Total Recall - desi ishtyle. Review on Tum Ko Na Bhool Payenge

The first thing that struck me as soon as Salman Khan starts getting delusional about a half hour into the movie was the somewhat vague resemblance to the Arnie Schwarznegger hit Total Recall ! But thankfully the plot moves in a different direction and had me stop guessing what was going to happen next.

Veer ( Salman Khan ) is the only son of a bigshot Thakur and is showered with affection by his parents. Diya Mirza as Muskaan is his love and daughter of another rich Thakur. Both Thakur dads happily agree to the match and you could'nt imagine anything better ( or sweeter ). A doting Bigshot dad and a loving mother, an extremely so-sweet fiance and lots of money. As wedding day approaches, Veer starts hearing dogs barking and visioning commandoes who seem to be in pursuit of him. Finally, the truth catches up with Veer ( and the audience ) as some gangsters visit him at his engagement ceremony. Veer is badly beaten up but ends up killing all of them. Then the big question is posed to his parents : ''Why have these people come after me ?''

Thakur Dad decides its time to spill the beans. Apparently, it is revealed that Veer is not the real son of the Thakur. Three years back, Thakur dad had found Veer left for dead with bullets pumped into his body. On nursing him back to health, the Thakur discovers that Veer is not able to remember anything about his past life. Having just lost a soldier son of similar age in battle, the Thakur decides to adopt Veer as his son. With this admission, Veer decides to go to Mumbai to trace the events in his life that led him to the Thakur.

Once in Mumbai, the memory recall is quicker as few people start recognizing him but with fear and trepidity. Veer then remembers that he used to be a Muslim and offers prayers at a masjid he use to visit. He runs into his brother there. Before he can find out the whole story, his brother is killed by an assassin's bullet and dies in his arms. Veer finds out that he used to be called Ali. To make things more complicated, he also finds out that the police is after him. With no idea about why everyone is pursuing him, Veer is flummoxed to find answers. His efforts take him to the locality where he used to live and as he enters his room, all the memories start kicking in. To say anything else would mean exposing the plot.

The movie has a better than average plot that you would normally find in Hindi movies. What is disappointing however is the characterization of some of the individuals. While the story is very clear about the religious background of Salman Khan's character, including an uncle named Raheem Chacha who cannot be mistaken for anything but a Muslim by his dress and beard. There is a scene in which the uncle responds warmly to an embrace from Mehak ( Sushmita Sen as Ali's fiance). This is a strict no-no and an incorrect depiction of an orthodox Muslim man. A decent God-fearing Muslim as portrayed would internally explode with anger in the presence of any woman in a sleeveless dress let alone embrace her. This is one shocking detail that the director has completely overlooked. Maybe if Raheem chacha was a suit wearing ''modern Mussalman'', it might have been believable. Another thing that you cannot believe is that Salman could survive 5 bullets being pumped into him at point blank range.

Of the cast, Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen are ok. Sharat Saxena as the Thakur is impressive. Diya Mirza is simply a terrible actress and other than looks, there is nothing that can be said about her performance. Everybody else was just ok. Johnny Lever is in a brief cameo that was thoroughly unneeded.

All in all, you would come away with the feeling that the movie is a little different from the normal fare and not a waste of your time. It is certainly among the better masala action-thrillers we have seen from bollywood.