Nov 11, 2007 11:54 PM
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You people there must be wondering who this dumbo is who's writing a review on a month old movie when he could write one on OSO or Saawariya. Yeah, I've seen Om Shanti Om but I'm never going to write a negative review on MS because I do not wish my reviews to get several NU tags from Deepika and SRK fans. Coming to the movie, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, let me tell its a total paisa vasool movie. I'm highly disappointed by Bollywood in 2007. Unlike last year when we had path breaking movies like Rang De Basanti, Lagey Raho Munnabhai, Zinda, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Kabul Express etc., we have very few such movies who entertain you completely. There was Guru which was certainly good, then Bheja Fry and now Bhool Bhulaiyaa.
With open arms, his large extended family welcomes the U.S.-based Siddharth and his newly-wed wife Avni [Vidya Balan], when they come home. But what the family resists is Siddharth's insistence on staying in his royal ancestral mansion during his stay. His uncle Badrinarayan Chaturvedi [Manoj Joshi] particularly has no qualms about voicing his displeasure. For, it was that very mansion that held in its realm a deadly secret that had repeatedly destroyed the family for generations.
The scientifically inclined Siddharth pays no heed and starts staying at the palatial mansion with Avni, who is equally modern in her thinking... But, soon enough, the couple is forced to rethink their decision. Unforeseen happenings, mysterious elements, horrific indications and life-threatening incidents swarm their path. Suddenly, it becomes a situation that urgently had to be dealt with before it got too late.
Siddharth instinctively finds the solution in his dynamic Doctor-friend Aditya [Akshay Kumar]. When Dr. Aditya finds his way into the mansion, he is a man on a mission. He just had to find the cause of all the upheaval before the effects caused more harm than could be imagined. Where did the answer lie?
The performances enacted by the leads are brilliant. Its time people and critics started noticing Akshay Kumar as a superstar as big as the SRK and Aamir Khan. His performance is brilliant. Now here's another actor who is versatile. Be it action, romance, comedy or (now) horror, Akshay does it all flawlessly. Next to mention is Vidya Balan who again gives a brilliant performance. In the first half she's good and in the second one she's out of the world. I'm not gonna reveal the fact that she...Forget it, I'm not going to say it. If FilmFare have got rid of their very very bad habit of handing the award to an undeserving candidate in most departments, Vidya has a chance here for the best supporting actress. Shiney Ahuja has a limited par which is not as challenging as the other roles. But he does fair. Amisha Patel still has to learn a lot about acting. Priyan has been able to get an average performance out of her which is great since in most movies she over-acts.
Music is pretty decent. Ofcourse Hare Krishna Hare Ram is truly a rocking song. The singer Bombay Viking rarely ever sings a hindi movie song and this time he's done and he sings coolly. Other songs like Allah Hafiz. Another genuinely good song is Labon Ko. It is a typical Pritam song which is romantic. Overall the music by Pritam does what it was composed to do - shake your leg and start humming.
Technically speaking the movie is outstanding. The plot of the movie is no doubt really fresh and exciting. But the script (especially the climax where the mystery finally unveils) stands on a thin line. To one side of the line is approval by the viewer and to the other disapproval. Some peopke may find the climax too far-fetched but I liked it as it makes complete sense and justifies the statements of Priyan that its India's firsy psychological thriller. Another brilliant aspect of the movie is its screenplay. Imagine, Akshay is walking in a large long dark corridor of an ancestral mahal. He hears a typical 'chan-chan' and immediately the viewer sits up straight for he knows its a scene which is scary. And it is. Imagine, Paresh Rawal and rajpal Yadav going into the forbidden haunted room and just by their body language you know its a light comedy scene. And it is. That is its beauty.
The movie amalgams comedy and horror perfectly. Although the element of humor is much too less as compared to horror, there is enough humor to lighten the tension which builds up every now and then. And man, trust me, the horror scenes are truly scary. Infact the thought of wandering in darkness in a haunted mahal where occasionally you hear eerie sounds would terrify the day lihghts out of dracula. But the horror is not the typical bollywood ishtyle hroor where loud thumping beats and mews of cats will scare you more than the make up of the bhoot which actually gets me in a fit of laughter. The bhot in the movie is not shown until thr very end and that fact makes it really really scary.
Overall, the movie works for three reasons- It entertains you big time. Not a moment when you'll feel like checking your watch or going to the toilet to 'skip the boring scene'. The screenplay haas been kept tight and short. Second, the outstanding peformances by the leads. Third, the novel plot which mixes horror and comedy(in small amounts). Also the movie is for both kinds of people-those who love pure entertainment and for those who like some clever cinema. And I was unlucky that I saw the movie on the second day of its release as the hare krishna song was shown in the end, but now it plays when akshay enters the story the effect will be really cool.
