Yuvvraaj is the latest work from showman Subhash Ghai. Unfortunately for the showman, even with two Khans and a Kapoor, the film does not ever take off at any point whatsoever.

It is the story of three brothers: one who was thrown out of the house when he was young (Salman Khan), another being autistic (Anil Kapoor) and the third who grows up to be a rich brat (Zayed Khan). As the heart of it, this film is Barry Levinson’s Rainman, where estranged brothers get back together after the passing of their father so as to get their due share of inheritance, which otherwise, would be passed on to the mentally challenged son. In the process, they start to respect and love each other as brothers. Although Rainman showcased the emotions and intimacy of two brothers and their journey in growing to know each other beautifully, Yuvvraaj lacks in this aspect.

With visuals that fail to excite right at the onset of the film (especially in the song Tu Meri Dost Hai) and a first half that plods along at a snail’s pace with very little actually happening, the movie lacks in keeping a hold onto the audience. The first half is mostly Deven Yuvvraaj’s (Salman Khan) story rather than anyone elses, the plot takes its time to unfold, leaving the audience questioning if they could have been spared the constant hamming by some of the actors. The second half of the movie manages to keep you somewhat engrossed as the film picks up some pace, but the feeling of the absence of a strong thread to bind the film prevails throughout.

Salman Khan is just being himself. One supposes that is what the hardcore Salman Khan fans pay to watch, although they would have to do with just a single glimpse of his bare-chested body at the end of Dar Mastam in this one. Apart from certain scenes where his hamming could have been reduced, Salman gives a performance that was expected out of him. The scene where Deven Yuuvaaj (Salman) fights with his girlfriend (Katrina Kaif) and when an emotional Deven tells his story that seems to bring tears to no one else’s eyes but his. But yet again, I do not think that it is Salman who lacks in performance here… if you know what I mean. Continuity too is a constant malady with this film, particularly with Salman – there is a section where is hairstyle changes 5 times in 5 minutes in a time lapse of 20 minutes in the film.

Zayed Khan’s character, Danny Yuvvraaj, is a unilateral character of a rich, untrusting brat and just seems to make one quick and abrupt 180 degrees turn to become the exact opposite when everything goes wrong in his life. Zayed’s character could have been a very interesting one had it shown certain layers before its good boy avtar was born. I was expecting to see a kind of internal struggle going on inside the youngest of the Yuvvraaj brothers.

Anil Kapoor has yet again delivered a good performance and I was left with a feeling that I wanted the movie to be more centered towards this character. I wanted to see to what level can Kapoor take this character that is very resemblent to Hoffman’s in Rainman. Unfortunately, I think the fear of too close a resemblance to Rainman made Subhash Ghai center the story on the usual lover boy character of Deven Yuvvraaj rather than that of Gyanesh. The effort put in by Anil Kapoor is clearly seen on screen although the scene where he auditions in the hall in front of the orchestra made me feel that there were moments where Kapoor was losing a sense of connection with his character.

In support, Katrina Kaif plays her role to perfection and it was a very wise step to show her as being unable to speak fluent Hindi. Although, she is very prominent in the first half, the girl for whom Deven Yuvvraaj is going to fight with his brothers for seems to take a backseat towards the end as the story switches to the three brothers instead. Boman Irani, however, is a complete waste of talent here. It was really painful to see such a seasoned and polished actor overacting his way through the film.

The songs and certain visuals of Austria do keep you glued. Just like other AR Rahman songs, Dar Mastam and Shano Shano take time to grow on you, but this task is made easier as you see the songs beautifully choreographed and translated to the screen with aplomb. All in all, Yuvvraaj had great potential and there’s lots that can be said on how it should have turned out but, at this point, I would like to point out that the responsibilities of a showman are great and greater are the expectations from him. But that's still no excuse. It's a film that can be easily missed