By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network
This dialogue has to be the clincher. Here is what a father tells his daughter when he gets a proposal from a playboy tycoon for his daughter. The daughter is aghast that he even proposed because just a few reels earlier, she had slapped him at a party for wanting to get in bed with her. But her father sees no reason. Says he: "So what if he has been around with 50 girls, shaadi ka offer sirf tuj ko diya. A man proposes marriage when he feels something in his heart." Hearing this from an experienced man, who is a father of a grown up daughter, you know then where this film is headed. You want to get up and slap the father because even the daughter has enough sense!
MEHBOOBA is a film that was stuck in the can for a long time and even if it were released 10 years ago, that particular dialogue would still stink. It's a film that clearly belongs to the nineties when songs were more than the scenes. This movie is a little bit of SAAJAN, a little bit of HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM and a little bit of HUM AAP KE HAI KAUN.
The sets are lavish, the sahelis are all over the palace, and the engagement parties will give even a Sanjay Leela Bhansali sleepless nights. So lavish is director Afzal Khan. On the plus side, the camera work is brilliant. Vast, picturesque landscape of Budapest has been filmed well by Ashok Mehta. A special mention here to the choreographers as well. The songs are very grand with scores of extras and costumes to match. Here too, the camera captures the dance moves beautifully, covering all the angles. A lesson here in choreography and camerawork for budding aspirants. The sheer magnitude of the picturisation brings to mind the grandeur of HDDCS and HAKHK. The storyline is similar too.
Sanjay Dutt is a playboy who likes to bed every girl that walks. He comes across Manisha Koirala where he is a judge at a contest and exclaims to his secretary, "Kya Cheez thi." Secretary has to now find where she stays and what she does. Manisha is soon offered a job in his company. Little does she know the intentions of Sanjay. When she learns about it, she insults him in public. Sanjay then comes with his shaadi ka offer! However, before the wedding he exacts revenge by sleeping with her, slaps her, and sends her away. This happened in New York.
Ajay Devgan is in Budapest. He keeps dreaming about a girl whose paintings adorn his walls. One day he runs into the girl of his dreams and she happens to be Manisha. After a few songs, she tells him that she has been cheated in love and cannot trust anyone anymore. Ajay convinces her. She agrees. The three (Ajay-Manisha-Sanjay) then meet in their haveli in Rajasthan where all have converged for the Ajay-Manisha wedding. The rest you can guess.
The three-hour plus length is a killer, but if you are one who want to watch this movie from the art point of view, go for it. The camera work, choreography and costume designing are simply a treat.
But there is no meat in the story. Little wonder then you heard no 'PR-driven' incidents of sand getting into Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan's mouth in the dead of night, or Manisha twisting her ankle when she runs down the steps (all fabricated, though) to garner interest in the movie a week before it's release. Even the stars have stayed away from promoting it.
