What made me go watch the movie?
(sorry I have to justify) Well, I was sick of the same old traditional saas-bahu sagas, or maar-dhaad wala films, even the Devdas and K3Gs. … So when a new director decided to make a film on strippers, I felt that this is a brave effort to bring in a refreshingly new attitude in Bollywood subjects. Such efforts need to be supported…. So there I go….
Direction: Deepak Tijori
Cast: Kiran Jhanjani, Vikas Sethi, Adyasha, Mink Singh, Mita VAsisht, Kiran Kumar
Music: Ravi Pawar
The plot: Two friends, Jahaan & Akash are background dancers for shows and movies. Jahaan is not from a very affluent family background wants to get rich quick. He takes up an offer of a striptease show catering to socialite women. He coaxes Akash, who is really quite well-off, but dances as a hobby, to join him in the act. Although aghast at the offer, Akash reluctantly agrees just to please his friend. Jahaan’s girlfriend, Nikky, who is also a dancer, is quite upset with Jahaan’s attitude. She slowly starts veering closer towards AKash. One thing leads to another and Jahaan who is smitten by the new life and the money it brings, gets deeper into the rut. As expected, he soon becomes a gigolo to a middle aged lady, Sharon. While Sharon is quite matter-of-fact regarding their relationship, Jahaan starts falling in love with the women. Much against the advice of his friends, Jahaan goes further and further into the relationship. And then just before the interval… we get a shock!!!!
I cannot go beyond this as it will be a real spoiler. I must say however that the second half of the film is total let-down with moralizing, sometimes with some weird logic. And at the end of it all, you come out with a sense of dissatisfaction.
Comments: This appears to be a half hearted attempt to make a movie with a modern look and feel, but falls flat due to lapses into trying to justify the actions of its protagonists. We are able to empathise with Jahaan’s initial desire for quick riches seems natural although the route adopted by him seems a bit unconventional, However, his outburst at the end seems quite unnecessary. Come on man… you went into it with your eyes open and should have been prepared for any eventuality. Akash’s character is also quite confusing. He seems to be a good friend accompanying Jahaan to his first strip show but then leaves him half-way(does he chicken out??!!!) Nikky is the weirdest of the trio. Initially she is shown deeply in love with Jahaan but her gradual moving away towards Akash is left completely unexplained. The direction is quite loose, appears that the director did not have the guts to go the entire way in depicting the lifestyle of male strippers and gigolos. The sex scenes are picturised with one eye on the Indian censor board. Although he does go bold with the use of words such as “sleep around” and “hard on” (!), but chickens out at the end and goes about justifying and moralizing, , which makes the effort a complete bore.
Performances: The lead actors appear very sincere in their effort and do a decent job given the limitations of their roes and characters. Although they need to work on their expressions a bit, they seem quite confident and appear to have potential, … given the right role. The strip shows are choreographed quite tackily. The music is a complete let-down. Although I haven’t seen any strip show really, the finesse of a “Full Monty” is missing. While Vikas Sethi has a good physique and looks good, Kiran Jhanhani needs to have worked out a bit more on his body. Like Mink Singh’s dialogue in the film “Don’t show unless you have something to show!”, seems to apply to him. Mita Vasisht does a competent job as the older woman and Kiran Kumar in a brief role leaves a mark.