Writer-Director Aruna Raje is back and this time she is riding on a new wave of experimentation. A wave where splashes are made in media with the help of skin shows, where news is not information but a sensation and where all that matters is not an art. Aruna Raje released revealing pictures before the release of the film that depicted leading ladies of the film Manisha Koirala and Netanya Singh embracing their male counterparts in compromising and very erotic moments. And even then Aruna Raje vouches that her film is not only about sex but there is some thing more that she gotta give to her viewers then it forces one to see this film. On the contrary to Aruna's claims, after watching 'Tum' one fails to understand on what grounds Aruna made those claims of 'something more' because this film heavily rests on the skin shows of Manisha and Netanya and mind you this time the director has not used a body double for Manisha Koirala. The only difference between 'Ek Chhoti Si Love Story' and 'Tum' is the fact that in the latter Manisha plays a married woman whereas in the first she was a single living working lady. Post 30, Manisha may have tried to look as sensuous as she could but she doesn't fit the bill. Urmila Matondkar would have been a better choice for this.
Having directed films like 'Shaque', 'Bhairavi', 'Rihaee' and 'Sitam', Aruna Raje was in hibernation for a long. She was in total isolation before attempting 'Tum' with Venus Records and Tapes (t is music company is the producer of 'Tum'). Aruna's last film came eight years ago and during this time much water has flown in Bollywood. Like her other films Aruna has once again chosen a topic where woman protagonist revolt against the set norms of society. Manisha Koirala plays Kamini Gupta, an attractive and desirable housewife. She leads a happy domestic life with her husband Vinod (Rajat Kapoor), who is a successful CEO of a multinational company. On their 18th marriage anniversary they plan to visit the beaches of Mauritius. But some thing comes up and Vinod is forced to stay back. However, Kamini is too eager and leaves for Mauritius. Vinod was expected to join her soon on the voyage but? In comes Karan Nath who plays Jatin Pandey, a young successful photographer with a style of his own. He has this charisma of pleasing everyone and making them believe that the world is beautiful if looked through his lenses.
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Kamini is hot and Jatin is passionate. They meet and a bond develops between them, and it carries on to the bedroom. The fourth angle of the relationship is Isha Malhotra (Netanya Singh). She is a model and broadminded in whatever she fancies. She fights tooth and nail for what is hers and hates to lose. And this brings in Aman Verma as Yusuf Malik, the cop. Since there are only three angles in a love triangle, so some one has erased one of the four-angled relationships. The passion turns into desires; desires are taken over by fancies and fight for a sole claim on the loved ones leads to a murder.
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Aruna has played with feminine concepts in all her films. In 'Tum' she has added the flavor of the season, thrill, in her regular attire. And, it looks like she has turned the erotic story into a thriller. The film sails with jerks and many times one gets confused as to the basic idea of the film, illegitimate relationships or murder in extra marital affairs. There have been films like this before too where an elderly woman gets obsessed with a younger person and that leads to psychological disturbances but Aruna has not touched the psychological part in 'Tum'. Instead she has tried to cash in on recent trend of some skin show, some twist in the story and some pre-release disputes. And like many others who tried to taste this formula, Aruna has succumbed to the lures of skin shows that attract front benchers.
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Technically, 'Tum' is a sound film. Cinematography by Mahesh Aney and editing by Aruna herself go in favor of the pace of the film. The art director Heena Mathew falls short of the desired standards for a film like 'Tum'. The mood and masti should have been complemented with more erotic sets than those presented in the film. Dialogues by Manish Korde are impressive in bits only; action by Kaushal Moses has noting extraordinary. Himesh Reshamiya who got adulation for his songs in last year's hit 'Tere Naam' has not composed even a single hit number. Among performers Rajat Kapoor scores above the rest. Netanya is too raw to handle a role like this whereas Karan Nath has improved. Manisha tries to steal the show with lots of booby acts but she has lost the charisma visible in her earlier films like 'Bombay' and '1942- A love Story'. This would be better for her to switch to matured roles.
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