For everyone who has loved and lost(it) ?!!. Review on Woh Lamhe

Shiny Ahuja, Kangana Ranaut

Hmmmm….

Mahesh Bhatt has done a good job publisizing this movie. He has said that it is based on the life of Parveen Babi. Now, those of you, who, like me have grown up seeing Parveen Babi looking gorgeous and being romanced by Vinod Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, will understand the curiosity I felt in wanting to see this film.

Right. So in order to satisfy my curiosity, I landed up at Globus theatre with a couple of girlfriends who did not want to see the film. “Who wants to watch a film about some psycho???”

The film is supposedly based on the life of Parveen Babi played in the film by Kangana Ranaut. It is the story of a girl who pulls herself out of the backwoods of Junagadh and makes a name for herself in Bollywood. Along the way she is used and abused(physically and emotionally) by various people, read men. So, who are all these men who are shown in such a terrible light in the film? One can only speculate….

The hero(playing Mahesh Bhatt) is Shiny Ahuja. He is competent as the struggling new director wanting to make a mark for himself in Bollywood. But is this really Mr. Mahesh Bhat??? Those who have seen Arth way back in the ‘80s and read Mr. Bhatt’s interviews at that time will know that it was a more honest depiction of his affair with Parveen Babi. In Woh Lamhe, the hero comes through smelling of roses. He is the strong silent guy who loves the poor heroine who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Who tries to slay all her dragons and generally plays the role of knight in shining armour.

I liked Kangana Ranaut in this film. She is a good actress who has brought out the nuances of the role really well. I also liked Shiny Ahuja. He has a quiet confidence and maturity which is nice to see. Music in the film… pretty good. Kya yeh pyaar hai, and Bin tere… nice hummable numbers.

As films go, Woh Lamhe is very watchable. It is a very different kind of love story and so definitely worth a dekko. I just wish it hadn’t been touted as a film based on P.Babi’s life…needlessly builds up expectations.