Subhash K Jha on the upside and flipside of Dil Diya Hai 
By Subhash K. Jha, September 11, 2006 - 02:30 IST
Cast: Emran Hashmi, Ashmit Patel, Geeta Basra, Mithun Chakraborty, Kittu Gidwani
Director: Aaditya Datt
Story or snoring?
The pimp is supposed to look at his intended prey with a mixture of lust and passion. Since he's played by Ashmit Patel all he can manage is a look of aloof disdain.
And all Dil Diya Hai can manage is a warning to parents who take their daughters on European sojourns. Beware of the London-walla Raja Hindustani tourist guide. He'll first take your daughter into confidence and then sell her to the nearest brothel-walla who will promptly fall in love with the intended flesh-seller and battle it out with Raja English-tani for the kidnapped girl's hand (and the rest of her shapely body).
Flipside
Geeta Basra as the headstrong fun-loving giggly tourist lets her nose-ring and war-paint do all acting. The girl focuses all her attentions on trying to look pained and bewildered after she's kidnapped….an easy task considering what embarrassing situations the plot creates for the debutante.
Still she looks more sinned against than sinned. Somewhere in this road movie that takes Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge to the pit of a psychedelic hell, Mithun Chakbraborty and the lovely Kittu Gidwani appear as a kind of aging Laila-Majnu in the wilderness. Mithun strums the gentle guitar and wields a mean gun to protect the young lovers from ruining their love.
But who protects poor Aaditya Datt from making a hash (albeit a well-intended hash) in this Aditya Chopra-meets-Sanjay Gupta concoction?
Upside
Hashmi in an author-backed role (he's there in almost frame) is required to go through a gamut of expressions, from grimace to turmoil. He passes muster. But please don't expect him to pull off a story of guilt and redemption, ala Dilip Kumar in Devdas or even Rajesh Khanna in Aap Ki Kasam.
Yes, London and its surroundings still look fetching…more so than the actors who sometimes look like they are pretexts for the luscious locations.
Jha’s judgment
As for the debutante leading lady, could she go easy on her makeup? Hearts won't melt at her predicament. But the war paint threatens to melt under the weight of overstatement.
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‘Dil Diya Hai’ team on promotion tour
