Producer: Yasin Latiwala
Director: Farogh Siddiqui
*ing: Jackie Shroff, Ayesha Jhulka, Sharad Kapoor, Pooja Batra
Music: A.R. Rahman
Reviewed by: Anish Khanna
anish@indolink.com
out
of 
Plastic surgeons all around the world can perform the dance of joy, as Bollywood has finally come out with a film to trumpet their cause. True, it's been done before, as in the sensitively beautiful love story "Yeh Vaada Rahaa"of the early 80's, where you had the gorgeous Poonam Dhillon going through a surgery and unfortunately ending up with the face of a Tina Munim. How could this be possible, you ask, if the two actresses don't resemble each other even slightly?
Well, what's even more ridiculous is "Vishwavidhaata", where the dark and gawky Sharad Kapoor is able to undergo an operation and come out looking like the tall, fair, and handsome Jackie Shroff. Could somebody please give me the number of that plastic surgeon? OK, sure - this is Bollywood, where there is no room for reality or logic. However, even if one suspends their beliefs about the possible and impossible, "Vishwavidhaata" still turns out to be one of the biggest disappointments of 1997.
Sharad Kapoor (with Jackie's voice) plays a goonda in love with Ayesha Jhulka. In an attempt to escape the life of crime, he leaves his gang of goondas, goes abroad, gets plastic surgery performed, and comes back as the rich businessman. Jackie Shroff. Jackie then woos Ayesha, but doesn't tell her that he is really Sharad, which you can't really blame him for. If I had once looked like Sharad, I might try to hide it as well. But even after Jackie marries Ayesha, he STILL hides it! Why not tell your own sati savitri patni that you are really her bachpan ka aashiq? Only bhagwan knows...
So, anyway, the plot thickens as Jackie and Ayesha's son grows up to be (lo and behold!) Sharad Kapoor, again (this time with his own voice), which teaches the audience the moral that plastic surgery can change one's surat but not one's genes. Sharad Jr. becomes an inspector, and a whole mess of drama ensues, as people start to recognize Sharad Jr's resemblence to the goonda of years past (his father pre-plastic surgery). The rest of the story tries to combine an action flick, suspense drama, and family social, but fails miserably.
The problem with this film, nonsensical plastic surgery aside, is that the producer took a rather decent and relatively original story idea, and ruined it with atrocious direction, a weak script, and acting that is definitely lacking. Jackie manages to do a fairly decent job given the poor circumstances. Sharad Kapoor, once dubbed as the poor man's Shah Rukh Khan, proves that he is not even a poor man's Jonny Lever in the acting or looks department. Ayesha Jhulka, one of the most underrated actresses of her generation (remember Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Khiladi, Kurbaan, Rang, etc..?), gets saddled with a horribly melodramatic role, which she at best manages to sleepwalk through. I must get the number of her character's dermatologist, however, as she ages without a single wrinkle or blemish. I think Pooja Batra was in the movie, but I sneezed and missed her. I apologize for that one...
The only saving grace of this film, however is A.R. Rehman's chart-busting score of which only a fraction was actually retained in the film itself. My personal favorite is "Kal Nahin Tha", which is also decently picturized. I was surprised that Mr. Rehman, who is generally a stickler for big banners and polished scripts, even agreed to waste his genious on a film of this nature. I guess we all make our mistakes. And the creative team of this film can definitely add "Vishwavidhaata" to the list of theirs.
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