FILM
REVIEW: AITRAAZ (2004)
Producer:
Subhash Ghai
Directors: Abbas and Mustan Burmawala
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra
RS
RATING: 4/10
SYNOPSIS:
Raj Malhotra (Akshay Kumar) is a young man madly in love with Sonia
(Priyanka Chopra). Whilst Raj is full of life, Sonia is more concerned
with her career, which she always give priority. In fact the attractive
lass even dumps Raj so she can spend more time working. Poor old Raj
re-evaluates his life and meets Priya (Kareena Kapoor). They fall in
love and marry each other. Raj even gets a good job at a mobile phone
company. Life runs smoothly until Raj’s boss Ranjit introduces
his wife…Sonia! After re-entering Raj’s life, Sonia is desperate
to reclaim him once again. Her possessive personality takes over but
Raj keeps rejecting her advances. However one fine day she does manage
to almost seduce him…although the plans are ruined when Raj spots
his wife’s locket and changes his mind. After a heated exchange
of words, he leaves.
The next
morning as he returns to work, his boss and Sonia accuse Raj of raping
her and give him an option to either resign or face charges in court.
Raj refuses to resign. So the scene now shifts to the court. Raj
has some evidence to prove that he is innocent. That evidence is present
with his lawyer Ram, who is unfortunately bumped off and the other lawyer
Patel is now ready to win. Now
Priya who had been silent all the while jumps into the fray. She was
a law student who finished her law, but never practiced. She takes the
side of her husband, as she trusts him. She loves her husband as well
and is ready to bare all in a bid to prove his innocence. But does she
manage?
CRITIQUE:
Aitraaz could have been a disaster. It is partly saved by the oomph
of Priyanka Chopra. But that’s all in the film. Priyanka sizzles
in the first half of the film. She is hot and happening. She takes the
audience by the collar and makes them watch her. But that’s all.
There is nothing more in the film to write home about. The screenplay
is weak. Abbas and Mustan have made some sensible thrillers before.
Their logic was probably undefeatable till I saw the film. I realized
that even Abbas and Mustan could make a mistake in an effort to compromise.
Kareena
Kapoor does well in just one confrontation scene with Priyanka. She
is just passable throughout. Akshay has some corny lines… like
‘life is not like having lunch’ among others. We are informed
that Akshay had taken special pains to even write some of his lines
and even sat on the edit machine for the film. Now we know what kind
of scenes he must have cut.
Anyway,
the ‘I want to make love to you’ song… has been shot
with a steady cam on a single take. That effort is definitely worth
commending. The cinematography is tolerable, but the Himesh Reshammiya
songs are a let down. As a result, the choreographer has nothing much
to offer. Though Ganesh Acharya has done a better job in ‘I want
to make love to you’ when Sunil Khanpur has held the steady cam
well.
Conclusion:
If you have too much on your plate during Diwali and Eid, give this
one a miss!
Reviewed
by: Qamar
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