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By Taran Adarsh, December 12, 2003 - 17:04 IST
A.B.C. Pictures P. Ltd.'s WRONG NUMBER is loosely inspired by films like KHEL KHEL MEIN [Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh] and KHILADI [Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Julka, Deepak Tijori], but comes across as a poor cousin of the two whodunits.
The film begins with the introduction of four friends – Mahi [Richa Pallod], her friend Aarti [Rinku Ghosh], a happy-go-lucky lass, Karan [Parvin Dabas], a studious boy in love with Mahi and Monty [Vrajesh Hirjee], the prankster, who also happens to be a part-time fashion photographer.
The group of four keeps making random phone calls to people. Mahi and Aarti entice them and they all have a good laugh at the call receiver's expense. Till one day, they meet their match in Raj [Rakesh Bapat], who turns the tables on them.
Raj earns their respect and Mahi's love too. But catastrophe strikes… Mahi's father [Benjamin Gilani] is murdered for unknown reasons.
All hell breaks loose as the killer goes on a rampage. It seems, one by one the entire group of friends will be wiped out…
The problem with WRONG NUMBER is that it vacillates between a love story and a suspense thriller, making the viewer wonder whether he is watching a romantic fare or an edge-of-the-seat flick.
The first half has songs in abundance. In fact, the songs flow one after the other after every 7-10 minutes, without any rhyme or reason. Besides, the story hardly moves in this half.
The interval point does raise expectations of a better second half, but the moment the identity of the killer is revealed [even before the pre-climax], the film loses its grip. Ideally, the writer and director should've revealed the identity of the killer towards the very end, keeping the viewer guessing all through. Even the climax could've been better conceived. The reason that prompts the killer to go on a rampage lacks a strong ground.
Jignesh M. Vaishnav's direction lacks the impact required for a whodunit. Although he has executed two murder sequences skillfully [Benjamin Gilani and Rinku Ghosh], the effort in totality lacks fire.
The biggest flaw of the film is its half-baked screenplay [Sunjiv Puri]. In fact, the writer seems to have taken the viewer for granted. For, the screenplay is devoid of thrills and chills and barring Rinku's murder, none of the sequences really send a chill down the spine.
Daboo Malik's music sounds pleasant, but the placement of all songs is such the impact is lost. The background score [Raju Rao] is okay. Cinematography [Indrajeet Bansal] is of standard.
Rakesh Bapat hams to the hilt. Also, he looks tired at some places and fresh in some. There's inconsistency in his looks. Parvin Dabas gets no scope. Richa Pallod is quite nice. Rinku Ghosh looks alluring and makes her presence felt. Vrajesh Hirjee plays to the gallery. Yash Tonk is alright. Tinnu Anand and Benjamin Gilani have nothing worthwhile to do.
On the whole, WRONG NUMBER just does not connect with the viewer. A dull fare, it faces an uphill task due to weak merits and a poor opening.
 
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