REVIEW 106: BE-CAREFUL

Release date:	October 21, 2011
Director:	Chandrakant Singh
Cast:	Rajniesh Duggall, Zaid Shaikh, Tanisha Mukherjee, Rajpal Yadav, Johnny Lever, Asrani, Tiku Talsania, Shakti Kapoor

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from years of reporting on cinema, it is this: that getting a foot in the door in a film industry is a tough task. While subjecting myself to some incredibly bad films in 2011, the point was further driven home to me as I watched successful models and beauty pageant winners so desperate for an entry point that they’ve acted in films that must surely be mortifying to them. Former Miss India World Parvathy Omanakuttan made her debut this year in a horrendous film called United Six. Another former Miss India runner-up Sayali Bhagat has popped up repeatedly in some awful films though I must say she plumbed the very depths of poor quality when she starred in that offensively bad film titled Impatient Vivek. And then there’s this film I’m about to review.

Be-Careful stars Grasim Mr India 2003 winner and Mr International 1st runner-up Rajniesh Duggall, one of India’s most prominent models. Having seen him repeatedly on the catwalk, I can vouch for the fact that he’s handsome and has a very attractive personality. Is it really so important to you to be a movie star, Rajniesh, that you have humiliated yourself by acting in this disgusting film?

I’m sorry, dear readers, if that sounds harsh. You see, I can live with the fact that Be-Careful is a shoddy film with shabby sets, bad costumes and make-up, and just about everything going wrong on the production front. I can tolerate the fact that it’s a clichéd story about adulterous husbands. But I can’t forgive a film that expects me to have a sense of humour while it dishes out a rather extended joke about rape, unrelenting double entendre and crassness. And slapstick comedy is all very well, but why do some comedians think being repulsive and being funny are the same thing?

Rajniesh Duggall and Zaid Shaikh star in Be-Careful as philanderers Sameer Malhotra and Anand Kapoor a.k.a. Sam and Andy who take off for Thailand supposedly on a business trip, but in reality to bed the maximum women they can get while away from their wives’ vigilant eyes. Of course they underestimate their spouses who not just have spies keeping a watch on them, but land up themselves to keep their men in check.

AND GUESS WHO PLAYS SAM’S WIFE?! … Hold your breath … I bet you didn’t know she’s still doing films … Guess who? …. Whaddyaknow, it’s Tanisha Mukherjee! Yes, Kajol’s little sister is still around! Is the chance to act in a god-awful film like this one more important than your self-respect, Tanisha?

Which brings us back to the point we were discussing about strugglers in the industry. I can understand a rank outsider hoping that even the worst film could provide them with a platform that might get them noticed and so give them a break in a better film. But is it wise for actors to demean themselves to act in a film that’s not just aesthetically repugnant but morally reprehensible too?

Dear Rajniesh,

Your looks and personality are the only things that kept me from puking while I watched this film. With a better director, we know you are capable of better than Be-Careful! No visibility is worth the embarrassment of playing a perennially horny, completely unfunny creep in a film! Since you’re a top model, I assume money is not what compelled you to accept this role. So what did? Beware of films like Be-Careful! You deserve better!

Warm regards,

Anna

Rating (out of five): -50 stars

Footnote: http://tinyurl.com/cw2u56y - This trailer may help you partly understand my review. The Govinda hari bolo Gopala bolo song gave Be-Careful an interesting start. In between there was what seemed like a fun song that rhymed “biology” with “technology” but the sound quality was so poor that I couldn’t note down the lyrics for your benefit. The potshots at major Bollywood stars like Aamir Khan may have earned admiration in another film. But in this C-grade venture, they came across as a desperate attention-getting measure, nothing more. Incidentally, Chandrakant Singh also directed this year’s Om Puri-Aftab Shivdasani-starrer Bin Bulaye Baraati that I’d reviewed earlier on this blog - http://tinyurl.com/5sbg4rm

CBFC Rating:                       A

Language:                             Hindi

Rajniesh’s Photograph courtesy: http://www.rajnieshduggall.com/

Tanisha’s Photograph courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanisha