Khwahish

Khwahish is not an original movie. It is based upon Erich Segal's famous novel "Love Story", which was made into a successful film in 1970. The story may not be new, but the writing was probably solid enough to make this romantic drama engaging. The film looked authentic, and the depiction was very simple. It was quite atypical in that it involved kissing scenes and several discussions about sex and social values. Even when the film entered its emotional phase, it was not overly melodramatic. The characters of Amar and particularly Lekha were quite interesting. He is a serious, headstrong and struggling guy, she is a simple, forthright, no-nonsense and smart girl, who is a fan of RD Burman's music. Their relationship was according to me portrayed quite well. The relationship between Lekha and her father Ulhas was also well done. Khawahish is Mallika Sherwat's film. She is the best thing about this film and the main reason it actually works. This is by no means a great performance, but she was simply lovable and played her role as naturally as she could, with evident sincerity and energy. Not to forget that she was absolutely sizzling and super sexy. Himanshu Malik was just okay in his role, while Mahmud Babai was fine as Lekha's loving father Ulhas. The soundtrack is one more reason to watch this film, and it gives the film a certain charm not warranted by the script. Asha Bhosle sings most of the songs and she does it brilliantly. My most favourite song is "Jaanemann", which was wonderful. Khwahish is not a great film, it lacks depth and at some points it is a bit slow, with the second half going downhill and losing its effervescence. That said, after all it does manage to move you with its final emotional proceedings and its tragic ending and is an overall enjoyable film despite the usual problems.