How often have you seen a filmmaker going berserk to promote his film by tarnishing the image of others? Mahesh Bhatt quite often does it but not for living beings. Either he hits at his personal life and digs out stories of his lost love or he sinks his head deep in his relations and comes out with some story with anonymous names. But, now a filmmaker who has just entered filmmaking has targeted in his debut a stalwart like producer/ director B R Chopra.
He tells the media that Chopras have tried thier best to stall the release of his film because the story of his film is similar to that of his son. This filmmaker refers to Chopra's 'Baabul'. To set the facts right, people must know that B R Chopra wanted to make this film years back and he had this story written by none other than famous writer Dr Achla Nagar in which a father-in-law sacrifices everything to see his widowed daughter-in-law happy.
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After watching 'With Luv Tumhara', the claim of producer Rakesh Bhatia and director Kamal Nathani look childish. They have been making this claim just to create a controversy out of nothing. In fact, after having failed in thier attempt, they are forced to release their film on their own. As a film critic, I have often watched films that are trash, and it becomes difficult to bear it for its duration. But 'With Luv Tumhara' doesn't torture you! It does have a haphazard screenplay, but it manages to make you sleep in the darkness of the cinema hall!
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On its face, 'With Luv Tumhara' is like any soap opera popping out of the small screen on every second channel. The story revolves around Anurradha (Preeti Jhingiani) who is daughter-in-law of Col Kapoor. The colonel treats his daughter-in-law just like his own daughter and tries his best to make her life happy because his son Akshay (Nakul Vaid) is now no more. The story takes a turn once Rahul (Pravin Dabbas) enters the scene. Anurradha doesn't feel easy when Rahul arrives in their home because in Rahul she sees the shadow of Akshay. However, Rahul is not interested in Anurradha because he is already engaged with Neha (Anupama Verma).
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But Col Kapoor wants Rahul at his home because in him he also sees the shadow of his son. Neha is adamant that Rahul should return to her as soon as possible, but Col Kapoor opines that Anurradha should marry Rahul. At this juncture, Neha forcefully takes Rahul away from this mayhem. Now, Anurradha decides to move on and starts working for an NGO in some other city. On the other hand, Rahul comes back to Col Kapoor after having a tiff with Neha. He starts living with Col Kapoor and after some time when Anurradha returns he finds Col Kapoor very happy . The matter of marriage again surfaces, but this time Rahul listens to it. Anurradha tries to make up her mind as her father-in-law wants, but Rahul disappears beyond trace. He is gone.
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Had the film ended just here, it could have been at least a passable story. With the help of Sudip Banerjee's music, director Kamal Nathani has tried hard to make a love story on some strange theme. Though it works on the lines of a widow marriage, neither Nakul matches Salman Khan's persona nor Pravin Dabbas is of the stuff that can challenge a hot hunk like John Abraham. 'Baabul's team is in London today and holding a press conference there, and I am not sure how many people in London will even wish to see 'With Luv Tumhara'.
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To make a film on an odd theme isn't easy. If you want people to watch your offbeat movies, you have to bring them to theatres at least . And, for this you need at least one crowd puller. It was done successfully in 'Kya Kehna' with Preity Zinta but the experiment failed in 'Sehar' with Arshad Warsi. Making a movie on an offbeat subject is a great risk and if you don't have even a single star that is capable of marvelous acting, then you are heading towards hara-kiri.
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Director Kamal Nathani has gone wrong in his casting - right from selection one. The common factor actor Sharat Saxena in 'Baabul' and 'With Luv Tumhara' is the main disaster. It was probably Sharat who told makers of 'With Luv Tumhara' about similarity of the story and once they came to know about this they tried to create a controversy. Had the makers given more thought on casting than pleasing the media, results would have been different. Preeti Jhingiani is not at all capable of handling such a complex character. She can look pretty and dance well, but to emote as per the situational demand becomes difficult for her.
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Nakul Vaid is a failure from the frame one and Pravin Dabbas who has got the best role in his career so far, fails to deliver it. It's not the fault of the actors, but it is the failure of the concept. To cast models in an emotional drama is a great risk. This would have been better if they had opted for people from theatre. On the whole, 'With Luv Tumhara' doesn't make a profitable venture at box office. And, people associated with it will better try to forget it as a bad dream as soon as possible.
