Aksar Hindi Movie
Ananth Mahadevan comes across as an intelligent director, and his films bear a certain stamp of quality. In the past, two of his films, Dil Vil Pyar Vyar and Dil Maange More, have been well received by the audiences. But Ananth has decided to change genres, and this time around, has opted for suspense and thrills. Being an actor first, and then a director, Ananth can easily understand the nuances of acting, and this comes across on the screen in most of his films, including this one. But making a good suspense film is no easy task, and it takes a lot of effort to do so, though Ananth Mahadevan does succeed reasonably well.
Ricky (Emraan Hashmi) is one of those photographers who is a wizard with his moods and angles, but is also known to have a roving eye, often taking advantage of his models. His romantic reputation is well known to all. To add to this, he is constantly seeking loans, which he is unable to repay. Against this background, enters Raj (Dino Morea), an NRI business tycoon. Raj desperately wants a divorce from his aggressive, no nonsense wife Sheena (Udita Goswami), but Sheena is unwilling to consent. Raj hires Ricky to fall in love and to seduce Sheena, so that he can have some grounds for divorce. Coincidentally, Sheena happens to be one of Ricky's old crushes. Ricky agrees, and arrives in London and takes up residence in Raj's palatial mansion. Using a lot of charm and reverse psychology, Ricky ensnares Sheena, but falls in love with her. Sheena too reciprocates his love. At this juncture, both Sheena and Raj, who are pretty brazen and bold about their affairs, tell Raj to go take a walk.
As Raj contemplates all his choices, Sheena's old friend (Tara Sharma) enters, and things take a turn for the better or for the worse, depending on who is involved. A murder takes place, and the film reaches an unexpected climax.
The film is short, and tends to be easy paced. The plot, screenplay and camera angles are very good, and it is to the director's credit that till the last frame, he has managed to maintain the suspense. Of the cast, Dino Morea is the best, while Emraan and Udita could do with some more emoting. Very often, Emraan's voice and speech is unclear, and he needs to brush up his dialogue delivery skills. To continue doing hot scenes, and to remain glamorous, Udita needs to trim down. Tara's role is too short for any comment.
The music by Himesh Reshammiya is breezy, though one feels the hangover of his Aashiq Banaya Aapne is many of the numbers. Jhalakh Diklaja is likely to become a foot tapping number and will be on many a DJ's fingertips in the future. All in all, a reasonably good whodunit, which could have been lifted by better performances and star power.
