Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tum Mile + Wish
Tum Mile
While Hollywood unleashes its mega-budget doomsday thriller on the world in the form of 2012, Bollywood makes its own modest effort to revisit the Mumbai floods of 2005, with Emraan Hashmi as its sole selling point. Kunal Deshmukh’s Tum Mile is not a global warming red alert, however, just a love story set against the deluge.
In Cape Town (discounted rates after Jannat?) aspiring artist Akshay (Hashmi) falls in love with rich girl Sanjana (Soha Ali Khan). They live together in a pretty sea-facing apartment, but soon, the usual financial problems and career crises come in the way, and they split,
Six years later, they happen to meet on a plane to Mumbai. While the encounter leaves him distraught enough to request a change of seat, she dismisses him to a colleague as “just an accident.”
They arrive in Mumbai in the day of the floods. Akshay and his buddy rush to Sanjana’s rescue—they both realize they still love each other. It’s a pretty ordinary story, but Deshmukh’s treatment is sensitive and mature. The early flirtations between the two might be childish, but their relationship is very ‘today’ without waving any flags.
She works as a journalist and runs the home, he does the cooking and washes dishes, and it all looks perfectly normal. Sanjana’s busy father (Sachin Khedekar) is also cool about their relationship status, and her ex-boyfriend catching the vibes, gracefully exits.
Emraan Hashmi growing as an actor with every film he does, is still capable of springing a surprise—his performance is effortless and impressive. Soha Ali Khan also gets to do a role where she is as important as the leading man, and though not yet as polished as Hashmi, she does a fine job of playing a woman, who chooses between love and career, but is wise enough to understand where she went wrong. The characters are not shallow, and their dilemmas not pointless.
Garnished with Pritam’s hummable songs and Prakash Kutty’s expert cinematography (never mind the so-so special effects), Tum Mile is one of the better offerings of the year.
Aao Wish Karein
It’s perfectly alright for an actor to produce a film for himself, but there should be a limit to vanity. Aftab Shivdasani does not have the talent or star power to carry off a film on his own, and certainly not a remake of Big, with himself in the Tom Hanks role.
Add to that the less than adequate abilities of the leading lady, Aamna Sharif (sack the stylist!), and it’s a project doomed from the start. (There was the 20 year old dud Chandramukhi too, on the same subject, which just shows how some people never learn from others’ mistakes.)
When 12-year old Mickey is called ‘kid’ by Mitika (Aamna Sharif), who he has a crush on, he wishes he were older. His wish is granted, he grows into Aftab Shivdasani, who has the unenviable task of playing a cute, childish grown-up, and getting on the viewers nerves. There’s weird character called Hitchcock (Johnny Lever) around too, to add to the irritation. The only one who can legitimately be called cute here is Mickey’s little Sardar friend Bonnie.
The film has some funny moments, but too few – it is neither a children’s film, neither a teen rom com. Except for the picture post card location, there is very little fairy-tale magic happening here.
Aao Wish Karein is a perfect example of what an actor should not do, unless his (or her) ability matches his (or her) ambition.
While Hollywood unleashes its mega-budget doomsday thriller on the world in the form of 2012, Bollywood makes its own modest effort to revisit the Mumbai floods of 2005, with Emraan Hashmi as its sole selling point. Kunal Deshmukh’s Tum Mile is not a global warming red alert, however, just a love story set against the deluge.
In Cape Town (discounted rates after Jannat?) aspiring artist Akshay (Hashmi) falls in love with rich girl Sanjana (Soha Ali Khan). They live together in a pretty sea-facing apartment, but soon, the usual financial problems and career crises come in the way, and they split,
Six years later, they happen to meet on a plane to Mumbai. While the encounter leaves him distraught enough to request a change of seat, she dismisses him to a colleague as “just an accident.”
They arrive in Mumbai in the day of the floods. Akshay and his buddy rush to Sanjana’s rescue—they both realize they still love each other. It’s a pretty ordinary story, but Deshmukh’s treatment is sensitive and mature. The early flirtations between the two might be childish, but their relationship is very ‘today’ without waving any flags.
She works as a journalist and runs the home, he does the cooking and washes dishes, and it all looks perfectly normal. Sanjana’s busy father (Sachin Khedekar) is also cool about their relationship status, and her ex-boyfriend catching the vibes, gracefully exits.
Emraan Hashmi growing as an actor with every film he does, is still capable of springing a surprise—his performance is effortless and impressive. Soha Ali Khan also gets to do a role where she is as important as the leading man, and though not yet as polished as Hashmi, she does a fine job of playing a woman, who chooses between love and career, but is wise enough to understand where she went wrong. The characters are not shallow, and their dilemmas not pointless.
Garnished with Pritam’s hummable songs and Prakash Kutty’s expert cinematography (never mind the so-so special effects), Tum Mile is one of the better offerings of the year.
Aao Wish Karein
It’s perfectly alright for an actor to produce a film for himself, but there should be a limit to vanity. Aftab Shivdasani does not have the talent or star power to carry off a film on his own, and certainly not a remake of Big, with himself in the Tom Hanks role.
Add to that the less than adequate abilities of the leading lady, Aamna Sharif (sack the stylist!), and it’s a project doomed from the start. (There was the 20 year old dud Chandramukhi too, on the same subject, which just shows how some people never learn from others’ mistakes.)
When 12-year old Mickey is called ‘kid’ by Mitika (Aamna Sharif), who he has a crush on, he wishes he were older. His wish is granted, he grows into Aftab Shivdasani, who has the unenviable task of playing a cute, childish grown-up, and getting on the viewers nerves. There’s weird character called Hitchcock (Johnny Lever) around too, to add to the irritation. The only one who can legitimately be called cute here is Mickey’s little Sardar friend Bonnie.
The film has some funny moments, but too few – it is neither a children’s film, neither a teen rom com. Except for the picture post card location, there is very little fairy-tale magic happening here.
Aao Wish Karein is a perfect example of what an actor should not do, unless his (or her) ability matches his (or her) ambition.
Labels: Cinemaah
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