Pathetic. Review on Tehzeeb

Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Obviously this is something which Kahlid Mohammed has never heard about.

It was with a lot of expectation that I went to see his movie - Tehzeeb. Nothing mattered just the fact that it was written by Khalid. That is kind of respect I have (had?) for Khalid. Sunday mornings have been wonderful thanks to his fantastic reviews. I used to adore the way in which he used to rip off the movies and the actors. He was the benchmark. If his review was good, then the movie was a must see and if he has ripped it apart, then no way was I going to see it.

Naturally with this aura that I carried about him, I had hoped that his movie would have been very different, more importantly, I had hoped to see somthing intelligent and not some soppy, lovey dovey, goody-goody story.

Well, his movie was not all that. Infact his movie was nothing ata ll. I left the movie hall feeling very cheated.

The movie was pathetic to put it politely. The story line was so weak, I wondered what the hullabaloo was all about. Dysfunctional family, mother-daugther problme is fine but it was a not potrayed maturely.

Urmila assumes that her mother, Shabana murders her (Urmila's) father, Rishi Kapoor and she carries this grudge with her throughout her life. She has this venom spewing all the time for her mother. That is undertandable. But what I could not understand was that when the mother and daugter were together till Urmila got married, then how come this point was never ever discussed. How come a mother did not notice the hatred which the daughter carried. And if had noticed, how come kuch bhi kiya nahi?

The story is weak because I feel it has not been spun out properly. The movie does not show the strained relationship between the mother and daugther prior to marriage. How does one understand the extent of their strained relationship?

Diya Mirza looked cute and what was simply a medical miracle was she surving a sure-shot suicide attempt. By then, I felt Khalid had lost it.

And the angle of Diana Hayden was utterly unwarranted. It just made no sense, it infact made the whole movie look all the more frivolous.

And yes, the movie was about music and that was weakest point of the movie. It is unbelievable that AR Rahman can compose such trash.

The only saving grace of the movie was Arjum Ramphal. He was excellent and seemed very very comfortable with his role. he was the sole sunlight keeping me awake.

Shabana, of course, acted very well. But then, would it not be stupid to say that Al Pacino or Denzel washington acted well. Actors and actresses of this calibre are expected to perform. Soi she acted well and that was expected.

Urmila was ok, I personally did not feel that she did anything extraordinary, she was good. I guess she is lucky to have found a role which was made for her. Infact I think this actress has been very lucky.

All in all, the movie stinks. I feel Khalid has lost it and he should seriously take a break for some time.