REVIEW 116: NA JAANE KABSE

Release date:	November 18, 2011
Director:	Pammi Somal
Cast:	Garry Gill, Amrita Prakash, Sharat Saxena, Lillette Dubey, Ayub Khan, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Himani Shivpuri, Anju Mahendroo

In her second film Na Jaane Kabse, producer-director-writer Pammi Somal carries forward the style she established in her debut release Mummy Punjabi this year. So yes, the film has a certain polish that comes from lovely outdoor locations well shot. But the production issues on other fronts, the poorly developed script, the abundance of cliches about plain Janes and Punjabis, the leading man, the sub-standard dialogues and the veterans in the supporting cast who unabashedly over-act all add up to a film that is really tough to endure.

The story is of Karan whose bride leaves him on his wedding day. He runs off to escape her furious family who are under the impression that he is the one who ditched her, and not vice versa. On the road, he takes a lift from Anjali In Thick Glasses And An Unstylish Outfit. Since the hero repeatedly taunts her for her oily hair, I have to believe him though I couldn’t see any grease. Anyway, it turns out that Karan’s business partner is expecting him to return with a bride since the plan is to promote their new holiday resort as a place so romantic that the owner himself decided to spend his honeymoon there. The international press is waiting! Now what is a man to do?! Well of course he asks Anjali to play his pretend wife. And that’s how their relationship begins.

There’s so much about Na Jaane Kabse that made me cringe, I don’t know where to start. Okay, let’s begin at the very beginning:

• Pammi Somal really needs to rid herself of this penchant to use cue cards to introduce her characters while flashing text and thought bubbles on screen that are meant to be cute. They are decidedly not. Karan’s introductory shot is accompanied by the words “bechara complexed (sic) Karan”. For Anjali the words are, “confused but confident Anjali”. And the interval is announced with the words “Hai Rabba, problem shuru.”
• Lillette Dubey (who plays Karan’s professional associate in this film) is superbly fit and trim for her age, but I wish she would stop accepting roles where she’s projected as this older hottie. It’s become trite and it’s beginning to feel rather ageist now. Likewise, why oh why did Himani Shivpuri debase herself by playing a cheesy middle-aged seductress?
• Since a large number of Hindi film makers are Punjabis, we’ve been well acquainted with Punjabi culture over the years via Bollywood. But that doesn’t mean the stereotype of the loud, brash, crude Punjabi can’t be grating when over-done and over-used. A boisterous character introducing himself to strangers as “Balwant Singh from Punjab” made me squirm in my seat.
• Seriously, there’s nothing more uncool than a person trying to be cool. At one point a character uses the acronym BKBBG to signify “bartender ki biwi bhaag gayee”. Uff!
• And could we please rise above schoolboy humour and toilet jokes? I mean, there’s nothing funny about Anjali’s dad getting loosies!!! Grow up!

I could go on and on. Characters randomly walk in and out of this film. I think I even detected a guest appearance by Ayesha Jhulka, though I don’t know if it can be called that since the actress suddenly appears, vigorously dances to a song, and then just as suddenly disappears from the scene. Most of all I’m keen to share with you a very serious worry. When Na Jaane Kabse ends, the screen screams these words at us: This is just the beginning. Does this mean there will be a Na Jaane Kabse 2? Hai Rabba, problem shuru!

Rating (out of five): 1/4 (a quarter star for the camerawork at beautiful locations in Ladakh & Punjab)

CBFC Rating:                       U

Language:                             Hindi

Photograph courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/NaJaaneKabse

REVIEW 113: YEH DOORIYAN

Release date:	August 26, 2011
Director:	Deepshikha Nagpal
Cast:	Deepshikha Nagpal, Kaishav Arora, Kunika, Ayub Khan

“Love after divorce … Is it a crime?” I can’t remember the last Hindi film that asked such a question. Yeh Dooriyan has another query up its sleeve: Is it a crime for a woman to fall in love with a younger man? The film is about 35-year-old Simmi, a successful choreographer and dance academy owner who is a divorced mother of two children. Her parents and friends encourage her to find a man in her life. Then one day she meets a young model called Raj who pursues her relentlessly. He comes across as a clean-hearted guy and (perhaps the greatest qualification in Simmi’s eyes) appears to like children. The couple fall in love. But will a society that is open to older-man-younger-woman romances accept this relationship … considering that Simmi is not just older than Raj, she’s also a divorcee? More to the point: how will his family react?

The basic storyline is not just believable, it’s also interesting. If you look around you, despite the seeming liberalism that pretends to pervade our world, we are still by and large an extremely conservative society with shockingly regressive views towards single women of every variety – unmarried, widowed or divorced. The questions thrown at Raj, his reaction to societal compulsions, the way the men in Simmi’s life respond to her … these are all credible and real. The problem with Yeh Dooriyan does not lie with its storyline, but elsewhere. The indifferent acting by key cast members robs the film of finesse. Kaishav Arora needs to be singled out here for lessons in an acting school with a particular focus on dialogue delivery. But the death knell for the film is rung by the poor language used by the dialogue writer, sometimes to laughable effect. There are also several songs with unmemorable tunes, unoriginal choreography and at least in one case, unintentionally amusing lyrics. And by that I mean the one that goes, “I wanna be your lover, zindagi bhar.”

Unfortunately all these factors add up to make this film a rather downmarket product. And I say “unfortunately” because Yeh Dooriyan does pose some important questions and takes a position on single women that’s uncommon in Hindi filmdom. Back in the year 2001, in Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya, the manner in which Karisma Kapoor’s character shame-facedly confesses (there’s no other word for it) her status as a divorcee in whispers to the new man in her life was a strange exaggeration of the reality. A woman in her social circle might face social opprobrium, but it would be couched in sophisticated terms and she’s unlikely to be so melodramatic while revealing the truth to friends and acquaintances. In Yeh Dooriyan a decade later, Simmi is unapologetic about her life and takes on the world with her head held high. The decision she ultimately arrives at for herself is also rather brave considering that Hindi film audiences don’t seem to be very fond of highly independent female leads. Wish the quality of writing had been more consistent.

At the press preview for this film, Deepshika was present to receive a certificate from a representative of the Limca Book of Records for having handled the maximum number of jobs for a single film: apart from starring in Yeh Dooriyan, producing and directing it, she’s also credited for the story, screenplay, dialogues and choreography. You know something, hon … you’ve got your heart and head in the right place, but next time please delegate the screenplay, dialogues and choreography to someone else.

Rating (out of five): *1/2

CBFC Rating:                       U without cuts

Running time:                        115 Minutes

Language:                              Hindi

Photograph courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeh_Dooriyan