I finally got to see this movie on DVD. To my utter surprise, I LIKE it! I have read the reviews about this movie at MS & it seems like most people hated it with a vengeance (except for maybe the Grim Reaper:). I’m glad I’m not a sheep & just followed everybody’s lead to hate this movie. Why did I like it? Let’s start with our adventurous couple, Arvind (Vivek Oberoi) and Laxmi (played wonderfully by Antara Malli) who decide to elope & take a road trip to rural Rajasthan in a slick SUV. While driving on the highway, they decide to give hitch hiker named Babu (Manoj Bajpal in performance par excellence) a ride. Little do they know what they are in store for. Babu turns out to be a murdering psycho that ends up kidnapping Laxmi. Arvind then tries to rescue her from the clutches of this psycho. He gets the police to help him out, but when that fails, he gets the local Rajasthan mob to help him.
In the meantime, we see the chemistry between Babu & Laxmi & her creative use of reverse psychology to ease Babu’s mind. Babu, thinking that everything’s okay, concocts a fantasy sequence in where Laxmi is his wife. Enter song & dance scene #3. I won’t tell you the rest of the story, but I will tell you what I thought of the dance numbers & songs: ’’Kya yeh pyar hai’’ the song was just okay. Not my favorite. The dance choreography on this particular song was robotic & bizarre to say the least. I almost laughed at the jerky movements & Antara’s facial expressions that made her look like she had Tourette’s Syndrome. The clothes were spectacular, though. ’’Makhimali’’ was very erotic & sexy. The focus was on Antara’s muscular abs & her navel ring. The song was sensual & the dance was equally scintillating. ’’Nikal te bhaiyo’’ was a great little dance sequence that illustrates the fun & frolic of the Rajasthani mob. Cool lighting & costumes & the girl was very pretty. But who was the fat dude breakdancing? ’’Pehli nazar mein’’ was very enjoyable for me because it illustrated the fantasy of a madman (Babu). Here we see Laxmi in Babu’s eyes as the helpless Sati Savitri. Elements of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video were ripped off but done stylishly & humorously.
I give props for the direction & cinematography. It was very cool. I LOVED Antara’s wardrobe. She is such a beautiful girl with the body that even Britney Spears would envy. All through out the film she wears a pair of tight, ultra low-rise jeans, a crop top, tousled hair & the nicest six pack abs you’ve ever seen. She had a cool navel ring, too & yes I’m a big fan of those as I’ve had my navel pierced for 5 years now. Her acting was quite good & very natural. She didn’t overdo it & was totally in character. Vivek was just okay, I guess. He was indeed handsome & hunky so I guess he fit the role pretty well. But the REAL star of the show is Manoj Bajpal as Babu. Wow. He really blew me away as a nightmare of a hitch hiker. His performance is reminiscent of Rutger Hauer in ’’The Hitcher’’. Almost the same but not quite since Babu had some ’’principles’’. This is one of Manoj’s best roles to date.
Antara is a revelation. She is a damn good actress & has a killer body. Nobody would have played this role as good as her. I cant even imagine the overly made up & gregarious Kareena Kapoor as Laxmi. Antara is a new breed of Bollywood actress. She is real, expressive, and not afraid to be sexy. She totally smolders in this role. Overall, I give this film 4 stars for originality, script & wardrobe.