BOLLYWOOD NOT WORTHY OF TRUST
By S Pankaj
Critic's I-view
These days there is much hype about the corporate sector making an entry into Hindi film industry. It was Pantaloon fashion house, which initiated the process with 'Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage' and later almost wound up its operation post-debacle of 'Chura Liya Hai Tumne'. DS group of Paas Pass moth freshener failed in its first venture 'Raja Bhaiya' and now it is the turn of none other than Tata group. 'Aetbaar', this week's second release along with 'Khakee' is first and most probably the last film of Tata Infomedia because later this month this company is going to change hands.
A close look at this scenario reveals that big companies entered Bollywood on a healthy note but failed to meet the needs of the hour, presumably they chose the wrong horses to make their bet. What else can be said about a project where you have a stalwart like Amitabh Bachchan and the hottest lady Bipasha Basu and still the movie gives nothing fresh? More importantly, the director who was assigned to make it a viable project, steals the idea of the film, makes another film on the subject and also releases it before his first project. This shows that one cannot have Aetbaar (trust) on many people in this industry. So, 'Aetbaar's story is stale, the same as that of director Vikram Bhatt's last debacle 'Inteha'. The basic source of both the films is Hollywood flick 'Fear'.
For those who have neither seen 'Fear' or 'Inteha', the plot of 'Aetbaar' could look a little bit interesting. The film deals with possessiveness of a father for his daughter. Here the father is none other than Amitabh Bachchan. He plays Dr. Malhotra. He is like any other father on earth, very much protective about his daughter Ria (Bipasha Basu). Ria on the other hand loves to live life to the hilt and doesn't listen to anything if she has decided once. It is not that Ria is a spoilt brat. She is a caring woman and takes utmost care about her aging father.
But once she meets Aryan (Johan Abraham), all ideologies, thoughts and heritage come crashing. Ria has always dreamt of a macho man in his life. She likes the mystery man and succumbs to the magnetic attraction of Aryan. He is wild; full of destructive energy and, more importantly, good looking. Dr. Malhotra wants to save his daughter from the clutches of this bad boy and prepares for her protection. Aryan will do anything to get Ria on his side whereas Dr. Malhotra will leave no stone unturned to see Aryan out of Ria's life. Malhotra and Aryan have common goal and that is to have Ria under their control. However, none of them bothers to listen to Ria. This goes on until the situation goes out of hands.
Had it been an original plot, it would have been a marvelous piece of work for a filmmaker. But it was not. Despite Vikram Bhatt's bid to maintain a good flow of drama, 'Aetbaar' has failed to impress in the majority of scenes though it does impress in parts. However, he has worked on the sequences very well. In any scene involving Amitabh, the screen gets on fire but that's it. Amitabh cannot salvage a pirated plot and that too when one has seen films like this. Anubhav Sinha's 'Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai' too revolved around the same line and it is astonishing that Amitabh refused to do the role of a girl's father in that film that eventually went to Om Puri. Maybe he couldn't resist the hefty amount paid by Tatas that Anubhav could not pay for his small budget film.
There will be different views about this film. Embedded PRO's doubling as film critics will praise it, but as a common viewer the film doesn't secure even pass marks. Screenplay writers Robin Bhatt and Sanjeev Duggal have tried to make the film look like an original one but in vain. They have failed to even bring Indianness to a foreign subject. The scenes between Bachchan and Bipasha are too intricate to be understood by those with middle class background. John's character of a psycho who indulges in violence for no reason will not be accepted.
The film also fails on acting front. Amitabh works hard to give a feel of an overpowering father, but this species seems to be missing. These days father hardly poke their nose so deep in their children's day to day happenings. And, kids too are not so dumb that they cannot judge between a wrong and a good guy. Bipasha's affection for John in the film looks very artificial. 'Aetbaar' also fails at the music front. Rajesh Roshan seems to have reserved his best for his nephew Hrithik's films. In 'Aetbaar', he could not give even a single super hit song. Title tune reminds of some oldie from 50's. Girish Dhamija has once again failed to pen punchy dialogues. The plus points are its cinematography by Vikram's father, Pravin Bhatt and action scenes by Abbas Ali Moghul. Among character artistes, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Shruti Ulfat and Ali Asgar act well and Tom Alter and Pramod Moutho too try to support the film fully. But seeing the competition that it faces from the other film of the week, the chances for 'Aetbaar' to sail through the box office look dim.
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