Nasha Review {2/5} & Review Rating
A number of movies have depicted a brewing 'love story' between a young boy and an older woman and vice versa. NASHA is no different. This one marks the debut of Poonam Pandey, who has been in the news for varied reasons. Besides exuding heat, Poonam tries her level best to spell seduction with the capital 'S'.
NASHA has been made on a plot which has been the domain to many likeminded films like MERA NAM JOKER [1970], DOOSRA AADMI [1977], EK NAYI PAHELI [1984], MAYA MEMSAAB [1993], EK CHHOTISI LOVE STORY [2002], NISHABD [2007] and CHEENI KUM [2007], wherein a young boy/man falls for an older woman or vice versa. Even though the promotions of NASHA make the audience's expectation meter soar really high, expecting more of skin show in the process, director Amit Saxena serves an emotional tale instead of padding the narrative with steamy sequences.
NASHA tells the story of an 18-year-old boy [Shivam Patil], who falls hopelessly in love with a 25-year-old woman [Poonam Pandey]. Life is pretty normal for the teenager with flashy clothes, a pretty girl friend, the summer vacations and his gang of friends, who are up to some trick or the other. The moment Shivam sees Poonam, he not only falls for her charms, but also starts dreaming and fantasizing about her day and night. All of this eventually leads to a roller coaster ride of love getting entangled with lust and sprinkled with doses of jealousy and possessiveness.
With a film that's woven around such a plot, exploring myriad emotions, one expects more than a love story in films of this genre. While director Amit Saxena tries to explore every possible angle of growing up years in a teenager's life, the film suffers in its first half itself, but manages to pace up in the post-interval portions. Even though it ends on a conventional note, there's hardly any innovation that one can bring to this film considering the plot/theme of the film.
Come to think of it, the writing barely offers anything new to the spectator. One can't really blame the writer/s for the lack of novelty in the story as there's hardly anything that one can write in a film where the mainstay/focus is purely on skin show, which, incidentally, is limited too. However, the DoP captures not just the beauty of the scenic locales, but also human emotions justifiably. Besides, this one's more of a treatment film, with the effective background score enhancing and elevating a number of sequences.
Poonam Pandey needs to work really hard on her expressions and dialogue delivery. The surprise packet of the film, however, is Shivam, who appears supremely confident and has the potential to grow as an actor. He seems to be completely at ease before the camera. Vishal Bhonsle, as Poonam's boyfriend, is perfect. The seasoned actors who play Shivam's father and uncle are also natural. The director has beautifully captured their awkwardness and hesitations when they go to Poonam to enquire about her relationship with their child. The young actors playing Shivam's friends are self-assured.
On the whole, NASHA is more of an emotional love story than a film that rides on skin fest. An average fare!
