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at 01:02:26 am on November 19, 2006
Director: Faruq Masudi
Cast: Jimmy Shergill Saloni Aswani. Rakesh Bedi, Mushtaq Khan, Vrijesh Hirjee
Rahul Khan (Jimmy Shergill, looking like he’s stepped out of a Peter England ad) comes to Dubai, for the same reason as everyone else; a better future, more money. Here he falls for rich kid Naha (Saloni Aswani — Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya, Saawan – The Love Season), who does precious little with her life and is whiny to a fault.
The hero quits his steady job to start a business, fails, and then tries other jobs, struggles to fight life’s twists and turns, while trying to keep a steady head. Your story? Exactly. The story of Rahul is everyman’s story and you wonder what’s so special about his life? Is he facing all these hardships because he’s in Dubai? Hell, no, the guy’s lucky enough to find one good job after the other. And this could very well happen to him in India as well, no?
Shergill who has proved his mettle with performance-oriented roles like in Haasil, Yahaan and Lage Raho Munnabhai, does an OK job here. Saloni is annoyingly inexpressive; but then again, her role is extremely inconsequential.
There’s an attempt to add comedy with Rakesh Bedi as a die hard Amitabh Bachchan fan and restaurant owner, who’s named himself Big B, and dons a Bachchan-enacted character every day. The dialogues are funny at times. One has Big B consoling an upset Rahul with- ‘Har film Sholay nahin ho sakti. Kabhi kabhi Lal Baadshah aur Boom bhi ho jati hai.’ Corny, yes, but at least it’s innovative!
Noteworthy is the tunnel scene, when a disturbed Rahul is coming to terms with his friend’s death. It’s well-shot, well conceived, and well executed. It really mirrors the potential the film and the filmmaker had, given a better platform.
Some of the songs are ho-hum, while a couple like ‘Rehguzar’ sung by Sukhwinder Singh, ‘Allah Hu’ sung by Adnan Sami and ‘Habibi Habibi’, that sounds curiously like Sharara Sharara really stand out. Undoubtedly, the songs are the strengths of the film, and Aadesh Shrivastava is in form.
Background music and camerawork is competent. Director Faruq Masudi, who has also produced the film, shows sparks of potential in some of the scenes.
Coming back to the story… what happens to people who leave their hometown and come to Dubai? If you have no clue, the film will not tell you a great deal. Like I said, the story doesn’t seem Dubai-centric. It could be Rahul’s life anywhere in the world, even in his own country. And since exposing the working life in Dubai is the background and purpose of the film, it’s little wonder that the premise falls flat.
Strangely, Rehguzar hasn’t been publicized in the least, and has released in a handful of low profile theatres. This is no classic, but one has seen worse films. And this deserved a fair chance, if nothing else.
