The queen of tube returns to big screen with another film with that starts with letter 'K' . Her successful foray into the small screen had boosted her trust in the entertainment industry and vice versa. Ekta has made many films in the recent past, namely, 'Kyunki Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta', 'Kucch To Hai', 'Krishna Cottage' and more recently 'Kya Kool Hain Hum'.
Ekta's last film was a money-spinner at box office. However, the credit for its success went to brilliant execution of the story that gelled with the present generation. But, if 'Kya Kool Hain Hum' was a winner, Ekta's latest offing 'Koi Aap Sa' falls far behind in the race. Ekta may have mastered the family formula on the small screen but she is yet to go miles before reigning at the box office.
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While new twists and turns, though very optimistic and on expected lines, may work for 30-minute serials, one needs a compact story with pace and strong narration to hold the viewers glued to the big screen for three hours. The progression from thirty-minute serial to the three-hour film is not an easy task. Ekta needs to learn it if she wants to carry on with filmmaking too.
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Ekta's last film 'Kya Kool Hain Hum' was very well supported by pre-release publicity. Besides, it also had some very good combination in Tusshar and Ritesh Deshmukh's timings. The film relied heavily on adult jokes while 'Koi Aap Sa' moves on social family line. The idea of unwed mother has also been treated in films like 'Kya Kehna' and 'Salaam Namaste'. 'Koi Aap Sa' moves on similar lines , but gets inspiration from other films where two girls fall for one boy.
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The suitable boy in 'Koi Aap Sa' is none other than Farex baby-turned-actor Aftaab Shivdasani. He plays the role of a happy-go-lucky kind of boy ( Rohan). He has a very good friend in Simran (Natassha). They share a good relationship and are true friends. There is nothing like love brewing between the two because Rohan loves Priti (Dipannita Sharma) and it is Simran who always comes with new ideas for Rohan to get closer to Priti. Rohan loves Priti, but Priti thinks that he shares a more comfortable company with Simran.
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Rohan tries hard to influence Priti but fails. In the meanwhile, Simran's fiancée Vicky (Himanshu Malik) enters the scene. He is a rich NRI from USA and is willing to marry her. Being brought up in western culture, Vicky wants to get everything and everywhere and has no hitch in crossing the social limit. Things take an ugly turn when Simran is raped and becomes pregnant. The smooth friendship between Rohan and Simran comes into question and most of the people even those close to Simran, think that Simran is carrying Rohan's child. Things seem to be getting worse and to prevent it from worsening any more , Rohan decides to marry Simran.
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Since Simran never expected this from Rohan, after an initial hesitation she gives in to the call of Rohan. Things look like getting settled but until Vicky returns to the scene again. Now, he is a changed man and wants to get Simran as he realizes his crime. The end of the story is on the expected line . Ekta Kapoor, the producer, is no doubt a clever storyteller. She has got the basic idea right in 'Koi Aap Sa' . There are almost all the ingredients in the film to make it commercially viable.
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She takes Aftaab as a lead hero who is competent to portray such roles. Since he is lying low at present, he doesn't demand much . Similarly, Natassha is Ekta's pet , so she won't ask for much . However, she needed an upcoming director who could make a family drama into a three-hour film. Partho Mitra fits the bill, and Ekta gives the director a chance to make a debut in Bollywood after canning so many serials for tube. So far so good, but she blunders in selecting the screenplay writher in Mahesh Pandey. The story is written by Ekta herself.
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Mahesh has faltered in creating the scenes heavily inspired by other films. There is not much novelty in narrating a story that could have been a gripping tale otherwise. He also fails to maintain the tempo of the story in the beginning. Songs come as a hindrance; one after the other and thus killing the initial impact of the story. Dheeraj Sarna's dialogues are run-of-the-mill kind. Deepak Malvankar's cinematography has nothing new in taking the shots and so is choreography by likes of Saroj Khan, Raju Khan and Geeta Kapoor. Editor Salil Malik could have chopped the film more frequently.
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Among actors, director Partho Mitra gets help only from Aftaab and Natassha. Both of them have excelled in their roles but they don't get ample support from other members of the cast Dipannita Sharma lacks the courage to portray such kind of a role and Himanshu comes as a big disappointment too. He fails to carry such a role with so many shades in one film. Gautam Kapoor, Ali Asgar and Sushmita Mukherjee try to fill in the enthusiasm in a mediocre film while others have not much to do in a film that is mainly weaved around three main characters. On the whole, 'Koi Aap Sa' is a loser from the very beginning and will find it very difficult to even recover the production cost at box office. Maybe Ekta can earn better revenue by turning it into a daily soap!
