Director Khalid Mohamed’ is a able story teller with a good grasp over the medium-all he needed was a bit of refining. But I was not expecting much from his third film Silsiilay but must say it took me by surprise .
The film narrates three separate stories in one-a concept similar to say LAJJA, HARI BHARI or the recent YUVA.
The first story revolves around Zia(Bhumika Chawla) who is a leading Bollywood actress. A bitter and lonely soul her heart yearns only for her ex boyfriend Neel(Rahul Bose). The two had a bitter argument when Zia wanted a child out of wedlock but Neel had refused as he wanted marriage before a child. One night Neel comes over to collect his belongings when Zia makes him a offer he can’t refuse and also leaves him with a eye opening present...
The second story revolves around Anushka(Riya Sen) who is a middle-class girl. She works as a telephone receptionist, and wants to find love in her relationship with her current boyfriend Nikhil (Ashmit Patel) before she loses her virginity to him. Nikhil on the other hand is a player who only uses girls for sex. There is also Tarun(Jimmy Shergill) who silently loves Anushka. Anushka must now decide between the two...
The last story is about Rehana(Taboo). She leaves a secluded life despite being married. Her husband Anwar(Kay Kay Menon) is always away on long ’’business’’ trips leaving her at home alone. Rehana finds out that Anwar is infact having an affair with an air hostess called Preeti(Celina Jaitley). With the help of her stepson who is secretly in love with her-Rehana confronts her fears and faces her husband and his lover.
In terms of a story the films concept is inspired by the Hollywood film THE HOURS but the individual stories are totally different.Bhumika/Rahul is interesting and has its share of moments . The Riya/Ashmit/Jimmy triangle is the worst of the lot. A story like this has been witnessed a lot of times before and offers nothing new to the viewer. The third story is the best of the lot and scores marks .
The idea and concept he had was fairly interesting and given the backing of a huge producer(Vashu Bhagnani) and a fabulous cast one would’ve expected something superlative. One feels that he has directed all stories half heartedly expect the last one. The Bhumika-Rahul track moves at a slow pace. The dialogue-baazi between the two is expertly canned . The Riya track is cliched to the core and one even wonders why it is even in here? . The last story one can say is the saving grace of the film. The sensitivity as well as the spark one had seen in his previous films is evident here and the he makes a strong impact.The story could’ve been rounded off better with the stepson love angle. The climax of the film is a huge letdown and one feels Mohamed didn’t know how to end the film.
Another flaw the number of songs that are in the film-a film of this nature could’ve done with maybe 1 song per story but Khalid adds about 7 songs which slow the movie right down and have no place in the movie. They appear forced.
Taboo is EXCELLENT in a role that is tailormade for her. Her entire story from start to finish is simply fantastic and her confrontational scene with Kay Kay-Celina is the best scene in the film.
Bhumika Chawla too is a revelation. After all those cute and innocent roles she springs a surprise with a modern, head strong and confident performance which is bound to surprise the viewer. She played her role to perfection.
Riya Sen is an improvement on her previous film..but that still isn’t saying much. Her delivery has improved but she still needs to work on her facials and go easy on the kissing with Ashmit. No doubt she looks simply gorgeous.
Rahul Bose is at ease with his part. One is surprise to see him in this film. No doubt the actor is capable of MUCH more.
Kay Kay Menon delivers yet another superb account of himself. The actor has been going from strength to strength with each film and SILSIILAY is another notch in his belt. The role isn’t great at all but Menon manages to make the best of it.
Jimmy Shergill is disapointing in his poorly etched character.
Ashmit Patel plays the role of a cassanova well but he really needs to do something about his looks. If he looked like a poor mans version of John Abraham in NAZAR then he looks like Nirmal Panday here!
Celina Jaitley shows that she actually has some talent and not just another pretty face.
Divya Dutta is effective in her short role-one wishes she had a better part.
Natasha is plays her part aptly.
Shahrukh Khan acts as a sutradhar in the movie but even he fails to make an impact. He over does playing his ’’cool’’ part and his sequences stick out like a sore thumb as they feel forced.
The film is worth a dekkho with the remote control for some great acting by Taboo, Rahul, Kay Kay and Bhumika.
Decent timepass!