'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag'- Watchable despite its 'Daags' !!!!

...And 'Bhool Bhulaiya' - Watch it.... if you have nothing else to do on a weekend !!!! Or wait for the Rs. 50 original DVD :)

Both the releases this weekend - Priyadarshan's 'Bhool Bhulaiya' and Pradeep Sarkar's 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' turned out to be quite disappointing.

'Bhool Bhulaiya' is a clear victim of severe identity crisis under the reins of a severely confused director not being able to make up his mind if he wants to make a comedy or a psychological thriller. The film's concept had all the potential to be a rich, well made, horror/psychological thriller. But Priyadarshan forces unnecessary songs into the narrative and even the comedy is jarring at places as it comes when the audience is expecting high drama.



Performances by Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Asrani and the entire brigade are just right and go with the mood of the film. Amisha Patel doesn't really have much to do except look pretty, sob and scream and then sob some more.

Vidya Balan while being in quite a vanilla mode throughout the film, punches in a fantastic performance towards the end of the film. But the real 'SHOCKER" is Shiney Ahuja - whose performance is ....believe it or not.... as bad as Nisha Kothari's portrayal of 'Basanti' in 'Ram Gopal Verma ki Aag'. Now, how does such a promising young actor manage to completely forget how to act !!!! Maybe he saw the 'Haveli's bhootni (ghost)' :)


'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' suffers from glaring loopholes in its screenplay, also Pradeep Sarkar (director) seems to have a heavy hang over of his first film- Parineeta.
He introduces and sets up the protagonist's world beautifully at the Ganga ghaat and the streets of Banaras, and to some extent successfully manages to bring forward the plight of the family dealing with severe financial crisis, but soon after the story shifts to big bad city of Mumbai, the film starts to fumble in terms of plausibility and build up of new characters, especially the character of the woman who helps Rani become (ahem....) a 'high class' escort....not some cheap prostitute (her words...not mine). This character, called 'Michelle', played by the television hottie, Suchitra Pillai. Who was this woman ???? Where did she come from ???? I thought she was a call centre employee ...yikes !!!!


Then, the Zurich sequence- the supposed bonding song between Abhishek and Rani's characters- 'Zara Gunguna Lein' featuring totally forced and it would make absolutely no difference to the narrative if they edit it out completely. So, what apparently seems to be the most expensive schedule of the film, is the one that sicks out like a sore thumb. Talking of sore thumbs....Why the hell does Abhishek look so disinterested in the film. He doesn't have much of a role, but whatever screen time he has, it seems like he was just not interested in being on the sets. And someone PLEASE find him a new stylist, and while they are at it....a shaving kit. Its sad to see such an abysmal performance by someone who has given riveting performances in films like Yuva and Guru. It seems like the director was so tired after working so very hard on the detailing and nuances of the other lead cast members (including Kunal Kapoor's), that when it came to Abhishek....this was the only instruction Abhishek got from the Mr. Pradeep Sarkar - "Just do what you did in Hum Tum, Kuch Naa Kaho, and other such films.... "



Although, the film has its share of good points as well. Firstly the performances by the entire female lead cast- Jaya Bachchan, Rani Mukherji and Konkona Sen ....
.... Crackling chemistry between Konkona and Kunal Kapoor ( who does a good job in a small role that he has....and he looks super cute, which is always a good thing).
Konkona's performance deserves an applause. The woman is just a treat to watch on screen. Anupam Kher is brilliant in the small role he has



A special mention is in order for the mesmerizing camera work and stunning costumes, and some brilliantly written sequences that do manage to touch a cord with the audience, but over all 'Laag Chunari Mein Daag' is a half baked product which leaves the audiences a bit disappointed as it definitely had a potential to be an immensely engaging drama but ends up being just an average....watchable film.

Oh and look out for the subtle treatment given to the resolving of drama in the climax....a total turn around from the over melodramatic climax of 'Parineeta', which almost threatened to kill the the beautifully poetic film that it was.

Looking forward to Pradeep Sarkar's next....



.... and Mr. Priyadarshan.... if not Hera Pheri or Viraasat....give us another Hungama....or even a Hulchul would do.... but please don't make another DHOL !!!!