Sunday, September 25, 2005
Dil Jo Bhi Kahey
One of those love stories made to order for the launch of another industry kid, Dil Jo Bhi Kahey, written and directed by Romesh Sharma for his son Karan, must be the most thanda romance seen in a long, long time.
Sharma certainly hasn’t done young Karan a favour by casting him the role of a wimp. Jai (Karan Sharma) falls in love with White girl Sophie (Annabelle Wallis), who after one long conversation with her snooty father (Malcolm Stoddard) realizes that the romance is not meant to last. But Jai mopes around till she decides to give the mismatched relationship a try.
Back in Mauritius where they belong, Jai’s mother Sandhya (Revathy) has a heart attack (literally!) at the idea of getting a White daughter-in-law (is this 2005? Or is this 1905?). So Jai, who had promised never to let down Sophie, drops her with a painful thump, without even an sms by way of explanation. Sophie’s father isn’t too hot on the idea of his daughter marrying someone so beneath her, and has a stiff-looking White milksop lined up as a prospective son-in-law. Jai’s dad Shekhar (Amitabh Bachchan) and Sophie’s dad Monsieur Besson growl at each other, which results in the former being fired from his job. (All the English portions are drowned in a droning Hindi voiceover!)
While her son and husband are going through their crises, the mother who comes across as mean, stupid and narrow-minded, chooses a nice, homely Indian Brahmin girl Gayatari (Bhumika Chawla) as a suitable bride for her son. All through this Jai looks like he has swallowed something very sour!
Fortunately, in Hindi films, if there is no dog or bird to bring star-crossed lovers together, there is always the wise-cracking best friend who doesn’t seem to have a life of his own—in this case a Gaurav Gulati (Manuj Gulati)—making it a mission in life to unite Jai and Annabelle.
Despite Amitabh Bachchan’s valiant efforts and a fairly decent performance by Malcolm Stoddard; despite the gorgeous locations and pretty leading lady, the film is a crashing bore, because it tells a story nobody cares about any more. Karan Sharma, for whom all this effort is made and money spent, is nice-looking but bland bloke, who needs a lot more fire and a better role if he has to make it as a ‘hero’.
Sharma certainly hasn’t done young Karan a favour by casting him the role of a wimp. Jai (Karan Sharma) falls in love with White girl Sophie (Annabelle Wallis), who after one long conversation with her snooty father (Malcolm Stoddard) realizes that the romance is not meant to last. But Jai mopes around till she decides to give the mismatched relationship a try.
Back in Mauritius where they belong, Jai’s mother Sandhya (Revathy) has a heart attack (literally!) at the idea of getting a White daughter-in-law (is this 2005? Or is this 1905?). So Jai, who had promised never to let down Sophie, drops her with a painful thump, without even an sms by way of explanation. Sophie’s father isn’t too hot on the idea of his daughter marrying someone so beneath her, and has a stiff-looking White milksop lined up as a prospective son-in-law. Jai’s dad Shekhar (Amitabh Bachchan) and Sophie’s dad Monsieur Besson growl at each other, which results in the former being fired from his job. (All the English portions are drowned in a droning Hindi voiceover!)
While her son and husband are going through their crises, the mother who comes across as mean, stupid and narrow-minded, chooses a nice, homely Indian Brahmin girl Gayatari (Bhumika Chawla) as a suitable bride for her son. All through this Jai looks like he has swallowed something very sour!
Fortunately, in Hindi films, if there is no dog or bird to bring star-crossed lovers together, there is always the wise-cracking best friend who doesn’t seem to have a life of his own—in this case a Gaurav Gulati (Manuj Gulati)—making it a mission in life to unite Jai and Annabelle.
Despite Amitabh Bachchan’s valiant efforts and a fairly decent performance by Malcolm Stoddard; despite the gorgeous locations and pretty leading lady, the film is a crashing bore, because it tells a story nobody cares about any more. Karan Sharma, for whom all this effort is made and money spent, is nice-looking but bland bloke, who needs a lot more fire and a better role if he has to make it as a ‘hero’.
Labels: Cinemaah
