Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai (BISKH) is a movie that shows that realizing your dreams is not always the best thing to happen, but how you realize them matters too. But it leaves the audience to wish that this story about dreams did come true, but not all of what they must go through to enjoy it.

In a nutshell - BISKH is about Abhishek and his dream to succeed - to get everything he can - to be like his idol and media icon Naved Ali (Jackie Shroff). Abhishek plays Suraj Shrivastav. Did I read Sooraj in scene 1 or perhaps a spelling change was his secret for success - the way it helps bad films succeed. The name change does just that as it helps Suraj get all that he wants - at the cost of his identity. Pun apart, his ways to success alienate his mother (Smita Jaykar in another cliched mother role), his beloved (Rani Mukherjee in a songs and two good scenes role) and his own conscience (Abhishek Bachchan working hard on his acting to bring out that conscience).

The sun then rises one fine morning in Delhi with Naved working his media clout towards the Prime Minister´s office. The conscientious son also rises with the rising sun to prevent his one-time idol from realizing his anti-national dreams. And he is helped by the lady who groomed him into the path of Naved Ali (Sushmita Sen in an interesting role). Involved ? You can say so! Familiar? It could sound like that! But credit to the makers of BISKH for a novel way to present a not so common story.

But the movie stumbles at the blocks itself. It starts off as a village caper and Ganga Maiyya - with Suraj headed form Banaras to Mumbai for studies with a song to boot. Starting on the wrong foot - it takes off weakly resembling a low budget college romance for the first hour. Despite the jerky starts - its keeps speed and runs into momentum with the entry of Jackie Shroff as Naved Ali - the man Suraj  idolizes - and an alum of the college. A quick turn of events and the movie is poised well into the interval, just as Suraj is poised for a take off. The second half is predictable in its turn of events - but there is an air of suspense in Jackie´s character and his motives - which unveils itself into evil proportions.

Some moments are starkly brilliant, some scenes are hilariously ridiculous. The movie revolves around Abhishek and Jackie´s effectiveness - and both win hands down in the scenes that matter, but are caught pants down in the very next scene. Abhishek is all at ease being the romantic, or the action hero, or the college boy. He is more at home in the serious sequence, playing up a personality, and in the scenes where he is confronting someone. Rani Mukherjee carries off the college romance and song dance scenes despite Abhishek and her six inch heel. In their limited roles, both Rani and Sushmita play their parts but they can´t help make the movie any better. Technically too, the movie lapses from scenic brilliance to the ordinary - and from hugely creative choreography to insipid dances (Abhishek´s two left legs don´t help either). The songs vary from the good to the ordinary - though Aadesh Shrivastav does manage to compose songs that blend well into the movie.

Unlike many movies today that are thin on story and stronger on style and narrative - BISKH is strong on its story (even if a little cliched) and strong on style and narrative as well. However, neither the movie nor its performers grab your attention as they consistently prove to be inconsistent and rapidly switch from moments of brilliance to moments of mediocrity. Yet, BISKH is worthy of being its creator´s dream and perhaps a first step towards those dreams.