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It has been a boom for successes in Hindi Cinema during the last two years. More than two dozen films made huge business for its makers last year and with the growing number of theatres across the nation, the pinnacle for the New Golden Era of Bollywood is yet to arrive. But, there is a cache. With a huge dearth of new and viable projects, corporate houses are making films left, right and center, without giving a damn for other aspects of cinema. One fine example is the latest offering from Subhash Ghai's Mukta Searchlight. To keep company's share floating in the market, Ghai is making films like he did never before and he is least bothered about content.

After witnessing 'Iqbaal' from the same team, one least expected a film like 'Bombay To Bangkok' from Ghai and Kukunoor combination. And, it is not only the Mukta banner but most of the corporate houses fall in the same category. Nagesh Kukunoor gets a big dent on his brand image in this film that is called 'Bombay To Bangkok' and is made to lure the teenage multiplex audience. As a director Nagesh has done justice to his work, but as a writer he has miserably failed. It's the same but different in terms of final result when compared with Nagesh's last film 'Dor'. It looks as if Nagesh has lost his focus because he is busy in more than one project at a time.

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Nagesh Kukunoor's blue-eyed boy Shreyas Talpade has failed him this time after giving one super hit film in 'Iqbaal' and Dor that is liked by critics. He plays a typical Mumbai masala kind of hero in 'Bombay To Bangkok'. And, this is where the first wrong decision of the film starts. Shreyas is too young and cute looking to play a character that needs to bluff other people. Ritesh Deshmukh could have been the ideal choice for this character! Shreyas plays a thief in 'Bombay To Bangkok' named Shankar. He steals some dreaded don's money and hides himself at Bangkok, which is the best place to escape from the law these days.

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But, it's not the demand of the story but the director accepts it as the Thai offer. After all, the filmmaker gets boarding, lodging and transport free of charge from the Thai government to shoot a film there. So, the producers prefer Bangkok for shooting their movies. Thus, the need of the story takes a seat behind the money part. Shreyas has a well-defined character as Nagesh does for all his films. He has a past, a present and a future that works as a main plot for the film. But, the future graph of 'Bombay To Bangkok' falls no sooner than lands Nagesh in Bangkok.

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Normally, when a viewer sees a title connecting two towns, he thinks of a rodie movie, a genre very less explored in Indian films. But, 'Bombay To Bangkok' stays away from this genre and brings in the kind of a spice in the story in the form of Jasmine (Lena). The selection of Jasmine is again questionable for a Hindi film. It's not that foreign girls haven't fared well as leading ladies in Hindi films. In fact, it has been a sort of trend until few years back and it died kind of a death in Ghai's 'Kisna'. However, old habits die hard. Our filmmakers need to understand that no matter how extravagant we may be in our parties and how broad minded we look in our relationships, but still there would be hardly many people who would like to take a foreigner to his home to meet one's mother. The Indian psyche is such, especially in middle and upper middle class families that form a major chunk of movie watchers.

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Shankar and Jasmine get involved in a bluffing game. Shankar poses as a doctor and Jasmine is destined to become a patient. And in between this doctor and the patient enters a villain, son of the don, chasing Shankar to get his father's money back. Could you notice any charismatic character in the story? No. If this is your answer while reading the review, then it's better to be with your friends this weekend than to watch 'Bombay To Bangkok'.

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The film is miserable because of the lack of entertainment value. It indulges the viewer in a guessing game in the beginning but the froth settles down just after one pour in the beer mug. The bubbles soon settle down and even the director is perplexed as what to serve next for the entertainment. 'Iqbaal' worked for Shreyas because of his hard work and word of mouth publicity. 'Dor' also helped him, but he never was a solo star. He got a boost in a film like 'Om Shanti Om', but that also showed his eagerness to be part of a big budget film even if he has to play a not so important role. The hero's buddy in Hindi films is never taken seriously and more often than not it's the job of a comedian.

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Nagesh lost his brand value in 'Om Shanti Om' and by doing a film like 'Bombay to Bangkok' he has harmed himself further. Though Nagesh has tried his best to uplift the level of the scenes in the film and gets good help from his colleagues, yet the story is the biggest villain for the success of 'Bombay To Bangkok' at box office. The film doesn't offer much to cinema in terms of entertainment.