SHAMITABH is an appreciable attempt of penning a "love letter" to cinema with several anecdotes - both anonymous and known - in a semi-hilarious fashion. The letter does romanticize and speaks of a myriad of emotions and heart-felt moments but culminates in such an odd, abrupt manner that somewhere it disheartens viewers. The direction and screen writing by R. Balki seem original. A mute, small-town bus-conductor, Daanish, with the ambition of making it big in the Hindi Film Industry. While bumping into an Assistant Director, Akshara, in the film-studios who finds his pantomime-talent worth a bigger shot but fails to find him a role due his lack of voice. By a serendipitous medical boon, where by "live voice transfer technology" a mute person could speak, though through someone else's voice. A suitable voice for Daanish is found in Amitabh Sinha, who is (ironically) a failed actor with the voice-of-gold, allowing him to carve a niche for himself in a short-while. What follows is a trail of ups and downs of ego-clashes among 'Shamitabh', who learn to play it along eventually unless, alas, tragedy strikes.The screenplay is treated well on an average with smartly put, allusive moments of nostalgia (including of Amitabh Bachchan himself), though, during the second-half of the film it seems as if Balki lost his way and thus, turned the tale into an abrupt "cataclysmic lull" and the worst of all – "oblivion" for the survivor. It does add sensitivity but unfortunately, it also adds unappealing abhorrence to a potentially impressive storyline and production. An upcoming film-maker recently mentioned in her review that this film would have been much better treated had it been directed by Gauri Shinde ("English-Vinglish") thereby, having much smoother transitions and thus, a more palpable effect.The casting seems aptly done. Akshara is a débutante, and that speaks sufficiently about her – full of energy, and falling short of emoting effectively. By and by, she improves during the course of the film however, being tomboyish and childlike adorable. She has miles to go hereafter. Music by Iliayaraaja has a touch of carnatic, but is very cinematic. However, just two tracks stands out of the other deliberate ones – "Ishq-e-Fillum", which defines the undying spirit and the involvement of films in a common man's life; brilliantly lyricised by Swanand Kirkire and vocalized by Suraj Jagan, this track takes the film to its peak moments of "larger than life" significance; and, "Piddly si Baatein" is hilarious, depicting the absurdity-levels of modern-day comic inclusions in films. However, the real-miracle is the film's Sound Design by Dileep Subramanian ("Jab We Met, My Name is Khan, Rockstar"), adding much credence to its events.Finally, to derive from Satyajit Ray, "Last, but not least -- in fact, this is most important -- you need a happy ending. However, if you can create tragic situations and jerk a few tears before the happy ending, it will work much better." Alas, in this film it happened the other way round, thus the displeasure. Nevertheless, SHAMITABH could be enjoyed and perhaps forgiven by the ardent aficionados of motion picture. Rating – 6.5/10. Verdict – Watchable, with emotional discomfort.

Shamitabh Review:- Have you ever noticed the power of Sound...Have you ever felt the importance of Sound...Have you ever imagined the situation where you wanna express without voice , sound or dialogues...watch Shamitabh and feel the difference. This movie is all about Voice..Sound..Struggle...jealousy...stardom...and passion. The opening scene is welcomed with Big B voice which makes you completely thrilling but from Dhanush lips keeps you guessing whats the story is all about? This is R Balki's 3rd movie with Big B and like previous 2 this one is also a class apart. The storyline is completely different...Movie tile is also unconventional...the promotions style was unique...which creates an overall buzz and the whole package is bundled with the power-packed performance and nice direction. He is another lucky one in the lines of Mukul S Anand how earlier had his hat-trick of Hum, Agneepath..& Khuda Gawah with Big B. As far as Dhanush he has already shown his caliber in his debut movie and in this one he has power packed role which he had performed without any discomfort. Just think of any actor who is his early films has taken that type of risk / role. This proves that he will keep showing his talents in different avatars and do not want to be typed in a particular image like other stars. He left his mark in the entire movie few to mention here are... his reaction when got rejected 1st time, his eagerness n happiness wala expression, airport scene with Big B...etc. Coming to Big B ...my gosh!! What a talent ....what energy...and above all what a voice. This actor is totally flawless...each frame... each angles...shot in the movie where you find his presence make you spellbound. As we have seen him performing in many other films and love his acting this would be the first of a kind which challenges to decide as Big B voice or Big B acting but the winner is both. When he is in frame his acting mesmerizes you and when not his voice does. The overall movie was dominated by his voice which acted as heart & soul of this Fillum. His first interaction with Dhanush, the graveyard practice session, the Rekha reaction at Award Ceremony, the song rehearsal...water n whiskey...Robert De nerio scene where he makes a dig on SRK iconic hand stretching style...piddley song...picture mixture....etc are the few stellar moments which were well crafted and directed. Both danuSH+AMITABH compliments each other and was perfect match as per the story line. The music was also nice specially Title, Fillum n Pidley song. The only downside is the Akshra who was emotionless and tries hard to act. May be the 1st movie phobia. The climax was speechless and amazingly directed. Watch this Fillum and make yourselves blessed and get showered with the essence of Big B's voice.

Shamitabh is one of the worst Hindi films to have been released in recent times.Director Balki thinks that the baritone voice of Amitabh alone will pull the film through & that has been the biggest let down of this film.Amitabh has never been an actor known for his histrionics & needs a good script & good director for a good performance.Here he has neither & it shows.Amitabh gets to ham off scene after scene, not to mention the expletives he mouths.Akshara haasan looks dazed.A talented actor like dhanush is totally wasted. Wonder what he saw in the script to do this film.PC Sreeram & Ilayaraja try to salvage the film but to no avail.Shamitabh - best avoided.

Shamitabh Got the pleasure of watching this movie a couple of days back... Its a novel idea which needs to be credited for.. a very unique concept which grasps your attention throughout the first half of the movie... In the second half the plot fades away into a lengthy and very melodramatic affair... But i would still recommend this movie only for the sheer brilliance of Amitabh Bachchan and Dhanush... The chemistry between them and the character sketches given to them give essence to the movie.... The mixture of solid performances given by these two actors holds the movie together till the end... Brilliant cinematography and sound editing is one the plus points in the movie...Direction by R Balki is excellent... If the plot and script would have been better the movie would have appealed to the niche masses as well.. Certainly an one time watch only for the hard work put up by the lead actors...or just give it a miss... P.S Watch out for Amitabh abuse from A-Z in just 1 and a half minute