 17 years old, he was more focused on becoming a singer, but his father disagreed; therefore, he began praying for his death so he could go to London. The only one who consoled him was his 15-year-old friend Mannu. After Arjun's father dies, he finally travels to London with his uncle, whom he later runs away from after arriving.

Arjun, now 35 years old, creates a fledgling band with Zoheb and Wasim, two brothers who duped their relatives in Pakistan to travel to London in pursuit of their musical aspirations. He also brings aboard Priya Zaveri, a music enthusiast from a conservative South Indian family. Back in India, Mannu seduces married women and finds himself in debt with the locals.

After paying his debt, Mannu goes to London to join Arjun's band, but becomes more popular with the crowds, whilst also flirting with Priya. The band embarks on a three-city tour spanning Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam, where Arjun deceives a naive Mannu into a rollercoaster ride of promiscuous sex and illicit drugs. He tricks him, gets him addicted to drugs, and then gets him arrested in a car full of them. While pretending to help Mannu, Arjun leaks the drug story to the press. As the three-city tour concludes, the band heads to London to perform at Wembley Stadium in front of an audience estimated at 90,000 (which is of significance since, earlier in the movie, the viewer is told that Arjun's grandfather had failed before a similarly huge audience).

Production

In 2000, Rajkumar Santoshi planned a film titled Rashque. The film was reportedly set to star Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Aishwarya Rai. However, the project never materialised. Years later, the film was remade as London Dreams, with a new cast.

Reception

London Dreams received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh praised the performance of the principal cast, while criticizing the climax. Rajeev Masand gave a scathing review of the movie, describing it as a "frustratingly foolish film about foolish people." Chandrima Pal of Rediff criticized the background music of the movie, while praising the dialogues, as well as Ajay Devgan's performance. Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL said "The last twenty minutes of ‘London Dreams’ take away half its spirit."

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy with lyrics written by Prasoon Joshi.

The song style is generally rock inspired to match the motifs in the movie. "Khanabadosh", "Shola Shola", "Barso Yaaron", "Khwab" and "Man Ko Ati Bhavey Saiyaan" were very popular songs; "Man Ko Ati Bhavey" and "Khanabadosh" being the most popular ones.

Key details