- Hello Neha! Hey wats up? On for a movie today?
-Ya sure Ali, which movie? When and where? Tell me tell me.
-(obviously I’ve called you up to tell you dumbo!) Yup I was thinking of 36 China Town at Fame.
-No dear, I’ve planned to go for Ganster with Pooja.
(so were you shy to tell me about it earlier) Anyways thanks. Get back to you later!
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-Hey Arjun man, come up to Fame with anyone you get sharp at 2.
-Why so?
-In for a suspense. Just make sure you carry two hundred bucks with you.
-(after some thinking) Ok fine. Meet you at 2 then.
-Yeah see you then!
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Talking to another of my friend who overloaded me with questions. Samples:-
What made you do this aLi?
Well, the film stars Kareena Kapoor and not any power could have stopped me from doing it. Himesh’s music had also caught on in a big way, and it features Kareena as well. The promos looked exciting, and Abbas-Mustan are known for creating good suspenses. Besides having Kareena in the lead, the star cast comprised of good names too. Also, had never been to Fame so thought this was a good opportunity, and the movie had Kareena in it. Finally, how dare I miss a Kareena movie?
Hmmm sounds cool. Tell me something about the story.
There is this lady called Sonia Chang (Isha Koppikar) who owns a casino and lives in 36 China Town. Her 2-year old son Vicky had got lost and she had offered 2.5 lakhs to anyone who found it. Two ran-from-the-respective-houses people, Raj (S Kapur - the idiot) and Priya (the gorgeous Kareena) find the baby, and decide to share the reward money in the ratio 2:3. But on reaching 36 china Town, they find Sonia dead and run for their lives. But they are now the prime suspects of the murder.
Alongside, various other people living in the city - an experienced gambler Natvar (Paresh Rawal), Gracy (Payal Rohatgi), a new gambler KK (Johny Lever) and wife Ruby (Tanaaz), alongwith a playboy Rocky (Upen Patel) are the ones who visited 36 CT on the fateful night for reasons of their own. Having been guilty of visiting the place where the murder occurred, all are held captive. To find the killer, the task is imposed upon a detective Akshaye Khanna, who is to get into the root of the evils to find out the culprit.
Must be interesting. So you must have had a great time.. !
Not so dear. This is like the case of the Narmada River controversy. All sound, no substance! In fact, it would stand among one of the weakest film made by Abbas-Mustan.
How so? I won’t buy your theory yaar.
As soon as the movie begins, Isha’s character is established and you feel that something is gonna happen. After that, the party song ’Aashiqui Mein Teri’ only makes you further glued to the screen. But soon after, the soda-like experience fizzes off and all you see is S and Kareena singing dream songs [even in the prison!], and happily fighting with each other. There is neither any movement, nor any involvement in the story thereafter.
Things do pick up when S and Kareena visit Sonia’s bunaglow at 36 CT to give her the baby, and Shahid sees the dead body, but intermission comes up at an inappropriate time and things continue from the same scene post-interval, marring the whatsoever impression the scene had created. Later, when Akshaye’s character is introduced in the second half, you do expect the story to more and take you by surprise with several twists and turns, but nothing of that sort happens. Instead, all Akshaye does is fool around with the so-called suspects while they try to escape out of the situation. Also, when confronted by the inspector initially, why don’t S and Kareena reveal that they had gone to the bunaglow to give madam the baby? Surely the inspector knew the missing-baby case.
Then the comedy track of Johny and Paresh was overdone. Fine, having light moments to ease things is alright, but there were hardly any tense-filled sequences as per the script, right? And know what, the comedy track falls flat. Not a single gag appeals, and there is more of attempted-comedy in the supposedly-thriller of a movie.
Shaym Goel’s story had scope for suspense and tension, but his inept writing ruined the effect that could have been achieved. The impact is far from being hammer-strong, and you do laugh in the climax when the identity of the murderer is revealed. The childish story behind the murderer’s identity is the first negative thing that you carry home while you leave the auditorium.
Come on yaar, don’t be so partial. there must be some plusses as well!
Yes there were a few of them indeed. A couple of scenes, specially the beginning portions set the base right for a whodunit. Then the events that occur when S and Kareena reach 36 China Town and get themselves into trouble, are well-handled. A few scenes do manage to make you laugh as well, like Paresh Rawal’s interrogation by Akshaye. Finally, when Akshaye promises to leak out the suspense, to which the ’Dilchaspi Hai’ song follows, keep you on the edge.
The music by Himesh is extraordinary. Though except ’Aashiqui’ and ’Dilchaspi’, all others should be deleted, they provide for a great listen. The two songs mentioned give a great boost to the going-ons, but ’Jab Kabhi' [Tanushree!] works due to the eye-pleasing locales.
Cinematography [Ravi Yadav] is exceptional, and the editing [Hussain Burmawala] slick, except for the songs. Anurag Prapanna’s dialogues are commonplace.
So what about the performances?
Akshaye Khanna does a good job, and it is only his portions that are intriguing. A competent performance, one wishes there was more to his role. S looks like a kid, and performs reasonably well. My darling Kareena looked beautiful as always, and underplayed her part with perfection. But this wasn’t a role that demanded histrionics, and she should concentrate on roles with substance in the future.
Isha Koppikar stands out in a small role. Upen Patel dances well, but is plain average in the acting department. Or rather, his role was too small for him to leave a mark. Also, his rose-theory got too annoying after a point of time. Paresh Rawal does well, but doesn’t live up to his name this time around. Payal Rohatgi should stick to the B-graders. She looks out of place in a movie like this. Johny Lever fits the bill, while Tanaaz does a decent job. Vivek Shauq’s comedy, when the lighter doesn’t light, is funny at times.
It is a well-thought of idea by the maker to introduce Priyanka Chopra in the end so as to have the viewers leave the film with a smile. But hello, does a thriller suppose the viewers to leave with a smile or a shock?
Finally, how would you sum up the film?
A downer by the dynamic duo of Abbas-Mustan, the khiladi of murder mysteries. The film has an A-M feel overall, and has some good touches of the men in white, but they were truly let down by the un-absorbing screenplay. Go for it only if you are a die-hard Kareena fan, or love Akshaye in the small role that he gets. Otherwise, nothing much to look forward to. Disappointing!
On an ending note, those who don’t rate and comment on this review will be locked up in the prison with Johny Lever and Payal Rohatgi for company.
© Aliasgar Poonawala, 2006
