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Bollywood is holding its breath; no one from a theatre owner to a film make knows what is going to happen next. There is a complete silence. The lull has prevailed after the debacle of Karan Johar's much hyped film 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna'. The film is said to have got record openings across the world, but the downfall that this film saw post-day 4, has also set sort of record in the film history. And, the storm that was created by the plucked publicity in media is yet to settle down for it.

In between this fiasco comes a film that is directed by one who is known for his melodrama right from 'Raja Hindustani' to his last 'Bewafaa'. The name is Darshan (Dharmesh Darshan). 'Aap Ki Khatir', the new film from the Darshan bastion, is more like a departure from his own set path of formulae. There is no love at first sight kind of thing, neither does it have rich girl-poor boy sort of thin. This doesn't have either the music of their favorite duo Nadeem-Shravan. Then what is the USP of 'Aap Ki Khatir'.

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'Aap Ki Khatir' tries to sail through the rough weather of box office just by its charm and a thin plot that one has seen numerous times on silver screen. It has Priyanka Chopra, Amisha Patel, Akshaye Khanna, Dino Morea and Suniel Shetty but the fact is that director Dharmesh Darshan fails to bring right kind of chemistry among them.

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This time, Dharmesh Darshan tries his hand on comedy. The genre is fashion of the season and in his first take on situational comedy Dhramesh Darshan falters mainly because of thin script. Priyanka Chopra plays Anu, a girl who is heart broken and to avoid banging on her old buddy she shifts her base from London to Mumbai. She seems to be happy but until the news of her step sister's marriage arrives.

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Amisha Patel plays Anu's step sister named Shirani. The latter is getting settled with a New York based businessman named Kunal (played by Suniel Shetty). To complete the circle, the story has it that Danny (Dino Morea) who broke Anu's heart is a close friend of Kunal and Anu cannot see him face to face. In addition, Shirani was involved with Danny after his break up with Kunal. So, how can Anu face Danny? She will not.

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She hires a male escort Aman (Akshaye Khanna) whom she will present as her buoy. Anu and Aman try to gel with each other but it has its difficulties and with these Dharmesh Darshan tries to bring in the comic feel for the film. At the start, it works too. But as soon as Aman finds that he is really in love with Anu and the moment Anu falls again for Danny the whole plot goes haywire.

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Making a comedy film may seem to be an easy task. But, this is the most difficult genre to handle in cinema. Emotions, actions and drama are okay, but when one talks comedy it has to be serious. The timing, the wit, the humor and most importantly, the chemistry between the lead actors is mind-blowing. The more you want to make people laugh, the more you have to be serious in your work.

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And Dharmesh Darshan doesn't show this seriousness in the storyline. He chooses a storyline that hardly has any substance. Even the screenplay lacks interesting sub plots. No doubt, there are very many good sequences but they are between like minded people as in the case of lead heroines and lead character artistes. But, Akshaye could not click with Priyanka as he has clicked with Rimi Sen in so many films of Priyadarshan.

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Moreover, the film also lacks good music. Himesh Reshammiya's magic has come full circle; he has started sounding repetitive. The songs picturized on Priyanka look so boring that the people try to fast forward the film as soon as it starts. Then, Priyanka also looks exhausted in most of the sequences. Amisha Patel has already lost her ground in films and it will be better if she tries her hand elsewhere because she looks lost in front of the camera.

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Akshaye Khanna tries his best to save the film and succeeds too at some places. But, Dharmesh Darshan fails to get good support from his other cast and more importantly, his crew has let him badly down. On the whole, 'Aap Ki Khati' has weak chances to survive at the box office and the viewers might now wait for the biggies lined up for next month.