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Dhaai
Akshar Prem Ke
Listless, uninspiring fare
DIRECTOR
Raj Kanwar, for a change, seems to have lost his touch and
his script sense in the making of Inderjeet Films’ Dhaai
Akshar Prem Ke. The film, right from the first reel, is downright
ordinary, listless fare. The director has failed to justify
the characters of his lead artistes Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek
Bachchan. The film is full of cliches and lacks orginality,
to add to its miseries at the b-o, it is saddled with a none-too-popular
songtrack. Unfortunately for Abhishek Bachchan, even his third
outing at the turnstiles turns out to be rather tame.
Captain Karan Khanna, who is on a vacation, arrives to meet
his fiancee Pooja (Sonali Bendre). But he takes a diversion
after he meets Sahiba (Aishwarya Rai) at a railway platform,
when she is hounded by a gang of goons after she has witnessed
a murder. In the very next scene, she is with Karan on a train.
Karan and Sahiba head for their own destinations. Karan gets
the shock of his life when he sees Sahiba on the edge of a
cliff, about to commit suicide. In his attempt to rescue her,
the two fall into the gushing water below the cliff, but come
out unscathed. Sahiba informs him she’d got married while
in college, and that she dreads having to inform her devoted
family about the marriage. Karan promises to help her out
and lands up at her palatial bungalow. The family accepts
him with reluctance but it presents new worries for Karan.
He loves Pooja but Sahiba develops a fascination for him,
too. He is made legal heir to Sahiba’s millions. But
Karan, the poor lad, is more intereste in Pooja than in Sahiba’s
crores.
Finally, after apprising Sahiba of the fact, he gives the
Grewal family the slip. Sadly, for Karan, when he lands up
at Pooja’s place, he discovers she is already married.
Meanwhile, Sahiba is engaged to the very man who’d committed
the murder she was witness to. Karan makes an effort to return
to Sahiba, whom he’s begun to love. Grewal Sr (Amrish
Puri) throws him out of the house. But good sense prevails
in the end and after an uninspiring climax the lovers are
united. Indeed, love is the only inspiring thing in the otherwise
uninspiring story.
The film is a big let down for Abhishek Bachchan, who is desperately
in need of a hit. His role is a half-baked one, riddled with
contradictions. The director ought to have realised Abhishek
is too new and inexperienced to rise above the limitations
of the script. Abhishek also needs to let a competent person
to take care of his wardrobe. Performance-wise, he has tried
his best, and the same can be said for Aishwarya, too. She
has very little to do besides oozing charm in the songs. Even
the cameraman has failed to do justice to her. Yet, she is
the only point of interest in an otherwise boring film. She
comes up with a restrained performance,
especially in the dances. Amrish Puri does a fair job, while
Anupam Kher and Shakti Kapoor appear to be wasted. The less
said about the crowd in the Grewal household the better.
It is hard to believe the film is directed by Raj Kanwar as
he is capable of doing much better, as his past record indicates.
He had a waferthin story to start with, and has stretched
it beyond control. The cliched plot and irritating screenplay
add to his worries. Cinematographer Ishwar Bidri’s work
is not upto the mark and it lacks imagination. Saroj Khan
scores with Mera mahi bada sona and Do labzon mein. Music
director Jatin Lalit has left us no other we could care to
remember.
Padmaraj Nair
Also see: KAIREE Tribute to the
girl child
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Cover
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