Originally 'Rishtey' was to be made sometime in the late 90s. Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri's production company ABCL was ready to launch the movie while Indra Kumar was to direct. The original cast included Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla. However, after ABCL fell apart, the film got shelved. Years later Indra Kumar tries to revive the film with a new cast that included Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and Preity Zinta but after the two actresses walked out they were respectively replaced by Karishma Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty. So, that's the history. Now what's the end product like? 'Rishtey' is a pathetic excuse of a movie. The writing is so dreadful. The plot is one of those old fashioned crap about a stupid couple separating due to a misunderstanding created by the girl's father. There's a baby involved and after 10 years or whatever the mom finds out that the baby is alive and wants him back. In the end they live happily ever after, yes, even with the evil father who becomes a good guy after his daughter slaps him across the face and whatever. Indra Kumar is a terrible director. I think his earlier films were more watchable because of the actors and the music. Here all the songs (with the exception of 'Deewana Dil') are garbage. The best song in the soundtrack ('Dilbar' sung by the sensational Asha Bhosle) wasn't even in the movie.
The acting is clichéd and ridiculous to the core (with one exception). Anil Kapoor is miscast and, he whines, he barks, cries like a schoolgirl, is too old for the part, looks pathetic with the 'hey look I'm young' getup, and whatever. Karishma Kapoor is the queen of hamming. Though I must add that her character was awfully written. Deepshika and Sharat Saxena play clichéd characters that give them no scope and Amrish Puri's caricature evil dad is nothing memorable. Jibraan Khan is irritating.
The only good acting, and the only good thing that comes out of this heap of rubbish is Shilpa Shetty. Yes, she looks very sensual but if one can see past that, we do see a character with depth. The character does mildly suffer due to writing and the clichéd dialogues but Shetty moves ahead of that. She displays some impeccable comic timing and is wonderful in the dramatic sequences. One can only feel sympathy for her Vyjanti who is an uneducated fisherwoman hopelessly falling in love (as the definition of love is vague to her) with someone who does not give a damn. She selflessly does all she can to reunite Suraj with Komal knowing that there's nothing to gain and I was moved by the last scene where Karan looks at her and we see her eyes filled with tears of both joy and sadness as she signals him to not say anything.
So that's about it. This is a horrendous film with only one thing going for it and that is Shilpa Shetty.
