click for larger view

There was a time when Surinder Kapoor who used to work for Bollywood's showman Raj Kapoor dreamt of making his children some day bigger stars than his employer. He had a passion and an understanding for cinema and with that knowledge and dedication he made his elder son Boney a well known filmmaker and his middle son Anil Kapoor rose to become such a huge actor that at one point of time he was considered to be next to Amitabh Bachchan. But, what is important is the understanding of cinema. An actor becomes a super star not always by luck; he has some kind of instinct that differentiates him from others. Kumar Mangat who has been looking after Ajay Devgan's business has become a producer on the lines of his mentor.

He has a very good business sense of cinema and is one of the main advisors of a multinational company. He must have dreamt of watching his daughter on big screen one day and finally the day comes when he premieres his latest flick 'Haal E Dil', with his daughter Amita playing the pivotal role. 'Haal E Dil' is also a launch pad for two more new comers - Adhyayan, son of Shekhar Suman, and a princely boy Nakul Mehta. The trio has the energy to make them shine on screen and have the spark that kindles in a newcomer to get noticed among millions.

click for larger view

But, no matter how good an actor you are, no matter how competent a person directs you and also no matter how good music you are able to extract from your composers for the film. What matters is the story; a movie without a good story cannot stand on its own at box office. If 'Haal E Dil' falls flat on the very first day of release, it is because of the absence of a good script.Director Anil Devgan (Brother of Ajay Devgan) has made films like 'Raju Chacha' and 'Blackmail' in the past, but in his every attempt he works on the sheer instinct of his actors.

click for larger view

This time also he repeats the same formulae, so his efforts have failed from the very start. Writer Dhiraj Ratan has given him such a weak screenplay that even a veteran director will find himself in an odd position. The story of two boys and a girl is not a new concept. It is not the novelty of the story that works everytime but it is its treatment. Our grannies keep on repeating same stories when we are kids but it is their style of narration that keeps our attention fixed.

click for larger view

'Haal E Dil' is the story of Sanjana (Amita Pathak) who is wary of even the word love. She is living a life where everything seems rosy and perfect for her. On the other hand, there is a boy Shekhar (Nakuul Mehta), who is a flirt by default. For him the word Love means nothing more than flirting with every possible girl. He is always in love but he is far away from its emotional state. And, there is yet another boy Rohit (Adhyayan Suman), who is a novice to the entire material world. For him love is to die for. He would give his heart for love and will not even think of anything else; a kind of a Devdas for whom love is a one way entry! Pitched between these two poles apart theories of love is Sanjana. How does she handle the concepts of love at first sight and love that is blind, forms the crux (if any) of the film 'Haal E Dil'.

click for larger view

'Haal E Dil' takes inspiration from so many films, both recent and the past ones. And, in doing so, director Anil Devgan forgets to remember the basics of filmmaking. He forgets that the fate of three new comers rests in his hands. He needs to realize that a story moves forward only when there is adequate number of incidents to keep the attention of a viewer intact. Anil relies heavily on the gimmicks of glamour but it doesn't work. He gets a good producer to back him to any extent and allow him to shoot the film at the best locales, but he fails to do it.

click for larger view

He makes his heroes look like emotional fools; he does not establish the main characters properly. His entire treatment of the story is so childish that even his flop like 'Raju Chacha' looks better that this movie! Being brother of an immense actor like Ajay Devgan (and now he has turned director as well), Anil needs to learn the tricks of film making by heart. The film is at par with any other good film except for its technical flaws. Cinematography by Rajeev Ravi is world class. He does his best to salvage the film, but all this gloss falls short for saving a film that has music by as many as four composers.

click for larger view

Kumar Managat has put his heart for his daughter's debut film. He has got some very good songs composed for the film, and even these are choreographed very well, but to link these songs, there is hardly any story. Among actors, Namita Pathak will find it very difficult to convince other filmmakers that she has all that an actor needs. Besides, both Nakuul and Adhyayan have spark and knowledge of cinema and also know the art of looking good on screen and emote. This is just the beginning of their career and they leave their impressions to be noticed by the film fraternity. On the whole, we may sum up that 'Haal E Dil' doesn't have any entertainment value either for masses or for classes. The movie will find it very tough to sail through Box office.