the promos started appearing. A single joke repeated time and again in all the promos didn't sound too promising; and all my fears were realized when I was forced to watch this movie.Summary
The movie starts with a bizarrely dressed Amitabh Bachchan singing the title song at a London railway station. His clothes remind you of ragpickers and his antics of vendors in Bombay trains.
Rikki Thukral (Abhishek Bachchan with a bad dressing sense and an even worse hairdo) and Alvira Khan (Preity Zinta overdoing her prim-n-propah act from a dozen such movies) meet and get off on the wrong foot.
An overcrowded café and two hours to kill makes them compromise and they start off on a talkathon about their respective fiancés.
Abhishek has met Anaida Raza (Lara Dutta, looking her best since Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost) at the Ritz at Paris, when he ran out of money to pay for his accommodation.
Preity met Steve (Bobby Deol with a moth-eaten wig and mottled skin) when he saved her from a falling Superman at a place supposed to be Madam Tussaud's (though the tacky interiors make you think of Patna museum -- if such a thing exists).The stories go on till intermission point, by which time you are beyond caring for either one of them.
By the time the story introduces a much expected twist, you are beyond caring and are longing for this caper to finish quickly without doing any further damage to your sense of humor or your partner's health (who might have dragged you to see this movie).
Actors
The normally dependable Preity Zinta has become so monotonous that her antics don't bring a single smile to your face. You can predict not just her dialogues, but also her facial expressions while mouthing them.
Abhishek Bachchan needs to do some rethink pronto about his movie choices and get rid of that stubble that he has grown to hide his double chin. He manages to raise a few laughs, but has a been there, done that, got the t-shirt, I am a cool dude air about him which gets your goat after four movies
of him doing the same (Guru, Dhoom 2, Bluffmaster, Bunty Aur Babli).Bobby Deol is a breath of fresh air in the second half and provides some material to get a few guffaws in the second half of the movie. I have always maintained that Bobby has comic talent which has never been appreciated and I still stand by it. His styling is hideous, as previously mentioned.
Lara Dutta is the surprise package of this film in terms of entertainment potential. Be it her French accent or her tapori take. She looks gorgeous in most of the scenes and lifts them above the level they deserve.
Technique
Shaad Ali Sehgal has proved that Saathiya was just an aberration (as it was originally a Mani Ratnam script) and his real creativity / story telling skills are way bad.
I had thought Bunty Aur Babli was an amateurish attempt, but this one makes it look like a masterpiece. He takes the credit for writing and directing this movie, which is something he should have tried to hide, as it is nothing to brag about.
Faisal Habib takes the blame for the screenplay and dialogue. The screenplay would do justice to a five year old on a crack-induced high; and the dialogues show equal depth.
oShankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music is mediocre, and the title track gets repeated throughout the movie to get maximum mileage; flogging the dead donkey. Lyrics by Gulzar go heavy on the Punjabi vocabulary.Trivia
- Daler Mehendi was very upset with Yashraj films for getting the title song recorded in his voice, and then replacing his vocals with Shankar Mahadevan's. He was reportedly not paid for the song, and has sued them for rupees 1 crore.
- John Abraham was initially offered the role played by Bobby Deol, but he opted out of i
t as he was reportedly not given a script narration and was not convinced with the theme of the story. This left Aditya Chopra furious and he has decided not to work with John in the future. - Vidya Balan was offered a role in this movie (probably the one done by Lara Dutta) but she could not accommodate the dates.
- There were quite a few rumors floated by Yashraj films that Abhishek was to play dad to twins named Hrithik and Roshan in this movie; but they turned out to be just rumors.
- Players like Frank Lampard and John Terry along with other members of the Chelsea team were to make an appearance in the film. They were supposed to present Abhishek Bachchan with a jersey of the team with his character's name (Rikki) on it. But all this turned out to be just hype from the Yashraj camp and nothing of this sort materialized.
- The movie was originally planned to be shot at Delhi station, but they probably decided to shoot abroad to attract more eyeballs.
Yashraj films seems to have started a new concept of a film-making school, where they teach boot-lickers and friends of theirs, the art of making films and con the paying public to pay for exorbitant tickets, which they must be considering their course fees.
It would be better if they started The Art of the Con schools, since their cons with the paying public are way better than the cons they show in their movies.
