By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network
What you look for in a thriller is this; when the pieces begin to unravel and you want to put them back in place, the plot has to make sense. That's what earns the audience's appreciation. That's what STRANGERS was all about. This Kay Kay Menon-Jimmy Sheirgill-Nandana Sen thriller released last December, was a perfect example of how a thriller should be. Sadly, WOODSTOCK VILLA has none of these attributes. Though it begins well and holds your attention until intermission, when the pieces begin to unravel you say, "Is this what it is?" Hansal Mehta has no clue what he is up to. All he knows is that he has to help Arbaaz Khan cover up his wife's death. OK, picture this: Arbaaz's wife is dead and he has his lover take her place. My question is this: are the servants so blind as to not know that this here is another woman living in the house. And Neha Uberoi who is helping Arbaaz cover up for his wife's death is not even an identical twin! Picture this too: Neha and Sikander are off to the US with the booty after they trap Arbaaz. Both check in separately to avoid suspicion since the cops are on their trail. Since Neha is carrying the bag with the cash, she decides to give Sikander the slip, moves to another counter and asks for a ticket to Johannesburg. My question is this: does she not need a visa to go there? Picture another scene: Sikander has boarded the flight to the US and besides him is the bag filled with Rs 50 lakh. My question is this: will not the immigration officials in the US want to know where the money came from? So there you go. The plot is a complete mess. All that is left to review is the performances of Sikander Kher and Neha Uberoi who was last seen in DUS KAHANIYAN. Sikander Kher who plays the Casanova is very confident. It does not look like this is his first performance on screen. If he makes the right choices, I'm sure he will go places. A bright future indeed. As for Neha, no complaints. She does a fairly impressive job. Anupama Varma who makes her presence on screen after a long time looks the sensuous seductress she portrays in her short role. The background score is too loud and the songs look forced. The film has good production values though. Sadly, it has no plot. TO GO OR NOT: To talk it all, the corpse is almost a week old. You can imagine the stench. Stay away.
