A love story of two not-so-regular people, the trailer of Zero rings true to this line used in the promotional campaign. Sacrificing his physicality at the altar of CGI yet again (after Fan), Shah Rukh Khan playing a dwarf forms one half of this couple while Anushka Sharma’s character suffering from cerebral palsy forms the other.
The initial portions of the trailer that feature almost only these two characters establish the tone of the movie. Sharma’s portrayal of a person afflicted with cerebral palsy seems exaggerated while Shah Rukh Khan, despite his physical anomaly, extends both his arms and strikes that signature romantic pose from his previous innumerable movies signalling to the viewer that the story is not much about their anomalies.
That Shah Rukh Khan’s character is not bogged down by his physicality is evident from the scene where he pins the blame of his dwarfism on the smoking habit of his father – played by Tigmanshu Dhulia. “Use of gutkha resulted in short genes,” declares Shah Rukh Khan’s 38-year-old Bauaa Singh. From title cards reminiscent of the Disney logo background to the treatment meted out throughout, the trailer has a fairy tale like quality stamped all over it. If nothing else, the closing shot of the trailer alone serves to prove this.
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While Katrina Kaif’s character as that of a celebrity falling for Shah Rukh Khan seems preposterous and outlandish, it also makes us curious to see how Khan and director Aanand L Rai would pull this off. Despite the VFX that increasingly worsens as the trailer progresses, Khan who is present in virtually every frame, exudes enthusiasm and energy and doesn’t make the viewer give up hope.
Also featuring Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Brijendra Kala in supporting roles and Salman Khan in a special appearance, Zero has been scripted by the director’s regular collaborator Himanshu Sharma and releases on December 21.
Watch the trailer here:
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