Writer: Kartikha Govinda Rajoo

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Watch this if you liked: “The Lady” and “The Iron Lady”

Biopics are not easy to do. Not only should they seek to challenge the viewers' idea of an icon or give insight to a part of an icon's life but they should also tell a story. The movie, "Diana" is a valiant effort to do so. Unfortunately, it seems like more effort was spent on the visual aspect of re-creating Princess Diana than actually telling her story.

The movie is centered on the relationship between Princess Diana (Naomi Watts) and a Pakistani heart surgeon, Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews). It also lightly touches on her work and other events in the 2 years leading up to her tragic, fatal accident in 2007.

Naomi Watts as Princess Di was visual perfection. However, although she was able to pull off the famous blonde coiffure and recreate famous scenes like Princess Diana's BBC interview with near perfection, she failed to channel Princess Diana's warmth and grace. Naveen Andrews on the other hand, injected passion and life into the movie as charming Dr Hasnat Khan. Granted, viewers probably do not already have an idea of what Khan is like in real life but Naveen Andrews gave this character so much depth and believability, despite the poor soap romance dialogue. There were few really good lines in the movie and most of them were taken from the Quran.

Not everything about the movie is disappointing, however. This movie is a visual feast. There were many beautifully shot scenes. They even managed to make paparazzi scenes look artistic. The scenes of Princess Diana on vacation were particularly stunning. Fashion fans can be rest assured that the re-creation of Princess Diana's looks was on point throughout the movie.

On a final note, it is a little ironic that the movie details the very aspects of Lady Di's life that she fought so hard to keep private. This writer would like to believe that there is more to be said about Diana's life than her love affair with one man.


Cinema Online, 31 October 2013