Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia D'Souza, Om Puri, Tinnu Anand
Director: Mandeep Kumar
When you know that the lead pair of a film is already married, you expect some kind of chemistry between them but most of the time they just fail to bring that off-screen tuning on to the screen. The first half of 'Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya' demonstrates just that, however the experience and understanding of each other’s personality traits start to create a believable scenario in the second half.
The basic storyline is absolutely simple; there is nothing that you haven't seen before. An adventurous Sikh girl Mini (Genelia D'Souza) doesn't want to marry the boy her father Bhatti (Tinnu Anand) has selected. Mini loves her father but she likes her independence more than anything. Her flamboyance is Bhatti's biggest problem while other eligible bachelors of the area see Mini as a Canadian passport.
On the other hand, Viren (Riteish Deshmukh) is a poor auto-rickshaw driver who doesn't believe in short-cuts. Viren thinks that his employer Bhatti has cheated him and thus he wants to take revenge for it. Mini utilises the situation and stages her fake kidnapping without knowing that the proceedings can lead them to dangerous circumstances. She realises this only after finding that Viren is actually the son of a dreaded kidnapper Chaudhary (Om Puri) but thanks to her flamboyance Mini soon gels with everyone in the family. In fact, the family starts to see Mini-Viren as a couple until Viren refuses to marry Mini.
The screenplay of the film follows a simple structure. Beginning with a problem, middle with fast changing plots and climax with a definite resolution. There is not a single moment in the film where an average cinema goer can't predict the story. Dearth of ideas begins to appear from the opening sequence only when Viren rises to the alarm of a table-clock. Setting a film in Haryana-Punjab doesn't mean you need to show stereotypes. It's quite understandable that the director Mandeep Kumar wanted to make a light hearted film but who had stopped him from exploring the setup. It's irritating to see the camera zooming in and taking close ups when you can see a beautiful shrine in the background. Either take that properly in the frame or don't take it at all, because it still fetches the audience's attention.
The lack of imagination is visible in the kidnapping scene where everything looks very artificial, and very repetitive. The dialogue writer has actually saved the day at more than one instance. One liners work but they could have been placed at better moments. For example, the actor who wants to marry Genelia for a Canadian visa kills the essence of the dialogue with the help of a blank face when he says," Ek Sikh ladki ko jo chahiye wo mere paas hai..Jatt, zameen, gypsy" (I have everything that a Sikh girl could want...Jatt, land and gypsy). A little extra work on the characterisation of secondary characters would have made the film more authentic. Chaudhari's character definitely brings smiles on the spectators' faces but Naveen Prabhakar, Chitrasi Rawat and Smita Jaykar don't rise above the ordinary level, and it's not their fault because the storyteller moves on to other plots after merely touching their back stories.
The film revolves around Genelia, Riteish and Om Puri to some extent. Riteish is among those rare actors who really have a good comic timing but the lack of opportunities restricts him from showing his real acting potential.
Till when will see him doing the Michael Jackson dance or flaunting the 'over burdened' look? Come on, this is the high time when Riteish should be given something new to do.
Genelia is typecast by now and it's hard to expect anything new from her in the near future. Have you seen any film where she does anything else than playing a bubbly girl?
However, this doesn't mean that 'Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya' has nothing good. The second half is really enjoyable and the cinematography excels at points, especially in songs.
The editor has done a sleek job but cutting at some places appear jarring. Whenever there is a vehicle coming and stopping, the editor has preferred to cut to the long shot right after the close up, which doesn't seem to go with the flow.
The mood that Mandeep Kumar has created throughout the film is the highlight. The climax makes you feel for the boy without getting too heavy on the nerves.
Atif Aslam's 'Piya O Re Piya' stands out in the album but it will probably not catch your lips. Veena Malik's item number is another dud of the album. Basically, the colourful ambiance of the songs catches more attention than the tunes.
Undoubtedly, 'Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya' is a feel good film and you won't find many dull moments but you should also not expect anything fresh.
A good watch this weekend if you are more into Hindi films and don't want to see big Hollywood films releasing alongside 'Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya'. The film deserves 2.5 out of 5.
####
Comments
0 comment