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on 2006/8/30 10:26:51
Dharmesh Darshan is a Bollywood director of the old school: a skilled purveyor of melodrama interspersed with slapstick and loud music, a practitioner of the broad brushstroke.
Subtle ways of telling a story don't come easy to such movie makers. Some of them stick resolutely to what they know best, betting audiences won't desert them, while others are trying to remake themselves for big-city, multiplex habitués impatient with the old ways of storytelling.
``Aap Ki Khatir (Just For You)'' is Darshan's attempt at redefining himself as a director who's got what it takes to carve a niche in the new Bollywood. He's taken inspiration from Hollywood (``The Wedding Date'' primarily), cast a couple of hot stars in the lead, signed up a chart-topper to compose the music and prayed hard for it all to work. Unfortunately, ``Aap Ki Khatir'' has all the texture and nuance of a soggy omelet that no amount of spice can redeem.
The story goes like this: Anu ( Priyanka Chopra) has hired Aman (Akshaye Khanna) to pose as her boyfriend on a trip home from Mumbai to London, where stepsister Shirani (Amisha Patel) is getting married to Kunal (Suneil Shetty). Why? Because Anu wants to make former beau Danny (Dino Morea) jealous and thereby rekindle his love for her.
Styled as a comedy, this may have been a better film if Darshan had invested more in the writing, which is weak, though the first half does yield a few half-hearted titters. Of the cast, Chopra gives it all she's got, but flounders with little support from director and scriptwriter.
Sorely Needed Class
Only Khanna's serene presence brings some sorely needed class to the proceedings. For the rest, Shetty hams amiably all the way through to the end, while model-turned-actor Morea needs to think about his choice of movies before it's too late. Patel's screen time is thankfully limited.
Anupam Kher and Lillette Dubey, who deserve much better, are forced to enact a clichéd pair of Punjabi parents.
Himesh Reshammiya serves up the usual derivative though compulsive beats, overlaid with that signature nasal snarl. Khanna cuts quite a figure on the dance floor and is the only thing worth watching. This may just be a misstep in Darshan's evolution, but the director of such hits as ``Raja Hindustani'' (1996) may be better served by sticking to what he knows best.
``Aap Ki Khatir'' was released in India on Aug. 25.
source:bloomberg
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