Director: Mehul Kumar
*ing : Naseeruddin Shah, Akshay Kumar, Karisma Kapoor, Farida
Jalal, Aloknath, Suresh Oberoi
Music : Anand-Milind
Reviewed by: Ali Ikram
ali@indolink.com
Rating : 
(out of 
)
Mehul Kumar is an extremely successful director. In the past few years he has had two major hits with Nana Patekar; Tirangaa and Krantiveer. Even Amitabh Bachchan chose him to be the director of his comeback vehicle Mrityudaata.
Unfortunately, Mehul Kumar is a VERY BAD DIRECTOR. His past successes relied on Nana to uplift the mediocrity of the stories and direction. It worked to a small extent in Krantiveer, but nothing could help the idiocy that was Tirangaa.
In Lahoo..., Mehul attempts to use the superior acting skills of Naseeruddin to prop up a too often heard, boring revenge story. Akshay and Naseeruddin must both take revenge on the Shikari brother clan. While the former resorts to crime to make a living, the latter earns a legitimate salary as a customs police officer. How they unite and eventually avenge the murders of their loved ones forms the crux of the story. Heard this story before? WHO HASN'T?
Lahoo... could have succeeded with a good 'treatment' from the director and interesting interplay between the main characters. But Mehul makes the characters so insipid it is not funny. Not only is the continuity of the film unappetizing, but the motivations of the characters in their actions is thoroughly unbelievable. (Cinematic license permitting exaggeration is very important but the characters should at least be sort of realistic.)
For instance, after his parents are killed at the beginning of the film, a young Akshay cries his brains out on their graves. He is told by the Maulvi (Aloknath) who takes care of the cemetary that he will have to fend for himself in life to survive. Yet after the credits, we discover that the Maulvi has taken Akshu into his house. So much for fending for himself. In addition, what is extremely puzzling is that under the care of the five times a day praying Aloknath, Akshay grows up to become a professional, lying witness for hire. Why didn't the Maulvi stop Akshay from pursuing this sinful profession or kick him out of the house for his bad deeds? ... Khuda jaane!!!!
Back to the film's performances, everyone is lame. Naseeruddin (because of whom I went to go see the movie) is given a pathetic role and no opporunity to strut his acting prowess. Akshay repeats his action Jackson performance as usual. (How one wishes buddy would do a different genre film like Yeh Dillagi again, or at least do fun action films like Sabse Bada Khiladi.) Karisma fans should not see this film. She is wasted in a dancing, prancing role and her acting requirement in the film consists of being blind for about fifteen minutes.
A few songs like 'Aawara Paagal Deewana', 'Haseenon Ko Aate' and 'Mujeh Paisa Mila' have great audios and pretty good videos in the film. (Dubai is a novel and appealling location for dances.) Interesting however is the fact that the songs in Akshay's dream sequences have Karisma, who plays a Muslim in the film, prancing around in minis and backless dresses with tons of midriff showing. Not that I mind; Karisma looks great, but the character in the 'real life' sequences in the film wears far more modest apparel.
Nonetheless, the film stinks and you should really only see it if you plan on being in the washroom for all but the songs. It is really sad though. I was hoping for a good film for a change from Mehul. One hopes (probably in vain) that Mrityudaata will be a volte-face for the director, and the film will be great.
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