Saturday, May 25, 2013
Ishkq In Paris
What? Where?
It’s such a pity, woman
part 30 are judged so harshly in Hindi cinema, the focus being more on their
‘aging’ looks than their acting. By producing (and writing) a trite romcom like Ishkq In Paris, Preity Zinta has handed her critics the ammunition.
Why would an actress way
past her teens want to get into mini skirts and play a borderline ditz. She has
spent the better part of her career dimpling away in roles that are gratingly
described as bubbly (and she has handed the baton to Anushka Sharma), so when
she had creative control, why would she make a pointless love story rather than
give herself a substantial—and yes, age appropriate—role?
Zinta plays a commitment
phobic woman called Ishkq (which would be enough cause to seek a shrink) who
runs into a commitment phobic guy called Akash (Rhehan Maliek— did a
numerologist endorse that name?) in Paris. They are the way they are because
their parents were divorced.
Anyway, they spend an
evening of no-strings-attached fun in Paris and promise never to meet again.
But they do, and now he wants to marry, but she is adamant in her refusal. It’s
supposed to be some kind of crisis and audiences are expected to go “Aww, this
is the real thing, girl, don’t let go,” when they are actually yawning, peeking
at their watches and waiting for it to end. If they haven’t walked out before
intermission, it’s because of lovely Paris, not the gormless characters trying
to recreate the magic of Before Sunrise and failing spectacularly.
If there’s anything Zinta
the Producer has achieved, it is getting French star Isabelle Adjani to play her mother and Shekhar Kapur to play
her father. And the two have very little to do, so it’s a waste getting this
good-looking pair together; they deserve to have their own film, a
late-blooming intercontinental romance, perhaps? A prequel that this Ishkq In Paris does not deserve.
Bad enough Preity Zinta had
to play this hyper bimbette, couldn’t she have found a better actor so cast opposite
herself? The two are just so
ill-matched, the film ends up looking a few degrees worse than it is.
Labels: Cinemaah
