Rishtey Review {2/5} & Review Rating
Indra Kumar's RISHTEY also deals with relationships.
Anil Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor love each other, but Karisma's father (Amrish Puri), a tycoon, opposes this relationship. That's because Anil is a middle class youth, with no riches whatsoever.
Karisma walks out of her father's home and marries Anil. Everything is fine till one day she receives an invite for a family wedding. Anil forces her to attend the marriage and it is there that Karisma comes face to face with her estranged father.
Puri pretends to forgive Karisma for the 'mistake' she has committed and Karisma invites him to meet her husband. But as soon as she enters her apartment, she finds a seductress (Deepshikha) inside, wearing Karisma's gown and stirring up a cup of tea in the kitchen.
On questioning her, Deepshikha reveals that she not only shares her clothes and kitchen, but even her husband. This incident creates a rift between Anil and Karisma and the latter walks out of the house.
Karisma delivers a baby boy, but the devious Puri orders his henchmen to eliminate the newborn. Anil arrives at the nick of time and flees with his baby. He shifts to an unknown destination and raises his son by himself.
Till one day when Karisma spots Anil and their son. She wants the son back and a legal battle ensues. What happens next?
RISHTEY has an impressive storyline (Rajiv Kaul ? Praful Parekh) and several twists and turns to keep the viewer engrossed, and on tenterhooks at times. But the story does have its share of inspirations from films like KUNWARA BAAP (the school race), RAJA HINDUSTANI (the husband-wife relationship), BOXER (the ring fights) and AKELE HUM AKELE TUM (courtroom sequences).
The film starts on a dramatic note and the pace is maintained right till the race competition (brilliantly executed), but it slips considerably as Shilpa Shetty's character is introduced. From being a father-son saga, the story starts focusing on the one-sided Shilpa-Anil affair.
The pace gathers momentum again at the interval point and the flashback portion in the second half keeps the audience interest alive. But in the post-interval portions, things are stretched to such an extent that the viewer starts getting restless.
But there's no denying the fact that RISHTEY does boast of a handful of sequences that remain etched in your memory even after the show has concluded. The race sequence in the initial reels and the delicate scenes between the father and son are well penned and executed with aplomb. The emotions do strike a chord in these portions.
The sequence between Karisma and Amrish Puri in the pre-climax, when she registers a tight slap on his face, is another example of polished writing and brilliantly execution.
Director Indra Kumar is in his elements in a few dramatic sequences, but the hammer-strong impact of his previous works (DIL, BETA, RAJA) is missing this time. He should've stuck to the father-son-mother relationship, instead of deviating to various tracks.
Sanjeev-Darshan's music is another sore point. The film clearly lacks an enticing score, which was also the hallmark of the maker's earlier projects. Barring one song ('Apna Bana Hain'), the remaining numbers are strictly average.
Baba Azmi's camerawork is stylish and amongst the fine points of the film. Dialogue are nice at places.
Anil Kapoor is a complete miscast ? the role demanded an overtly strong personality (physical appearance). Although the actor has done a credible job, mainly in the emotional sequences, seeing him bash up wrestlers, bigger than him in size, is hard to digest.
Karisma's role ? a suffering mother ? reminds you of the recently-released SHAKTI-THE POWER instantaneously, but the actress comes up with a sincere performance. Shilpa Shetty is alright, although she should stop imitating Sridevi. The child artiste is cute and a complete natural. Amrish Puri is getting typecast. Sadashiv Amrapurkar is effective.
On the whole, RISHTEY is a decent film that has emotional moments as its trump card, which may find some flavour with women and the family audience. The Idd holidays should also help in boosting the prospects.