This is my second review after Sujata wrote a review on some topic, first one was Maggie. Thanks Sujata for the idea.
Well, part of the reason for this review is that I kept on commenting on Afrank’s review as if was as my review etc, couldn’t control after I saw some of the comments from the members that are always there to support good work or suggest otherwise. So here is my review & I welcome you do sound-off in the comments section even if it is nasty. Just tell me where I am wrong calling this a mediocre movie.
Plot: Basically an ignored/neglected by husband lady (who also happens to be the younger sister of her husband’s first wife) gets attracted to her ex-boyfriend who had to go to prison bcos he was a little psycho & almost killed a student for commenting etc. She has a very HOT affair with him but the she realizes that her husband is a loving person & decides to return to him.
Now, it is a very logical plot, similar plots have appeared before too, sometimes a man getting into extra-marital affaire & sometimes a woman (reasons different). Hell, even an all time great classic like GUIDE by Dev/Vijay Anand also shows Rosy (Wahida) having an affair with Dev Anand due to her husbands lack of interest in her & also overall in ’normal’ life.
Astha was also a very serious attempt to delve into the desires/needs of a woman that are neglected to due to conservative marriage or due to the fabric of our society that often expects a woman to be submissive & not aggressive & not bold to express her desires. This is NOT part of the Indian culture mind you. we are the country that have Khajuraho or Kamasutra & all the research that went into it. Rather there are Granthas that handle the sxx-life of couples all the age-groups. (Recently happened to read reference to it in a review in Sakal/eSakal.com on a presentation by a Dr xyz on ’Sxxlife after 40’)
Presentation Point of discussion is that this is all handled & addressed to before..What murder has to offer in this movie..what was its ’take’ on this situation? Well, Disaster or great proportions. Prelude to the release Mallika Sherawat (Lamba in real life) comes in media & makes the movie appear like a poxno flick by all sorts of derogatory/publicity seeking/bold-bolder-boldest comments! She sets a perfect(??) tone for the movie.
Is there a basic problem with the plot..NOP..Do I have a problem with a woman getting into a affair etc..NOP! What I do care is how that plot is implemented. Here Mallika is shown to neglected by her husband & also accusation that he sees her elder sister in her & that troubles him. (He also has a kid from her elder sister: part of the reason why she had to marry him? maybe) Now this ’being neglected’ part is covered in just 2/3 scenes without giving any emotional touch to it !!! Then she gets into a relationship with her ex-boyfriend..has sxx in his apartment, on terrace & as per the scene by scene copy of the movie ’Unfaithful’. Like Ajay Devgan/Akshaye/ Urmila’s movie (Aitbar?) that is based on ’Primal Fear’ of Edward Norton(got an Oscar) & Richard Gear, the movie becomes typical mediocre Hindi movie when it deverts from actual plot.
Vulgar The total approach towards the affair is highly naughty & comes across as the sole reason why they made this movie. Emraan (Kishan Kumar’s replacement) coming down to their house to check it out & then grabbing her there. Trying to portray (unsuccessfully) the ’psycho like Shahrukh in Darr’ actions is also funny. Vulgar ness rules when he throws Mallika’s underwear on Ashmit’s face & says that she comes to him bcos Ashmit is not ’capable’ to ’please’ her etc. He supposedly kills him & then drags etc to his car & keeps him in trunk/boot for several hours & then decides to bury him..takes his sweet time to bury him & takes hi sweet time to put dirt/cement(?) etc & then leaves..Emraan’s wife? sees this & digs him out & after all this time this guy is alive !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are SEVERAL technical mistakes in all this handling & honestly I have forgotten them as by this point I had stopped taking the movie seriously & was also thinking of going home bcos our basic curiosity had also died. The whole movie/plot is given so that there should be some story & not just the hot-stuff. I sat there just bcos I couldn’t possible take my Palio out due to cars in front for the same movie (City Pride, Pune)
Dialog Delivery Mallika can’t deliver a single dialog in a reasonable manner..can she? Please correct me if I am wrong..Emraan is a second Kishan Kumar & I suspect he must be giving money to directors to get roles (will pay for work). He might be a good person in real life but we are talking about his appearance in the movies, right ??? He tries to be a Shahrukh & fails in that too..How pathetic? Zutshi (Sikh character) appears as a cop in foreign land (ok..a possibility) & tries to deliver all sorts of mediocre/badly written dialogs in a weird manner. He is a reasonable & also good at times actor (QSQT) but here he can’t get past the basic hideousness this movie is about. Not his fault I guess except bad company. He also preaches at the end about marriage life & what not crap..The dialogs comes across as something written on the sets & not with any kind of homework.
Music: Now we are talking..almost all the songs are good, with great tunes except some of the hot/vuglar lyrics: Bhige Hoth tere (Kabhi mere sath ek Raat gujaar, Tuzhe subaha tak Karunga pyar)..I mean, common guys, these songs are played almost everywhere & there is no controlling that. Even though the movie is rated A, these songs make it to every place, I have heard 3-4 year old kids singing these lines! Of course they don’t know & will not realise etc but certainly a little disturbing. But overall very good music & I do own a CD. Alisha’s Dil ko hazar bar roka roka roka (lyric?)..is good one with Kashmira’s glamourous/seyy appearance..I wish she had acted in the movie instead of Mallika! :) Overall, very good rating for the music..so so for the presentation.
Mallika is a cheapy (might not be in real life) & WANTS to appear as a cheapy & that is her ’thing’..wihtout that she is nothing. She ahs also mastered the art of being in the news by the hook or crook. Mallika is a C-grade actress & makes mockery of the women who have done a lot of hard-work to establish themselves in the industry ruled by Men. I think with a actress like Sushmita (whos bold/daring enuf to do such role & at the same time has ability to portray the character) could have carried it much better.
I seriously think that this movie should be condemned for its mediocrity but not for its basic plot. Please pardon me as I have forgot many loose/incorrect things in the movie & not able to summarize them all, there are certainly more with respect to the detective spying them, the interrogation of Ashmit & also Mallika..Ashmit running away from the police by braking glass etc & the police shooting at him wildly even after the they come to know that there was no murder at all & Ashmit is not guilty..Why the hell he runs & why the hell they shoot at him? Hindi movie..you bet! :) Again, he runs & runs & runs & then suddenly comes across the car with Emraan? Forgot exactly but there was a lot of funny stuff in the end.
Continued in the Comments section: CONCLUSION