Producer & Director: Ashok Ghai
*ing: Raakhee, Chandrachur Singh, Arbaaz Khan, Pooja Batra, Priya Gill, Amrish Puri
Music: Vishal

Released on : May 29, 1998

Reviewed by: Tanmeet Kumar
tanmeet@indolink.com

out of 

Different Faces, Same Story

Ashok Ghai's Sham Ghansham is a weak film. The plot is a rehash of brother Subhash's Ram Lakhan. Instead of Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor, we have Chandrachur Singh and Arbaaz Khan fighting for revenge against Amrish Puri, the man who killed their father. Raakhee still plays the bechari widowed mother and the heroines, Priya Gill and Pooja Batra, are no match for Madhuri Dixit and Dimple Kapadia. There is a slight twist to the story in which one of the sibs is really the long lost son of Amrish Puri, but this makes the movie even more stupid. The direction is very shoddy compared to Subhash's fine directorial job in Ram Lakhan. But to compare Sham Ghansham with the 1989 classic would be criminal, considering that this film is Ashok Ghai's debut as a director. Standing alone, Sham Ghansham is still a disappointing film. The reason for this is simple. Although the plot is extremely similar to Ram Lakhan it is not exactly identical. For this reason, I think movie remains below average. At least if it was the same film as Ram Lakhan, it would be half decent. Sham Ghansham lacks the taunt screenplay that its predecessor had.

Even the acting in the film is terrible. What happened to Chandrachur Singh after Maachis and Tere Mere Sapne? He actually showed some acting talent in these films. And Arbaaz Khan was very good in Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya but in Sham Ghansham, all he does is romance Pooja Batra and act stupid. Priya Gill is the only redeeming quality in the film. She is very pretty and is sure to be famous in the film industry. The girl is a mix between Manisha Koirala and Tabu. She should pick better films, like her debut in ABCL's Tere Mere Sapne. Plus, you'd think that for the whopping amount of money she's charging her producers, they would let her do more than just dance and act dumb. Pooja Batra looks like bimbo. She should wear more clothes and show some acting ability. She will not survive in Bollywood if she continues to do lousy films like Vishwavidhaata and Saazish. Veterans Raakhee and Amrish Puri are the only ones who act well. Music by Vishal is very disappointing. The only good song from the film is 'Mitwa Re', but compare this tune to 'Bada Dukh Dina' and 'My name is Lakhan' from Ram Lakhan and the song seems average.

In conclusion, don't waste your money on this utterly useless film. Treat yourself to Dushman or Yugpurush instead. They are some of the (very) few brilliant films that Indian Cinema has to offer. Sham Ghansham is proof that Ashok Ghai needs to either take lessons from brother Subhash on how to make films or stay away from the film world!!!

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