Producer: Ajay and Sanjeev K Bijli
Writer, director: Madhureeta Anand
Stars: Raima Sen, Randeep Hooda, Arbaaz Khan
Rating: one star
Plot: Suppressed house wife breaks free and wins a singing contest.
Verdict: Tiring narrative.
Box Office Prospects: Considering the content and lack of star value, the going will be tough.
Creative Quotient:
Debutant director Madhureet Anand weaves a plot around the kitchen and dining table and infuses it with a fantastic lover who will support, encourage and celebrate with the drab housewife Maya (Raima Sen) who wears sack-like night gowns through the first half of the film.
She serves overdone toasts and fruit juice every morning to her unconcerned husband Vikram (Arbaaz) and her school going daughter. Her day is then taken up by nosey parker neighbour Mrs Kapoor (Ashwinin Kalsekar) and Mrs Mathur (Suhasini Mulay) who's looking for a suitable tenant for the outhouse. And in the evening it is the cacophony of jamming from her young musician neighbours.
When she discovers that her husband is having an extramarital affair, her somnolent singing talent surfaces as her lover Jai (Randeep) emerges from the realm of her fantasies - he appears in various disguises - that of Krishna, James Bond, Dharmendra a la Shalimaar, a fencing knight and many others totaling upto the much-publicized one and a half dozen get-ups. He cajoles, comforts and encourages Maya to pursue her dreams.
Maya ends up joining her neighbours' band and they enter the big band contest that they win most predictably.
Maya is boring, her husband is boorish and her fantasy lover is not charming enough. The story falls short on many accounts including that of imagination!
Technical Expertise:
How director-writer Anand manages to pass off her inane plot to Bijlis of PVR is shocking. Raima Sen is ill-at-ease most of the times and her act is mostly superficial as is Randeep's part - he tries to hard to be charming and fails fully. Arbaaz's character is so dark and dreary and retro that you can't blame him if he sleep-walks through it. The director squanders competent actors of Suhasini Mulay and Ashwini's calibre. Making the matters worse, the film that so hinges on music has Lalit Pandit's imminently forgettable music. What a sad waste of creative resource!
Rating: The solo star is for the aspirational instinct of the plain house wife who wins the big contest.