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There was a time in Bollywood when adolescent love stories proved a blessing for the newcomers. In 70's it proved magical for the industry's first showman Raj Kapoor in 'Bobby' after the colossal debacle of his 'Mera Naam Joker'. Later, it made big news with Rajendra Kumar's 'Love Story' and thereafter created a history with K.Balchander's 'Ek Duje Ke Liye'. Debutante director Hemant Hedge's 'Khanna & Iyer' is modern version of this genre of films where cross culture barriers prove roadblock for lovers.

In terms of story, narration and characterizations, it strikes close similarities with Raj Kapoor's 'Bobby' and K.Balchander's 'Ek Duje Ke Liye'. Both these films made history and produced brilliant actors like Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Kamal Hasan and Rati Agnihotri for the filmdom. Unfortunately, none of the newcomers (Sarvar Ahuja and Aditi Sharma) in this film shows any promise in their performances and proves meek comparison to the enlisted actors. This time it's Bollywood's present showman Subhash Ghai entering with his new Mukta Tele Media in association with small screen giant Zee Tele Media in trying their luck on old forgotten success formula with the new breed of talents. The filmmaker took a backseat from direction after the consecutive debacle of 'Kisna' and 'Yaadein' and now he's busy in producing half a dozen small budget flicks this year. Except for 'Iqbal' and 'Aitraaz', none of his produced films garnered any box-office or critical success and eyeballs are set on his first offering of this year -'Khanna & Iyer'. Like all the half-baked entertainers this year, it too proves to be too weak box office affair and will be adding worries and disappointments for its makers.

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No matter how lucrative the concept was decades ago but now it has decayed with the present trend of multiplex entertainment. Due to low promotion, low face value and ordinary music, the film has failed to make any big noise before its release. 'Khanna & Iyer' was proclaimed to be "multiplex" entertainer but it hasn't succeeded in alluring urban audiences. It seems that they mistook this term by plagiarizing old and wretched formula and later spicing it with trendy paced music and new bunch of talents.

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'Khanna & Iyer' begins on a melodrama when two lovers -- Aryan (Sarvar Ahuja) and Nandini (Aditi Sharma) -- are reported to be missing. Their caring parents are at loggerheads with each other and their main reason of confrontation is their cultural conflict. Mr. Iyer (Mustaq Khan in a weird South Indian accent) is caring father of Nandini. He reports the matter to the nearby police station. On the other hand, rich builder Mr. Khanna (Manoj Pahwa in a hilarious Punjabi accent) approaches the police with a similar complaint.

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Their outrageous comments about each other on electronic media upset them and they elope in dark and deadly "Lal Dora" jungle. The scenario shifts to blackmailing of corrupt minister (Arun Bakshi) for a CD containing his meeting with dreaded terrorist Donga (Yashpal Sharma in Gabbar Singh attire). The politician punches hard on blackmailer but fails to get CD from him. The blackmailer proves to be confidant of Donga and a good friend of Aryan's friend. Khanna and Iyer try to patch up their differences and decide to look out for their estranged children in the jungles. The story plummets to undesired events as they both conflict with Donga after their struggle in dark and murky jungle. The film ends on a contemporary Bollywood "happy ending" note and finally adds itself to the list of unnoticed entertainers.

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Director Hemant Hedge tries to be too exploratory as he rides on too many tracks and eventually runs out of fuel. The film has unnecessary events and characters that really mess up all the positive work in this 14- reel entertainer. 'Khanna & Iyer' has two leading protagonists (Manoj Pahwa and Mushtaq Khan) with diagonally opposite taste and culture. The first track sums up their confrontation over their childrens elopement after their opposition. The second track of two lovers (Sarvar Ahuja and Aditi Sharma) eloping in dark jungles with all their childish and dreamy acts proves too monotonous in this present age. The third track of corrupt minister (Arun Bakshi) being blackmailed for his relationship with dreaded terrorist Donga (Yashpal Sharma) is the weakest link of the show. The director has failed to keep these three tracks going together and the film shows its rough edges in the latter stages of the film.

For decades, such love stories have been surfaced on silver screen, so the film loses its novelty and proves too predictable for average viewer. The cracks and dents in the screenplay show their rough edges when it tries to mingle terrorist-politician track with the lovers' track in amateurishly conceived manner. 'Khanna & Iyer' has entertaining light moments mixed with some chirpy and engrossing love talk between lovers but these moments are restricted to few minutes. The film unnecessary rages a war between an outspoken Punjabi builder and a God-fearing South Indian in a weird way. It could have been a spicy comical affair if the screenplay and dialogues had the desired crispy humor but it disappoints on this account too.

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TV actor Manoj Pahwa proves to be a winning equation and the most promising aspect of this low budget entertainer. His flair for comedy proves to be the saving grace as he sets the funny bones tickle with his wacky one-liners. The actor has been under-utilized so far and he shows all his subdued comical talent in all the confronting sequences with Mushtaq Khan and Nilu Kohli (Mrs. Khanna). Mushtaq Khan irritates as he tries too hard to be funny with his misarticulated South Indian accent. Even Prateeksha Lonkar (Mrs. Iyer) proves incompetent with her role but provides some humorous moments in the second half of the film. Newcomer Sarvar Ahuja may have the physique of a Bollywood hero but overall he lacks the screen presence and commending acting skills to lure pop genre. Aditi Sharma shows promise in her performance but despite all her sincere efforts she too suffers from average screen presence and mediocre acting skills. Both the newcomers still need grooming to be competent performers and one wishes they do not repeat themselves in such outdated and "run of the mill" fare. Yashpal Sharma is too loud in his "Gabbar Singh" attire but succeeds in delivering a haunting villainous performance. Arun Bakshi and Asha Sharma's performances are apt for the film.

Tabun Sutradhar's above average music is under-utilized as many of the soundtracks come as background score in the film. The track "Boom Boom" sounds forced one while "Rootho Na" proves to the best of the lot. Laxman Utrekar's flashy cinematography is another high point of the film as it captures all the murky and glossy sequences with success.

Hemant Hedge's directorial debut show fails to create any ripple and even fading World Cup cricket mania won't be proving any blessing for this slapdash entertainer. It would have been better if the film was formatted into Home Video Entertainment (tele-film, DVD etc) than making its presence on the big screen. In short, 'Khanna & Iyer' proves to be disappointing and disgusting affair for the viewer as well as for its producers.