Hindi cinema has come a long way. Some of the latest movies like Bluffmaster, Lage raho.. show a great leap in the overall moviemaking techniques used in Bollywood. J P Dutta really disappoints by putting together such a pathetic show.
Let’s talk about the techniques or the lack there of. Cinematography sucks to the core. The camera positioning, lighting are abysmal. The constant zoom-in and zoom-out makes you dizzy and gives the overall movie a home video look. Was some kid handling the camera? The lighting changes suddenly and does not help create any mood. What’s the idea of framing a lamp everytime Aishwarya’s beauty is shown? J P Dutta is lucky that Aishwarya is gorgeous but he didn’t do full justice to her.
The same can be said about the rest of the cast. Each and every character in this movie in my opinion has a great acting potential but what are they to do if the director stunts there performances? The whole movie has a college gathering rehersal. Everybody tries to be very conservative about expresssing themselves as if they would get a pay cut if they acted.
I better not say anything about the soundtrack. Anu Malik sucks as always...
In short JP Dutta has messed with an epic movie that has lived in people’s mind for years now. I had a lot of hopes from this movie and was really looking forward to see Aishwarya in one of my all time favorite movie characters of Umrao Jaan. I know it’s next too impossible to replace Rekha but JP did not give Aishwarya a fair chance.
JP, please go back to the moviemaking basics, learn from your previous movies and remember the off screen crew is as (or perhaps more) important as the on-screen crew.