Rajshri Pictures, the company that introduced the concept of all India distribution to Bollywood film industry also has a film production wing, Rajshri Productions. Its 50th film 'Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai' was released this week. This is like all other films of the company a set pattern of love story where boy meets girl, they face the challenges of the social norms, and they fight against them and in last the love triumphs. It was the third generation boy of the Rajshri founder Tarachand Barjatya, Suraj, who brought radical changes to movies made by the legendary production company.
The trend set by him in 'Maine Pyaar Kiya' (which made Salman Khan star overnight) and carried him in his later films too. But entry of new boys like Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra made him run for the money as these two brought metamorphosis in story telling and packaging of love stories. So, post- 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' and 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', the viewer point changed and love stories came out of family settings. The youth looked beyond the family atmosphere. It was also one of the reasons why the later films of Suraj, like 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun' could not to do as well as he did in previous films. Even his last film 'Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon' was not liked by all. So, Rajshri has tried their time-tested formula once again in 'Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai'. The formula remains the same, new director, fresh faces and a lot of music.
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'Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai' has a fresh appeal. It has the young director Manoj Bhatia and bubbling faces in Sammir Dattani, Pooja Kanwar and Mini Tiwari. Let us move to the story line. To make a film musical one of the leading cast has to be associated with music. Sammir Dattani is playing a musician Yash. He sings his tune in picturesque Shimla where young and charming daughter Pari (Pooja Kanwar) of rich businessman Kumar Chowdhary (Sachin Khedekar), comes to study. Pari has many ambitions in life but once she meets Yash everything falls behind and she is so smitten by this innocent looking lad that she instantly falls in love with him.
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Yash would care least about girls like Pari who only see the rosy face of life. He tries to shoo away Pari but more he does so, more Pari starts chasing her. Finally, Yash gives in and accepts that Pari has intense love for him. Everything is going fine. They sing songs hand in hand and make promises for the future but as the film says, 'Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai', the scene changes altogether when Yash is framed for a crime that he never committed. Pari is shattered to know all this. Will she ignore advice of her family and stand by the struggling boy? Will Yash be able to prove his innocence before it's too late? How will the love cope up with the reality of life?
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'Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai' has a spark as the film starts. Manoj Bhatia manages to make the film take off from the very first scene. He controls the initial gameplan tactfully but he has a weak script in his hand and the burden of inclusion of a song after every ten minutes jars the proceedings. The film starts taking jerks with in half an hour and it looks that the director will lose control on the narration even before the interval. But, Manoj Bhatia tries his best though he hardly succeeds in keeping the viewer's interest alive after one hour or so. The happenings look repetitive and the story becomes stale after it is clear that the rich and poor combination will lose shine. The director introduces crime. The film takes another jerk and what started, as a love story becomes a suspense drama where there is no thrill or pace. Manoj must have been an avid watcher of movies from seventies and he tries to bring all those formulae in his debut film.
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'Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai' also lacks on the technical front. Other than the script even dialogues are ordinary and have no punch. Cinematography is just okay and it is the editing that leaves much to be desired. However, Sandesh Shandilya does a fare job. His compositions look okay in cinema hall but there is hardly any number that one could remember after coming out from there. Richard Clayderman, the famous pianist, has composed the second version of the title music and leaves an impression.
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Among performers Sammir Dattani leaves his mark in his debut film. He resembles Shahid Kapoor and has a lot of guts to do well if he gets meaty roles in future. He is handicapped in 'Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai' by a weak characterization. Pooja Kanwar cannot be praised in the same mode because she looks very raw in the role of a rich child. She needs a lot of training before she makes her mark in filmdom. Mini makes her presence felt, Yash Pathak supports well and the senior cast do their job aptly. On the whole, 'Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai' lacks the quality that could earn it the mouth publicity. Qualitatively it is a poor film. At the box office it has little chance to be in race for even more than a week, not a film to celebrate its golden jubilee.
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