Producer : Vashu Bhagnani
Director: A. Muthu
*ing: Abhishek Bachchan, Kirti Reddy, Paresh Rawal, Johny Lever, Kadar Khan
Music: Ismail Darbar

Released on : August 18, 2000

Reviewed by: Anjali Abrol, Avinash Ramchandani & Rahul Abrol
dilwaliji@indolink.com, avinash@indolink.com, rabrol@indolink.com

out of 
After spinning one hit after another, keeping up the No 1's of the Coolie, Hero, and Biwi, and venturing towards the original Coolie (Amitabh)  teamed with the Coolie No.1, Vashu Bhagnani takes a more love story tone with his latest, Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa, with two young ones, Abhishek and Kirti. Not to mention the ones we've seen quite a bit of-- Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Farida Jalal, and a whole bunch of secondary support.

Away from the comedic angle, will Vashu be able to make a No. 1 of the up and coming heartthrob, Abhishek? And should it be renamed 'Jadugar No 1'? Well... maybe not 'Jadugar No. 1'... but the movie sure entertains more than Abhishek's first attempt.

The story opens with Pooja (Kirti Reddy), who is the assistant director (director? Who made her director?) for Mr. Oberoi's (Kadar Khan) advertising agency. She is known for going by IST (Indian Standard Time) but gets away with it because she is one of Mr. Oberoi's favorites. She goes to Agra to attend a friend's wedding and meets Kabir (Abhishek), a lovable and very popular guy who is also the videographer. Kabir ends up videotaping her throughout the wedding, as he is fascinated by her beauty. (I think somebody missed something with the beauty part...).

Most of the women there are mooh boli behens; and he is the second most famous in Agra, as is his patent line, second only to the Taj Mahal. He falls for her and she pretty much leads him on, as her dream guy is someone who wears Armani suits, drives up in a fancy car, and is basically a loaded looker.

Sounds like she is looking for a deep and meaningful relationship with a good, decent guy. And our Agra da chokra just didn't cut it, with his vibrant checked shirts and simple grace. Before he can confess his love for her, she heads back to her fast-paced Mumbai and had ended up taking one too many days than allowed by her boss, and is shown to the door. Her really happy friend, Maggie (Johnny Lever), who also works under Mr. Oberoi, decides to try to save her job by telling the boss that she was late because she got engaged in Agra.

How does he manage this? Well, amazingly, there was a picture taken showing Kabir and Pooja together in a pose that could manage to complete the plan. Mr. Oberoi is happy for her and lets her keep her job. All is well until Raj (Sanjay Suri), Mr. Oberoi's son, arrives, and her dream man, suit-fast car-gel-sunglasses intact, and she decides she is in love with him. It's amazing what money (and a lot of gel) can buy you (one ditz of a chick).

She cannot go forward with her infatuation... err... deep love due to that one little fake fiance sitting in Agra, as everyone is under the misunderstanding that she will be getting married soon. By a stroke of 'luck', Kabir decides to come with his Gafoorbhai (the comic classic, Paresh Rawal) and his wife, to Mumbai, in search of his ladylove. The rest of the story unfolds...as the mess becomes messier..and more interesting....

Abhishek is simply fantastic, nearing flawlessness. His acting is brilliant, and even though he seems to imitate his father in parts, he carries those parts off very well, leaving the warm comforting impression that the Little Big B is back. He is very good-looking guy and his build is also good, that is, he is built like a guy who has worked out, not popped the steroids, at the gym. His comedy is subtle and slick, and his expressions are worth a thousand words in itself. He really got a chance to showcase his talent and that, he did. His voice is reminicent of his father's, though his look is a bit more modern (though the resemblance between his father and some side shots of him is uncanny).

Kirti Reddy is really unimpressive. Her promotional pictures made her look much nicer than she really is, and I walked in expecting to see a really pretty girl opposite Abhishek, and walked out laughing at my foolishness. It is amazing that she is actually 'something' in the South, if word holds true. If that is her voice, she needs to improve, and if she is dubbed, the producer and director have to find a better dubbing voice! She definitely must be given the Rambha Whiner Award, hands down. Her expressions and dialogues are average at best (and that is really stretching it). She was highly unentertaining, for example, the mole on her right (?) cheek fascinated me, as I watched it throughout the film? Why is that? Because I wanted to see if it magically disappeared or moved. You know how the left and right can always switch. I would think that another, more capable actress would have greatly improved the execution of Pooja's role, as such that the stroy would have been more convincing had the role been acted out to the fullest, as did Abhishek in his role, and that is a downfall of the film. Apparently we weren't the only ones who were disgusted; during intermission, I heard a group of girls talking about leaving the movie because they 'couldn't take Kirti's voice anymore'. Despite that, the feedback from the audience after the movie was positive.

The rest of the supporting crew is good, especially Paresh Rawal, who comes off, again, as the best of the secondaries. Johnny Lever's personality (only in this flick) still scares me a week later. Sanjay Suri, though in a tiny role, did well. Where was Salman (as the infamous special appearance guy who gets rejected by the girl) when you need him? The music by by Ismail Darbar is superb. After his excellent score in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, his second flick shows that he is going to be a success in the future. A. Muthu's direction is average; it goes haywire every once in a while. The choreography of the dances were also amazing and noteworthy, though in Qayamat Ho, the first half of the song's beats did not match the dance steps, as the latter was too slow to the beat (very subtle mistake). Abhishek is not the wooden dancer people dubbed him as, rather, he is quite the opposite. Frankly, I was impressed with his moves, and with more practice, he will be one of the better ones of the industry, perhaps even surpassing *gasp* Hrithik. Kirti was average in dancing, in that her jewelry fascinated me more than her ability (or lackthereof) to move...did you know she wore the same set from the wedding scene when she first meets Abhishek, about 2 or 3 more times later in the movie? Like I said, her outfits were pretty fascinating. The costumes were breathtaking and classy, with only a few typical Bollywood outfit disasters (e.g. Govinda wardrobe). Kirti's 2 inch skirts, we could have really done without. Abhishek's outfits were definitely Structure and J. Crew material and suited his tall stature particularly well. He even carried the suede pants and silver shirt and such very well in the Chori Chori Chupke Chupke stage song (though the buttoned black jacket in the beginning, he could have done without). Cinematography is breathtaking and excellent, with some fantastic shots of Paris and snow covered mountaintops.

Overall, it's a film worth watching in the cinema, even if you may not be a fan of the music, Abhishek, or the director, but just for the cinematography and dances, and you will get your money's worth.

Cummulative rating -    6.9/10