WHEN THE PAST
CATCHES UP WITH YOU...

Little does he know that Salman is a famous playboy in London. When the errant child is ordered home, and the grandfather realises that he is a drunkard and womaniser, he is at a loss as to what to do. Meanwhile Salman meets and falls in love with Twinkle Khanna, and ardently pursues her, but is snubbed because she refuses to be involved with a playboy. But this time the playboy discovers that his love is for real. He turns over a new leaf to please her, and the scene is all set for a happily-ever-after marriage... when disaster strikes.

A young boy (Aditya Narayan) shows up at Salman’s doorstep and claims to be his son, the result of a fling from Salman’s past. A brief flashback reveals the unfortunate woman, now dead, to be Namrata Shirodkar in a guest appearance.

The film suddenly takes a serious turn as Salman is aghast to find his past catching up with him. He is now torn between telling his fiancee the truth and running the risk of losing her on the one hand, and his feelings of guilt and growing affection for the child on the other hand.

Aditya Narayan is excellent as the independent, but sensitive and lonely child. Salman Khan prances about full of fun and humour as usual, once again displaying his flair for comic timing. He is, of course, helped greatly by the fact that his is a script-backed role. His comic routine is much the same as seen in Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya, and is in danger of becoming a little stale in the future, but as far as this film is concerned, it works pretty well. Twinkle’s performance, though it tends to be a little wooden at times, suddenly flowers into quite a mature character in the more serious, post-interval phase.

Unfortunately, the film tends to drag in the first half with the couple failing to project a romantic intensity proportionate to the many tears and sighs required by the script, giving the film a somewhat lop-sided feel. On the whole, however, the film tackles an unusual subject in an interesting and sensitive manner, and, perhaps with an eye to the box-office, without making it too heavy. Most of the cast turn in good performances. Johnny Lever, the quintessential (and now, seemingly indispensable) sidekick, is hilarious as ever, providing a laugh a minute whenever he appears on screen. The film is also backed by a strong sountrack, matched by good choreography. It should turn out to be a pretty good proposition at the box-office.