Tauba Tauba Review {1.5/5} & Review Rating
A lot of people indulge in voyeurism. And the theme of TAUBA TAUBA revolves around two young boys who derive sexual gratification from observing the naked bodies, especially from secret vantage points.
But, wait, TAUBA TAUBA is not only about voyeurism. In fact, the film can be divided into two parts. While the first half is all about voyeurism, with the interval point changing tracks to the thriller genre, the second half becomes a revenge saga. Minus blood and gore!
TAUBA TAUBA tells the story of two kids - Sunny [Amin Gazi] and Lokesh, who, like most adolescents, are attracted to the opposite sex. So much so that they even eye their teachers [Supriya Karnik].
The first term comes to an end and the children return to their homes. Sunny goes back to his empty mansion in Pune and finds his millionaire father, Mr. Shanbaug [Ayub Khan], like always, immersed in his work. A heart-broken and lonely Sunny starts visiting porn sites on the internet.
Rocky [Rocky Sandhu], Shanbaug's trusted manager, watches Sunny going through the various adult sites. Rocky is desperate to become a film producer and start a film with Shah Rukh Khan. He has even taken a loan of Rs. 10 lacs from one Sultanbhai from Multan, but its payback time now. Or else, Sultan's three henchmen, Amar [Tej Sapru], Akbar [Anil Nagrath] and Anthony [Ashok], will eliminate him.
Lokesh visits Sunny one day and informs him of this alluring woman who has come to live next to Sunny's mansion. The young woman is Payal [Payal Rohatgi], who lives all by herself.
Sunny gets friendly to Payal. And one night, Payal seduces Sunny and both spend some intimate moments together. The next morning, as Sunny wakes up, he finds Payal dead.
A shell-shocked Sunny rushes to his mansion and bumps into Rocky, who in turn asks Sunny the reason for looking scared and nervous. Sunny spills the beans. Rocky decides to help Sunny and together they bury the body in a secluded area.
But someone's spying on them! Sunny receives a courier that contains pics of Sunny burying the body. The blackmailer demands a tidy ransom [Rs. 1 crore] to 'keep his mouth shut', or else he'd reveal all to the cops.
Sunny agrees to the demands of the blackmailer. And gives the cheques to Rocky. Later, Sunny spots Payal in a shopping mall and the cat is out of the bag.
Payal tells Sunny that the entire thing was nothing but a conspiracy on the part of Rocky to extract money from Sunny. Payal had been a part of it because her boyfriend Mica [Vikas Kalantri] is to be operated upon for a spinal chord injury and therefore, she requires the money.
Sunny and Payal join hands to teach Rocky a lesson and of course, get the Rs. 1 crore back. Payal pretends to be Gauri Khan [SRK's wife] and the duo [Payal and Sunny] hatch a plot to settle scores?
As mentioned above, TAUBA TAUBA can be divided in two parts. While the first half has titillation aplenty [catering to the hoi polloi], the second half diversifies to an altogether different track. The boy steps into the shoes of a hero and does what most Hindi film heroes do effortlessly, including bashing up goons and making the culprit [Rocky] confess to his crime.
From the scripting point of view, the writer shouldn't have revealed the conspiracy hatched by Rocky and Payal soon after Sunny thinks she's dead. The suspense element should've been retained at least for some more time, till Sunny spots her in the shopping mall. From the viewer's point of view, one starts losing interest once the suspense is revealed.
Even the generous dose of skin show in the first half is completely missing in the post-interval portions. The second half gets juvenile as it progresses and the climax, though meant to be funny, is so childish that you often wonder that the writer may be under the impression that the viewer of today is as dumb as his writing.
Director T.L.V. Prasad tries to balance titillation, suspense and comedy, but does not really succeed mainly due to the weak script. Music is functional, with the title track [at the start of the film] being the pick of the lot. Cinematography is serviceable.
TAUBA TAUBA doesn't really demand histrionics as much as skin show and in that respect, Payal Rohatgi and the half-a-dozen girls, in the skimpiest of outfits, deserve distinction marks. Payal does a neat job as an actress though. Amin Gazi suits the character of a school kid and acts ably. Rocky Sandhu is passable. Ayub Khan has just three scenes, while Vikas Kalantri has one song and a scene. Laxmikant Berde and Bobby Darling are okay. Lokesh, as Amin's friend, is excellent.
On the whole, TAUBA TAUBA is meant for those looking for titillation. At the box-office, it will have to rely at smaller centres to leave a mark. Its reasonable price, coupled with the catchy promos, should prove advantageous.
