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I watched Zero and it lives up to its name

I watched Zero and it lives up to its name

Turns out the filmmakers thought it was okay to equate a man with dwarfism to a chimpanzee
Updated 27 Dec, 2018

I wondered if Shah Rukh Khan's Zero would be as terrible as I imagined it to be. I was wrong. It was worse.

Zero revolves around Bauua Singh (SRK), a man with dwarfism, and his adventures with love and fame. He falls in love with Aafia (Anushka Sharma), a scientist with cerebral palsy but is afraid to commit and runs away from his hometown to meet his celebrity crush Babita (Katrina Kaif). You'd think the plot sounds simple enough but through it all certain incidents or creative choices left us wondering, "What?"

Also read: Why is Shah Rukh Khan playing a man with dwarfism in Zero?

Maybe I was expecting more from Anand L Rai and maybe I thought being objective about Zero (i.e., ignoring that SRK was cast in a role better suited to a man with dwarfism) would make the movie more bearable... but I did not expect to experience so much confusion through out the movie.

Bauua Singh is anything but charming

Perhaps the idea was to give Bauua Singh a charming but arrogant personality so that he could be said to be short but larger than life (a pun that shouldn't be okay). But the way the character was written, Shah Rukh Khan's Bauua came off as disdainful, uncouth and oddly narcissistic.

He actually mocks Aafia's style of speech (reminder, she has cerebral palsy) and then attempts to woo her in a manner that was laden with excessive entitlement. He would insist she take his remarks about her as compliments and would shift blame on her for not accepting his advances.

This made for very uncomfortable viewing. 2018 is ending and we still have entitled heroes wearing women down in the name of romantic gestures. Can we please stop showing this as something that works?

A part of me wondered if these traits had any relation to his dwarfism, as if to show him overcompensating, but if that's the case then it was executed way too poorly. There was rarely a moment in the film where one could empathise with the character.

I emerged from the cinema believing that Bauua Singh is the kind of person you make sure never finds out about your party because you know he'll crash and ruin it.

Anushka Sharma plays a scientist but her main goal is shaadi

Anushka Sharma's Aafia is a scientist at NASR (a play on NASA) and 60% of her screentime involves wedding talk and another 30% is about her love life.

Aafia is way out of Bauua's league, despite the film's attempt to make you think otherwise - because a person with one type of disability can only be with another person with a disability, right?

She refutes Bauua's advances when he mocks her speech, she tries to maintain boundaries when he is being overbearing (and is shamed for it), but it takes all of two dance performances and cheeky Bollywood one-liners for her to be smitten by a man who's barely graduated high school and can't understand her work by a long shot. She even rejects a perfectly wonderful person to go back to him and it was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai all over again.

It's been over a year to Kangana Ranaut's 'Bollywood Diva Song' where she crooned the words, "She's a scientist from Poland, who just talks about her boyfriend," and I'm wondering if she was foreshadowing Anushka's role.

Katrina Kaif's Babita was the better one in the lot

Katrina Kaif has made quite the journey in Bollywood with her dancing skills but in Zero, she was the better actor in the cast as well.

Katrina played Babita, an actress hung up on her ex and acting erratically post breakup. She takes in Bauua as a part of her entourage and tries to make him realise his love for Aafia and his mistake in running away.

Babita is a straight-shooter and while there are parts where the character is one dimensional, Kaif makes it work. This is was a pleasant surprise considering her co-stars Khan and Sharma were predicted to have more promise. Unfortunately, Khan's egocentric portrayal of Bauua was a let-down and Anushka's portrayal of a woman with cerebral palsy was also not convincing and left a lot to be desired.

Zero's script is incoherent and lacks substance

The film is two and a half hours long but it felt to have gone on for much much longer. Every twenty minutes I'd check my watch expecting an hour to have gone by, all the while thinking, "I gave up watching Into The Spider-Verse for the seventh time for this?"

Bauua Singh has the ability to either predict shooting stars or cause them and we don't know why. He leaves Aafia at their wedding for a dance competition and we never understand why he got cold feet or why things were rocky between him and Aafia in the first place.

Spoiler alert

When Bauua Singh decides to return to Aafia after ghosting her for a year, she refutes him. This time, instead of leaving his hometown, he decides to leave the planet. Yes, it does escalate that quickly.

The last half hour of the film shows Singh preparing to go to Mars because scientists at NASR with their decades of experience and intellect realised that him being the same height as a chimpanzee makes him the perfect specimen to use for this mission. Insert cringe here.

How it became so relatively easy to become an astronaut, how Bauua Singh got selected despite not having any background in the field and how scientists actually thought it was okay to treat a man with dwarfism like a chimpanzee, we will never know.

End of Spoilers

The plot, albeit sounding very linear, is very messy with events happening very inorganically and a very jumbled up structure. The script suffers from inconsistent writing and not only is there a lack of exposition for anything in the film, there is also no build-up, leading the audience to be very confused.

There was barely anything redeemable in Zero and I'm surprised a film so disjointed and badly written made its way to the big screen.

There is still no justification for Shah Rukh Khan to take on the role of a man with dwarfism

The film opens with a dream segment where Bauua Singh imagines himself as a man of average height who is saving damsels in distress. Post this three-minute segment, there is no such portrayal and I wonder if this very unnecessary scene was the reason behind casting SRK.

While I love the idea of having movies feature characters with disabilities without having their disability being the focus of the film, I'd enjoy it more if it actually did have actors with disabilities portray them, to move ahead the point of inclusivity.

SRK had no reason to play a man with dwarfism in Zero and had he played the character in his own physique, there would be little to no difference in the progression of the movie. Except for the "surprising" twist of fate that lacked too much research from the production team's department.

I've been vocal about SRK's problematic casting in Zero and seeing his character in the movie just solidified my stance. And while I attempted to suspend my disbelief, whatever mention of his height in the movie was almost a punchline and it was too cringe-worthy to handle. Quarter into the movie I even wished the same for Anushka Sharma's character.

Zero is further proof that star-power can only get you so far in the entertainment industry. We want good content and it does not matter what face delivers it. I am tired of half-baked ideas revolving around a singular idea - in the case for Zero making superstar a man with dwarfism - being deemed worthy enough to hit the big screens. That's two and a half hours I'll never get back.

Comments

Jagga Dec 27, 2018 09:08am
Failed movie from a failing film industry. Same old over the top stories, melodrama and plagiarism.
Recommend (0)
haris zayad Dec 27, 2018 09:39am
I have heard similar reviews about it...Glad i saved my time :)
Recommend (0)
sharjeel Dec 27, 2018 09:43am
There was a time when I used to watch every movie that casted SRK. Now, I really have to seek advice from my frriends before I agree to pay for cinema ticket. SRK is declining faster then expected !!
Recommend (0)
Khurram Dec 27, 2018 10:00am
Fully agree with the article. A thoroughly pathetic movie with a script written by a 7 year old.
Recommend (0)
Pardesi Dec 27, 2018 10:11am
I wonder if Sonia Ashraf could read my mind. Because she wrote exactly what I felt while watching the movie on Christmas. I was also wondering why the movie was taking so long. Shah Rukh comes across as extremely intelligent in interviews. It’s a mystery why he has been choosing mindless scripts written by dumb writers for several years. It only spoils his own image built over two decades.
Recommend (0)
Moti Dec 27, 2018 10:16am
Zero is just plain jeero.
Recommend (0)
Ashpak Shaikh - Indore Dec 27, 2018 10:21am
Stay away from this movie, save your money, and spend on buying something on new year. And thank me later for saving both your time and money.
Recommend (0)
Dilip Thorat Dec 27, 2018 10:42am
Real life zero.
Recommend (0)
Saad Dec 27, 2018 10:59am
I think the reason SRK was casted as a dwarf instead of a real dwarf is because SRK is a big name and people naturally flock to the cinemas to watch his movies, had they casted a real person with dwarfism this would not have been commercially good for them.
Recommend (0)
Mohan Kishore D Dec 27, 2018 11:01am
Zero is zeeeerrrrro (0) - KGF (Karnataka Gold Fields) is Super Duper Hit.
Recommend (0)
mkbarua Dec 27, 2018 11:36am
I have boycotted all Khans of Bollyhood, so it does not matter if SRK played a dwarf role.
Recommend (0)
Chaman Bahar3 Dec 27, 2018 12:02pm
@Jagga Boolywood is doing just fine. These Khans have outlived their tenure, so this is bound to happen
Recommend (0)
Vorshal Handa Dec 27, 2018 12:31pm
Disappointed. Truly, feel money wasted, more importantly, precious time wasted. Zero is just a big zero. SRK is on the rapid decline!
Recommend (0)
Sweets Dec 27, 2018 12:32pm
@Mohan Kishore D Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) Kannada film .I advise people to watch South Indian movies for no vulgarity, good stories and wonderful actors.96,Vada Chennai, Rangasthalam,Bharat Ane Nenu,Geetha Govindam, Sarkar, RX100, Goodachari, Arjun Reddy,Premam, Bangalore Days, Ratsasan, Fidaa, Angamaly Dairies,Preriyarum Perumal,Take off,Aruvi ,Lucia are few suggestions for anyone who is interested in watching good movies.
Recommend (0)
kash Dec 27, 2018 01:11pm
tbh SRK has aged pretty badly, no amount of makeup can conceal the wrinkles. He should start playing father roles now.
Recommend (0)
Rashed Moyeen Dec 27, 2018 01:15pm
@Ashpak Shaikh - Indore Many thanks. Wish you a very happy and prosperous new year.
Recommend (0)
Speak_Truth Dec 27, 2018 01:15pm
@Sweets Language barrier.
Recommend (0)
Right Voice Dec 27, 2018 01:18pm
Well the name was a dead giveaway.
Recommend (0)
ajay Dec 27, 2018 01:42pm
Watching KL Rahul scoring Zeroes was more interesting than Shahruk scoring a zero with this flop.
Recommend (0)
Raju Dec 27, 2018 01:43pm
This movie has come out on pirated movie sites. Still I dint download it. That's how bad it is.
Recommend (0)
Ayaz Munir Dec 27, 2018 04:11pm
Bollywood is declining because the famous actors are doing stupid films, however some under rated actors such asRajkumar Rao, Kagna Ranaut etc. are breaking the norms and doing amazing films.
Recommend (0)
Hemant Dec 27, 2018 04:45pm
Accurate review! I am fan of SRK but seems he just left his brain behind when he decided to agree on the script! I am still counting 10, 9, ......0 and swiping in sky to Look for star or meteor!!
Recommend (0)
Zaidi Dec 27, 2018 06:33pm
Great writeup, worst movie. Specially the acting of Anushka Sharma was really poor. Usual and unnecessary portrayal of Indians as a high-tech nation further killed the movie. The second half was totally rubbish, and makes you wanting to leave and go home
Recommend (0)
Tdh Dec 27, 2018 06:49pm
@haris zayad and money as well ;)
Recommend (0)
R K Dubey Dec 27, 2018 07:33pm
Zero is flopped in India too. As the article writer correctly wrote about it " A worse movie".
Recommend (0)
ga Dec 27, 2018 07:44pm
SRK won't see the light of day in any Western Film industry. Such pathetic acting skills.
Recommend (0)
Murad Dec 27, 2018 10:52pm
I think that Khans era is over. Now they should work in Indian dramas.
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gp65 Dec 28, 2018 04:59am
@Ayaz Munir "Bollywood is declining because the famous actors are doing stupid films, however some under rated actors such asRajkumar Rao, Kagna Ranaut etc. are breaking the norms and doing amazing films." I think the Khans are declining not Bollywood. Rajkummar Rao, Ayushman Khurana, Ranveer Singh, Varun Dhawan, Kangana Ranaut, Deepika Padukone are all doing good movies.
Recommend (0)
gp65 Dec 28, 2018 05:02am
@Hemant Several of his recent movies have been terrible : When Harry met Sejal, Fan, Dilwale, Raees. He is trying too hard. Akshay Kumar on the other hand continues to stay relevant : Padman, Toilet ekk Premkatha, Rustom, Jolly LLB 2, Gold were all enjoyable.
Recommend (0)
Sid Dec 28, 2018 06:18am
SRKs time is gone. He should pack his bags and become a full time producer and marketeer. He is better businessman than an actor.
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N abidai Dec 28, 2018 07:07am
The film was better then the other film,from the south! Srk and kat were great in the role! Film is the directers medium,so directer should explain! Agree BW needs good oranginal scripts!,most BW writers to this date takes ideas from 2-3 films, from south,hw ,every where and tries to mold it to typical Indians situation ! Sometime ,it works. So, they keep doing this! Good script is always King!
Recommend (0)
KJ Dec 28, 2018 08:07am
The problem with SRK is his over acting. Even in interviews you can see his air of self assigned superiority, which clearly comes out as fake.
Recommend (0)
BSha Dec 28, 2018 08:39am
Thanks.. i should send you half the ticket money
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A shah Dec 28, 2018 07:34pm
Bollywood is bigger and stronger then ever but the khans have had their 15 minutes of fame, time to move on please.
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Sid Dec 28, 2018 10:00pm
Only one actor really works for me now... and thats Nawauddin...... Shah Rukh ....... aaaaarghh ..... yawn!!
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