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DVD Review |
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By Joginder Tuteja, August 19, 2008 - 13:02 IST
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Nakuul Mehta, Amita Pathak, Adhyayan Suman
Director: Anil Devgan
Producer: Kumar Mangat
Music: Vishal Bharadwaj, Anand Raj Anand, Pritam Chakraborty, Raghav Sachar
Lyrics: Munna Dhiman, Sameer, Shabbir Ahmed, Aditya Dhar.
THE FILM
It makes you pinch yourself really hard into believing that you are actually watching a film in the 21st century when the setting is terribly outdated and the jokes completely banal. It makes you feel really-really bad for all the actors out there who are made to become a part of a film like this, which on paper itself is a failure in the making.
It makes you feel sad for all the music directors who have come up with some real good work, all of which will certainly go down the drain due to an absolutely poor film.
One wonders what exactly the story is (if there is any) that Haal-E-Dil is trying to tell. If an ordinary plot is not bad enough (boy meets girl who is already in love with some other boy who has been forced to stay away due to 'zameen-asmaan ka difference' between their social status etc. etc., you got the picture, right?), the narrative completely kills whatever little impact it could have possibly made. It is jerky, to say the least. One doesn't know why is the central protagonist here (Amita) so irritated about life most of the time.
Perpetually in an annoyed state, whether it is her sister or friends or the guy who is trying to get closer to her (ok, this is something that one can understand), Amita just doesn't get to smile much. And to think of it, it is absolutely criminal on the part of everyone associated with the film to have given her a launch pad like this where the only time she actually gets to smile are the numerous songs which play in the film.
Talking about songs, this is the only aspect that keeps Haal-E-Dil going from start to finish. Occupying almost half screen time of the film, this is the best part about Haal-E-Dil. Normally one fast-forwards the songs when watched on home video; in case of Haal-E-Dil one is forced to do so for the film. It is to the credit to not just the composers but cinematographer Rajeev Ravi who deserves 10 out of 10 for capturing 'desi' as well as 'videsi' locales in an excellent manner.
However, his cause is helped much by director Anil Devgan who keeps flip-flopping between campus grounds and railway compartment (basically a studio set with screen images running in the background - remember the 70's cinema). Ok, so all this is still tolerable courtesy Nakuul who plays the part of a real irritating guy in an absolute believable manner (this actually is a compliment) and somehow one doesn't really mind the first 45 minutes even though desperately waiting for something interesting to happen.
' Lekin ultimately kuch hota hi nahi'! After a Jab We Met kind of a situation where a taxi driver gives lift to Nakuul and Amita after they miss their train, the film goes completely downhill. The biggest shocker is reserved for the early part of the second half when it is revealed that Adhyayan is dead. 'Ab ye flashback tha ya present time'? As you figure out in about 10 minutes time (yes, I am dumb but still smarter than the person sitting next to me who thought that this may well be a story about reincarnation), the movie has already moved on to it's next leg.
And this is where it becomes a really ridiculous piece of cinema. Getting into a no 'roti', no 'kapda' (no new ones actually) and no 'makaan' kind of a situation, Nakuul gets into a 'dharna' setting in front of Amita's 'pahaadon waali kothi'. Guess what, she actually relents (wish convincing someone in love was so simple), comes to him even as he is half-dead, gives him a hug and yo, Devdas turns into a Tom Cruise a la Top Gun and drives away in sunset.
A pity that he had to walk since at that time he didn't have a bike to do so!
PACKAGING
Going by the tradition, EROS again comes up with a sleek-n-glossy packing made of plastic and paper combination
DURATION
The film comes in a single DVD pack with the film's duration being 130 minutes.
SPECIAL FEATURES
If the film by itself wasn't bad enough, the makers actually believed that audience would be interested in watching it's making. And that too which lasts close to 30 minutes! Anyways, the amusing part about the making here is producer Kumar Mangat and director Anil Devgan declaring that they were actually bowled over by the script. Apparently, they had given a go-ahead on it in quick time and the result was Haal-E-Dil. Interesting!
What is nice though is to see the 'behind the scenes' events during the film's making. Generally centered on filming at outdoor locations, the making actually shows that how much hard work had the crew put on the film, only to see a shoddy script and execution killing the product completely.
Cast and crew interviews belong to the general 'I had a great experience' variety. And when Amita says that she could relate to Sanjana (the character she plays) because she is so much like her, you know that it is just another advertisement capsule in motion. Yes, of course everyone ends up saying that so and so is the nicest person he or she has worked with, though one wonders how Adhyayan would react to this now considering he has gone on record to state that Haal-E-Dil has been the worst film of the year!
Towards the end, Anil Devgan claims that he would never forget Haal-E-Dil. Now this is the most believable moment of the entire DVD!
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
PRICE
Rs. 149/=
CONCLUSION
There are some films that make one feel like picking up the phone, call up the writer and the director and ask a question in an exasperated tone - 'Mera Kasoor Kya Tha' (what was my fault)? Haal-E-Dil is one of those films.
  
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