Academy Award winning writer Bill Condon who gave us the musical ‘Chicago’ comes up with an adaptation of the Broadway hit ‘Dreamgirls’ and leaves us with a film with many messages. Dreamgirls is set in the 1960s, at a time when Afro-American music was making inroads into the urban mainstream.

Car salesman Curtis Taylor Jr finds his perfect ticket to becoming a music manager when he launches small town girl band Dreamettes as background vocalists for RnB singer James 'Thunder' Early. Curtis hits the jackpot when he rechristens Dreamettes & brings them on stage solo with one compromise- the not so glamourous but hugely talented lead singer Jennifer Hudson is replaced by the pretty yet soft on vocals Beyonce Knowles of the same group.

While Eddie Murphy is commendable, especially for his singing, it is Jamie Foxx as Curtis & American Idol discovery Jennifer Hudson who are the stars! What seems a tad overdone is the constant subjugation of women at the cost of the men in their lives. But in the end, Dreamgirls is a good watch simply, for the honest performances.