Come on Charlie...

Hi! I am Arjun
Itna sab kuch hone ke baad?
Sochna parega



There are two things that do not exist in the dictionary of Arjun Khanna and they are defeat and love, in that order. Arjun lives in Mumbai with his parents...a mis-matched lot if you ask me, a still-ravishing Rati Agnihotri paired with a wonderful actor but ageing Om Puri. The character of Arjun is played by Vivek Oberoi almost as an extension of what he did in Masti and Yuva. Arjun loves fun and parties, but when it comes to girls, he rarely sees things beyond the normal dance-and-song routine and a few practical jokes.

Arjun meets his match in Diya who comes to Mumbai to appear for her examinations and stays at Arjun's parents' home, Arjun's father being a friend of Diya's father (played by Tinu Anand). Diya believes passionately in love and for her, a marriage without seeing, knowing your future partner is headed for the rocks. On the contrary, Arjun believes in arranged marriage and it is this clash of opinion that is supposed to have formed the basis for Kyun...Ho gaya na

There is hardly anything to the story before the intermission, apart from a few bowling alley scenes where Diya bowls Arjun over with her winning shot...some Formula racing scenes in the beginning for absolutely no reason...a decently shot scene of Arjun, masquerading as a cold drink vendor on the train, showing a film director how to enact a love scene by proposing to Diya, a stranger at the time...and finally Diya falling in love with Arjun and Arjun, as expected, making a mess of it by his tactlessness.

Even after the intermission, the only bright aspect that comes to the movie is the presence of the Big B. Playing the character of Uncle, he runs an orphanage in a different style. There has been a conscious effort by the debutante director, Samir Karnik to go out of the league, at least in this aspect. Uncle is not the goody goody Mr. India who cries at his children's plight and makes sure that their stay is as comfortable as possible. Instead, he treats them as equals and even indulges in silly fights of one-upmanship with them. He does not even think twice about asking the children to fan him while he takes an afternoon nap. Despite all this, Uncle is likeable because he does all this with style...that is Amitabh Bachchan for you.

After the acrimony between Arjun and Diya with which the first half ends, Arjun comes to Diya's home to try and woo her back. As soon as it started to look like Arjun, after a few games where he was pitted as the leader of the kids, working against Uncle, will be able to make amends, there comes Ishaan. Ishaan, played by Suniel Shetty, is a success story of the orphanage and he is one who does not easily forget his roots. Ishaan and Diya know each other for quite some time and as they cuddle up and even team against Arjun, jeolousy and finally despondency sets in as Arjun comes to know of Diya getting engaged to Ishaan.

The climax, which tries to build some suspense but fails miserably in doing so, shows how Arjun makes a last ditch effort to finally open his mouth and say the magic words to Diya and what happens henceforth.

As for the direction, the movie does have some well-executed scenes but tends to go overboard at times, especially during the pranks and games at the orphanage, which instead of gently tickling the viewer, try hard to generate a hearty laugh and finally fail to cough up even a faint smile. With the utter lack of screenplay and a coherent story, the movie fails to deliver despite trying a lot of tricks in the trade. All these tricks...romance...tragedy...comedy...jealousy...Diya-Arjun in Mumbai...Uncle-kids in orphanage...Arjun-Diya-Ishaan in orphanage do not hold the movie together. The only thing they do is to confuse the viewer as to the real intent and purpose of the movie. In fact, the movie goer might even raise doubts as to what the director wanted to focus the story at...

Vivek Oberoi, for one, is in for a bad review on this one. Though passable as long as he emotes with Aishwarya Rai in the same scene, all his frailities and over-the-board stuff come to the forefront when he is forced to share the frame with the B. I know that it may seem like I am biased towards Amitabh but let me assure you that he is the only cheerful aspect of the entire two and a half hours of half baked attempted entertainment. In fact, whenever Amitabh is on the screen, it seems as if you are viewing an advertisement and not a movie, his role is so differently played from the essential fiber of the movie. The other actors have minor roles and are adequate in the same. Suniel Shetty does a good job, probably because he does not have much job to do, anyways in the movie.

The high point of the movie for those who haven't yet had the privilege of watching it might be the expectation of some good on-screen chemistry between the lead pair (including the much-hyped smooch) and the anticipation of seeing the picturisation of some good songs (especially No...No and Aao Na). Smooch my foot...there is hardly any thing to speak about but yes, at least it is one step forward for the lady who wants to change from the erstwhile Ice Maiden tag to perhaps the Bond Girl image. The songs have been picturised quite nicely but somehow appear to be forced between the narrative with not much flow going in.

Over all, if you do not have anything to do and are absolutely gung-ho about Aishwarya (as I am), you can definitely go and watch the movie. Aish looks amazing as ever and in this movie, she even looks real...not the plastic doll that many believe her to be. The grace with which she walks and talks, the enchanting smile, the miscieveous eyes, the puckered lips, the amazing figure...I can write on and on and on about her...wisely said...A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Amitabh Bachchan fans (me again) can also make the movie for an absolutely effortless performance by the master. He is above such roles, is what I will say...were I not in this place and had I joined some media or film institute, I would definitely have made some movie that might do some justice to the legend and his abilities (yes, I do think highly of myself but that's the way it is).

As for those who are not Aish fans and are not too bent on watching AB baby either...
Itna sab kuch hone ke baad?
Sochna parega