'Hum Aapke Hain Bewafaa Dhadkan'
Bewafaa Dir- Dharmesh Darshan Cast- Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Sushmita Sen, Manoj Bajpai, Shamita Shetty and Anil Kapoor. Written by- Robin Bhatt, Dharmesh Darshan and Raj Sinha. Rating- **
There is this game where you watch a movie, go back home and think of different alternate endings to it. After the many versions, if the actual ending still seems more interesting then you've lost. Dharmesh Darshan probably played this game after watching Sooraj Barjatya's 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun
' and his very own 'Dhadkan'. Mr. Darshan must've thought- what if Madhuri Dixit had actually married Mohnish Behl in the former and Sunil Shetty had returned in the latter to find Shilpa Shetty willing to leave hubby Akki? Now develop these plots, and what you get is a fair idea of Darshan's 'Bewafaa'. Sadly, even though Mr. Darshan must've considered his endings more interesting, he still is the loser!
Welcome then to the shakalaka baby family in Montreal, Canada. We have papa Kabir Bedi, firang(?) mummy Nafisa Ali, badi beti Sushmita Sen and chotti beti Kareena Kapoor. Sen is Aarti, married to Aditya(Anil Kapoor)- a businessman(we're not quite sure what business he does?) who has little time for his family and probably mistakes his wife for a personal assistant! Aarti dies, leaving behind two twin daughters. You guessed it right! Within a reel, chotti beti Anjali(Kareena) is married off to Aditya and sent packing to New Delhi. Living in a loveless marriage, her life is provided a pacemaker with the return of her former love, hold your breath, Indian Raja?!?(Akshay Kumar)- a popular popstar. Old flames are lit again and the lovers decide to elope. But there's a spooky couple(Manoj Bajpai & Shamita Shetty) to cope! Oh nope!! The audience is left with no hope!!! Follow a predictable storyline then to a tiring climax where everything is restored. The audience is bored. Yeh dil manage no more!!!
The whole movie is riddled with songs that emerge out of nowhere like land mines in a war zone! Mind you- the songs are good to listen, they are just not used properly. The first half drags along with only the beautiful sights of Montreal keeping you interested. The second half promises a similar fate but things are made lively with the entrance of Dil(Manoj Bajpai) and Pallavi(Shamita Shetty). Bordering on the line of vulgarity, Manoj Bajpai delivers a hammy performance but there is a guilty pleasure in watching his antics. A tip Mr. Darshan- publicize Bajpai's character. Kareena is passable(sorry Bebo, 'Bewafaa' won't do for you what 'Raja Hindustani' did for Lolo) while Sush is seriously challenging the position of Simi Garewal as Miss Grace. It is common knowledge that Akshay Kumar has a cocky attitude which can be used to his advantage when cast in roles similar to the ones he essayed in 'Khakee', 'Aankhen' and 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi'. But here as a lover boy, he is at his stolid best! That leaves us with Anil Kapoor. This man is like wine- he's only getting better with age. In a thankless role, he acts his part with dignity. Only for him and a fairly decent second-half, 'Bewafaa' is not as bad as it sounds!
Rating- **
* Poor ** Average *** Good **** Very Good ***** Excellent
25th February, 2005
