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If we say that Hindi cinema is a male dominated arena, it might not be wrong. Actors from Amitabh Bachchan to Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and others, who were worth their screen aura to be sold as filmmakers, explored the film production field and met with a mixture of fortune. If Amitabh's first foray into filmmaking was a major debacle, the same was the case with Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgan. But, they stuck to their cherished dreams and learning from mistakes finally made money from films. But, the story for Bollywood heroines is quire different. The trend was started by dream girl Hema Malini who made films like 'Dil Aashna Hai' and others and failed in her ventures.

Later, Juhi Chawla became partner with SRK and formed a company, Dreamz Unlimited. She failed too and history repeated itself when Aishwarya Rai, Raveena Tandon and Manisha Koirala decided to turn film producers. However, all of them though saleable names in Hindi cinema failed to handle the filmmaking pressure. So, it was surprising to learn that a side line heroine like Mink could not only dare enter into this but succeeded to release her film on her own. Whatever reputation Mink may have among filmmakers, no one will deny that it is bold for a lady to decide to make a film and handle the situation both on and off screen.

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Mink with her brother Punnu makes her debut titled 'Kathputli' as a producer. This is very different from the regular masala films of Hindi cinema, at least in its concept. A film made with some saleable cast and with the same story could have done wonders at box office, given the fact last week's release 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' is not doing great in most of the centers because of family audiences staying away from it.

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'Kathputli' is a novel concept to make a film where a husband tries his best to make his wife fall in love with her all over again. The story starts when we find a girl walking on the city roads with the memories of her forgotten past. She is faced with a peculiar situation and cannot understand as to what has happened to her. She is unable to get an explanation for the bloodstains on her clothes and she also fails to understand as to how she got so much money stacked in her wardrobe.

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The story moves further with the entry of the girl's husband trying his best to make this girl remember not only her past but his love as well. Neighbors and old friends enter the story and with each character the plot gets more and more entangled. The questions keep cropping up with every new character introduced to the story and it looks that the director is following the 'Darwaza Band Rakho' path. But, if Chakravarthy showed his aptness in handling the situations in 'Darwaza...' it's not so in 'Kathputli'.

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Having worked in films like 'Kabzaa', Sanjay Khanna went behind the camera some 12 years back in a film called 'Anth'. He also made films like 'Shastra' and 'Ittefaq' and now after five years he returns as a director in 'Kathputli'. Sanjay Khanna works on the film producer's idea and tries to develop it into a Hitchcockian thriller. At the very outset the plot looks very interesting but to handle such type of a story line, one needs a very carefully crafted screenplay and Sanjay Khanna does not possess that.

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What he banks upon is mysterious locations, moving lights; dwindling camera and some stock sound effects. He lacks even a good support from the cast. Having tried her best to get pre-release publicity for the film, Mink could only succeed in getting screens for one show a day in most of the theatres. 'Kathputli' leaves a dent on the mind with its plot but the spot soon vanishes because of an unfit cast .To act as a producer and also work as a main lady in the film has been the case with most of the heroines in Hindi cinema that turned producers. That may be because they put their money for a story that they liked very much and once a heroine likes the subject, chances are rare that she will let the chance go to another girl.

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Mink repeats the mistake in 'Kathputli' and therefore fails. Having got side role chances in films like 'Saat Rang Ke Sapne', 'Badal', 'Ajnabee', 'Pitaah', 'Raaz' and 'Chalo Ishq Ladayen', this girl who made her debut some 13 years ago in 'Pyar Ka Tarana', has reached nowhere in terms of performance. Yukta Mookhy is another dud. The film is tolerable in pieces because of some intense acting by Milind Soman and Seema Biswas. Other actors like Sameer Dharmadhikari, Sudhanshu Pandey and Mukul Dev fail to leave any impact. On the whole, 'Kathputli' is a loser from day one and it will be a nice idea to stay away from it at the weekend.