FILM REVIEW: VAAH LIFE HO TO AISI (2005)

Producer: Sangeeta Ahir
Director: Mahesh Manjrekar
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao and Sanjay Dutt
Music: Himesh Reshammiya
Lyrics: Sameer

Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi - definitely a flavor of this week

Director Mahesh Manjrekar first comedy cum fantasy venture Vaah Life Ho To Aisi is not just a kidstuff, it is beautiful effort which everyone will appreciate. This movie will rekindle the child in you and if you are looking for some fun, excitement and animation, then this is the right choice baby!

Like all fantasy movies, it will take you to an altogether different world, where all things are possible. Just don’t take logic with you to the cinema hall, it will not be required their. The base plot of the movie reminds you of various movies of the same genre but lot of imagination has been used on sub plots, side characters and unique packaging.

Aditya Singh (Shahid Kapur) is a devoted guy who loves his family - his grandmother (Suhasini Mulay), brother (Mohnish Bahl), sister-in-law (Ekta Bahl), his sister Antara and his nine nephews referred as Tigers. The kids fondly call him Adi chachu and life is a merry-go-round for them especially when their tutor Neha (Amrita Rao) is around because they know that their Adi chachu has a crush on her. But apart from fun and teasing, Aditya has to work hard to fulfill the needs of his family. He has a Car Garage and is working on a new car which runs on solar energy. He knows that before he commit his love to Neha he must find a good match for his sister Antara. Shahid arranges Antara’s match with Vineeet who demands 50 lakh dowry from him and 50% of it in advance. In order to fulfill Vineeet demands Aditya decides to mortgage his house to builders for the Rs 25 lakh because he is confident that he will repay the loan back in time, as he and his partner Vikram are on the verge of getting a good contract. Vineeet get engaged to Antara when he gets his money and love blossoms between Aditya and Neha. Just when things are looking rosy, Aditya meets with an accident and dies in hospital.

The soul of Aditya meets Yamraj (Sunjay Dutt) who has come to the hospital with a small boy, Shakti (also dead some time ago). Here is an unusual Yamraj who tech-savvy. He drives away Aditya and Shakti in his luxurious vintage car over the clouds to heaven. Aditya who was so far amazed by this modern Yamraj thinks about his family and their future, without him. He asks Yamraj to show him the fate of his family in a fast forward manner. Seeing their life would be worse than hell, the softhearted Yamraj starts crying.

Upon Aditya’s request Yamraj gives him a chance to make matters right for his family by sending him to earth for a few days. He sends Shakti along with him and set their deadline to remain on earth for just seven days. When Aditya reach his home he finds that the builders with whom he took loan are troubling his family. He tries to console his family and help them but nobody can see or hear him. Depressed, he and Shakti are sitting on a pavement, crying their heart out, just then Fakira (Arshad Warsi) gets up from his sleep, shouts at them to shut up and not to disturb him. This means that Fakira - a medium who specializes in connecting humans with the dear departed, can hear and see them. Aditya request him to help them, so Fakira teach them though meditation how to invoke lord Hanuman, through which they will get supernatural powers for ten minutes, every 24 hours. With this power Aditya vow to make all those suffer, who has dared to mess with his family.

The second half of the movie is about how Aditya set score with villains. Since Aditya has now got supernatural powers he can very easily destroy them. But this is where the story looses the pace and a lot of boring songs are packed one after the other which takes away all the fun. Another thing - this part of the story is very predictable without any twist and turns. The director must have added something here to make it interesting, may be more of Arshad Warsi and Sunjay Dutt at this junction would have added some laugh to the movie. Again half an hour before the climax, the story becomes gripping when all action take place with a very satisfying end.

The Film has some really watch-able and memorable scenes - when Sanjay Dutt makes his entry and opens the Screen to check who is to die and how many seconds are left for him, Sanju, Shahid and Shakti driving over clouds pass over Hell and Shahid watches down to see Hell, when Shahid and Shakti return to earth, Arshad Warsi chanting Hanuman Chalisa devotional song.

Mahesh Manjrekar has written this movie especially with the young ones in mind and he has completely justified in his effort. Very less kid movies are made in India. It’s a relief that some people efforts will change this trend and we will hopefully have more such stuff in future. Shahid Kapoor has putted his heart and soul in his performance. Amrita Rao has also played her part with conviction but her chemistry with Shahid does not reach its all time high. Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi were Manjrekar’s best bargain. Mohnish Behl as Shahid Kapoor’s elder brother work is not commendable, just ok. Prem Chopra looks out of place and old fashioned. Dialogues are superb, especially Fakira’s. All kids have worked well and their presence gives a naughty appeal to the movie.

Vaah! A complete family movie, don’t feel shy to watch it.

RS Rating: 7/10

Credit: This review was submitted by Ankit Jain of Footprints.in. They run their own movie Blog at DCECinemas. To submit your own review for posting on radiosargam.com please email.