Jun 17, 2006 09:26 PM
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This is another movie that could not decide what it wanted to be when it grew up. It had the potential to be nice and quite enjoyable, but instead relies on hatred-fear-ignorance for dramatic affect and does so heavily as to be close to disgusting at times.
Alag is the story of an unusual youth, Tejas Rastogi (Akshay Kapoor). He is bald, has no eyebrows, and no hair on his body. Radios and television sets don't work when he's around. He has special powers but he's no superman!
The film begins with the death of his father, (Yateen Karyekar), of a cardiac arrest. During investigations the police realize that his son has been hidden in the basement of the mansion ever since he was a kid. The boy has lived in darkness all his life. Why?
The police decide to place Tejas in Purva's (Dia Mirza) care who along with her father (Jayant Kripalani), runs a rehabilitation centre for orphans.
A movie full of great ideas and one or two genuinely touching moments, ALAG has severe problems. The theme is that the main character is super-intelligent but it also has the main character doing things that are too unrealistic to be believable. I think the supernatural ability aspect significantly detracts from, and is contradictory with, the super-intelligent aspect.
A film with this much potential should not be treated with such apparent carelessness. None of the characters are equipped with convincing motives .
Events just happen with nothing leading up to them, which might be okay if the movie was attempting some degree of realism, which it doesn't appear to be. We are expected to simply believe that Tejas is a genius without any evidence to support it. What could have been a very powerful film ends up a Bollywood mess of one-dimensional characters and a who cares plot. I really hate to be so harsh, but I guess I was expecting something better.
And to be fair, Akshay Kapoor has the good sense to play what could have been a disastrous part with just the right amounts of simplicity and innocence. To paraphrase Akshay he says his lines and doesn't trip over the furniture. This is a role where less is definitely more. He is to be congratulated. Diya is wonderful as a kind understanding lover.The screenplay, which tends to sag in the middle, is well enough written, but nothing more. Sets and costumes are what they need to be. The direction is sufficient.
The movie also seems illogical in typical manners. Near the beginning, the main character seems to be in danger and the person that could do something just stands there staring. Why doesn't he do something? Finally he smashes something, but without even trying to pull the plug. It seems so stupid.
On the whole, Alag has something for the classes, but not much for the masses.
