|
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
By Taran Adarsh, December 15, 2000 - 16:49 IST
Bhagwan Chitra Mandir's BICHHOO tells the story of a young man, Jeeva, who becomes a criminal after he avenges the death of his girlfriend, who commits suicide due to her father's atrocities. Jeeva later migrates to another city, where he comes across a family living in his neighbourhood. The head of the family, who has close links with the kingpin of the drug trade and a narcotics officer, is later killed along with his family members by the narcotics officer, when
things go wrong between the two. However, his daughter Kiran, who witnesses the murders, is saved, since she happens to be with Jeeva at the time. The narcotics officer learns of this and is constantly on her trail. Jeeva and Kiran fall in love, but Kiran lives under constant fear of the threat to her life. How Jeeva helps her to get over her fears, forms the crux of the film.
The unusual title of the film has generated considerable curiosity about the film. But the film hardly confirms to expectations generated by its pre-release publicity. The film starts on a promising note and one expects an edge-of-the-seat kind of entertainment, but as the drama unfolds, it fails to retain the interest of the viewer.
The story, a revenge drama, has been witnessed several times on screen earlier. Nevertheless, the first few scenes carry a lot of promise, especially at the point in the film when Bobby Deol kills the builder (Pramod Moutho) and the story gathers momentum. But the plot slackens soon after and the film starts dragging.
In fact, the length of the film is its biggest drawback, with quite a few scenes totally unwarranted. Even the placement of the songs is non-situational ('Tote Tote', 'Jeevan Mein Jaane Jaana', 'Ishq Ki Zanjeeron Mein') and are in no way connected to the storyline.
Surprisingly, the title of the film is 'Bichhoo' and one would have expected much more from this 'character', as the publicity of the film hammered, but one hardly sees it in the film.
The screenplay also has several loose ends, leaving a lot of questions unanswered. For instance, despite taking revenge, what was the reason behind Bobby turning a killer? Why does Rani lose sight of her aim to avenge her brother's death? For some reason, Guddu Dhanoa seems to have forgotten the revenge aspect in the film, with the screenplay shifting to romance and music. Even the romance between Bobby and Rani is not well-developed at all.
The climax is even more far-fetched, when Bobby manages to rescue Rani, when surrounded in a flat by more than fifty gun-toting officers of the narcotics department. The film also lacks in light moments, with the result that there is excessive tension at several points in the film.
Despite all these drawbacks, the film has one major advantage in its action sequences. The action scenes are well executed and will be loved by the masses.
Peformance-wise, Bobby Deol gives his level best to his role and even manages to give a remarkable conviction to his performance, despite the limitations of the screenplay. Rani Mukherji performs well but she is loud at some places and irritates at places, while acting like
a kid. Ashish Vidyarthi impresses and gives an outstanding account of himself. It is after a long time that he is in form. Ishrat Ali is loud. Malaika Arora-Khan (sp. app.) fails to impress.
Anand Raaj Anand's music is good and at least three numbers are foot-tapping - 'Tote Tote', 'Jeevan Mein Jaane Jaana' and 'Saanu Ek Waar'. As mentioned earlier, the placement of these songs reduces their impact. Cinematography (Shripad Natu) is competent. Action (Tinu Verma) deserves special marks. The background music is effective. Production values are excellent.
On the whole, BICHHOO hardly manages to confirm to the expectations surrounding it. This 'Bichhoo' does not 'sting' (impress)!
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
