Cast: Arvind Swamy, Juhi Chawla, Anupam Kher
| Direction: Priyadarshan
| Rating: * * | |
| She says, "Bas ladki gumma. He says, "What is that, please?" And you're as exasperated by that as someone stung by a million bees. Lapsing into nonsensical natter, the plot of Saat Rang Ke Sapne keeps getting fatter and fatter until you feel like an onion ring dunked in oodles of batter. And to think that this nightmare masquerading as a dream was directed by the man behind Virasat. Alas and alack, in his new Hindi film, Priyadarshan doles out stuff that's about as riveting as a farm manure documentary on Doordarshan. What went wrong? Answer: plenty. For starters, the script of this remake of the Mohanlal-Shobhana Malayalam hit, Tenmavin Kombathu seems as if it had been written (if at all) right in the middle of a cyclone. Drone. The script's pages appear to have flown off in a hurry-flurry, fluttering back to earth in various geographical hemispheres from Rajasthan and Baluchistan to Iceland and Riceland. From deep desert expanses to posh paddy fields, every vista is on display here, as if the intention were to treat you to a quickie travelogue packed with camels, goats, bulls and, yup, some human beings, too. The outcome is akin, then, to playing a game of who tu tu. Take Bhanu (Anupam Kher). No relation, you presume, of the Oscar-winning Ms Athaiya, he's a 40-ish bachelor who flips his lid and more on espying a neat navtanki girl called Jalima (Juhi Chawla). Jalima, not Zaalima. Zaalim, she turns out to be, though. Inadvertently. Her heart breaks into a jolly jigaloo, not for Thakur Bhanu, but for the moneyless Mahipal (Arvind Swamy). No relative, you presume, of the hero of mythological movies of yore. As it happens, Mahi's a pal of Bhanu. So what if the pal's treated like a glorified slave? Bhanu's doting sister (Farida Jalal) is the first one to detect the creaky complications in this three-way love ishistory. "Maheeeeepal, forget Jalima for the sake of my bhai," our sister weeps, while musicians slap their drums as if they had guzzled colas and rums. Yo, no go! Mahi can't forget, Jali baby's tearful. And in order to get the gal, the sidecracked Bhanu concocts schemes to lynch his maha-Mahi-pal. The hocus focus keeps shifting between the kinky-clunky characters. You're not sure whom to adore or hate. Next: an owl of a ghoul (with polka-dotted teeth) suddenly dominates the proceedings, assuming the role of the resident Narad Muni. As suddenly, a village belle (Mink Kumari) sprints across a courtyard of pots and pans to retract her public statement that Mahipal had made her pregnant. Eeeps. If you emerge sane from this madvertisement for bandhni saris and cottage emporium bric-a-brac, you deserve a brass medal, at the very least. Truly, what a waste of resources, talent and cash. Ten sensible, economically budgeted films could have been produced by ABCL instead of this rusteek non-romance. Okay, so the cinematography by Ravi K Chandran is outstanding. But what use are brilliant camerawork, gorgeous locales, imaginative sets (by Sabu Cyril) and clever editing, when the narrative is a mammoth mess? Give us a story, no techno-jazz! Of the cast, Anupam Kher is as over-enthusiastic as a neglected child who's just been given a thousand lollipops. Arvind Swamy is disappointingly vacuous, as if he hadn't bothered to use either his head or heart in the performance. Juhi Chawla is the show's only saving grace. Lovely to look at and an instinctive actress, she's a likeable as ever. The rest of this Saat Wrong Ke Sapne isn't. |
