Producer: Ushakiron Movies
Director: K. Vijaya Bhaskar
Starring: Ritesh Deshmukh, Genelia D'Souza, Raja, Shakti Kapoor
Music: Viju Shah
Lyrics: Mehboob
Genre: Romantic Drama
Recommended Audience: Parental Guidance
Released on: January 03, 2003
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Reviewed by: Suraj Das
Reviewer's Rating: 4.5 out of 10
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A rich, spoiled politician´s son (Ritesh Deshmukh) decides he wants to be a
Bollywood hero even though he has been trained as an architect and has no
experience even remotely related to the film industry. But since his dad
has powerful connections, a film is actually set up with an upstart banner
(Ushakiron Movies). The script (Neeraj Vohra) is created by mixing together
elements from only the most successful Yash Chopra-Karan Johar-Sooraj
Barjatya films. The director (K. Vijaya Bhaskar) is picked out of hat
because - well, let´s face it - the director doesn´t really matter in films
like this. And to make sure that the debutante hero gets all the attention
and applause, a complete unknown actress (Genelia
D´Souza) with little hope
of ever making it big in the industry is paired opposite the lead.
The makers decide that the narrative of the film should play like a clips
reel from almost all of the successful candy floss romance films of the
recent past. They calculate a mundane plot by taking the first half of "Kuch Kuch Hota
Hai," adding a dash of "Mujhe Kuch Kehna
Hai" and just a
pinch of "Hum Apke Hain Koun.” But their plans go terribly wrong when the
plot turns out overly melodramatic and audiences realize they had seen the
same story handled several times better!
The plot involves a college student, Rishi (Ritesh Deshmukh), and his
friend, Anju (Genelia D’Souza). These two are soul mates, but they don´t
know it. Rishi just thinks of Anju as "one of the guys." But then Anju
meets Akash (Raja) who falls in love with her and proposes to her. She
accepts, but when she realizes that after her marriage she won´t be able to
see Rishi anymore, she breaks off her engagement. And while Rishi realizes
he loves Anju, he doesn´t want to accept her after her engagement is broken.
What happens next and how this convoluted mess is sorted out forms the
crux of this uninspired melodrama.
As if the plot weren’t routine enough, the director failed to make the
execution notable. Mr. Bhaskar tried very hard, but simply couldn’t manage
to make any of the events on screen engaging in any sense of the word! The
college scenes in the first half of the film were bogged down in comedy
sketches to an unbearable extent. And the campy drama in the second half
fared no better.
But the worst surprise was yet to come for the poor politician’s son. While
he came off as somewhat miscast and awkward on the silver screen, the girl
no one thought would make it turned out to be the real charmer in the film.
Ritesh was visibly uncomfortable in the film, delivering off-key expressions
and emotions. Genelia, on the other hand, managed to steal quite a few
scenes in a charming show of genuine talent.
Alas, the architect´s first forray into films had a tragic ending. There
was just very little to make the architect´s debut film even worth watching.
Overall, Tujhe Meri Kasam is a tepid film with only fleeting moments of
worthwhile entertainment.
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