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By Our Correspondent ©2002 Bollyvista.com |
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Credits
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| Producer/s: |
Nitin Manmohan |
| Director: |
Anees Bazmee |
| Cast: |
Akshaye Khanna, Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar, Farida Jalal |
| Music: |
Ismail Darbar |
| Lyrics: |
Salim Bijnori, Nusrat Badr |
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Anees Bazmee, who's sort of mastered the art of remaking Hollywood flicks frame by frame, is the guy responsible for writing and directing Neha Arts' Deewangee. The first half of the film is inspired by the Hollywood hit Primal Fear (1996; starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton) and the second half is the newer version of Yash Chopra's Darr, which in turn had shades of Cape Fear and Sleeping With The Enemy. Having said that Deewangee does offer a few spellbinding moments that hit you like a bolt out of the blue. The drama in the film unfolds at a slick pace and many times catches a viewer off guard.
Here's the outline of the story - Raj Goyal (Akshaye Khanna) is a successful criminal lawyer, who has yet to lose a case. Dedicated to his profession he remains fully committed to fighting for the innocent and bringing the culpable under the baton of law. Much to his mother's (Farida Jalal) dismay, who who'd like to see him get married, he completely overlooks his personal life.
This trait, however, changes when Raj gets to know Sargam (Urmila Matondakar), who's a popular singer and has several hit albums under her belt. She hires Raj to defend her childhood friend and guru Tarang (Ajay Devgan).
Tarang is caught red-handed running away from the site of music baron Ashwin Mehta's (Vijayendra Ghatge) murder, but claims he's very innocent and manages to convince Raj that he is being framed. So Raj takes up the challenge of defending a man who is most certainly headed for the gallows. In order to do so, he must now hunt down the real killer. But as he begins his investigations, Raj gets embroiled in a mystery that could lead to his own killing. Before he realizes it, he is being stalked by someone who doesn't want him to get at the truth. Someone, who would commit another murder to cover the previous one.
Deewangee - a love triangle with a murder mystery as the backdrop evokes mixed feelings from the audience.
The first half of Deewangee is full of surprises. Particularly gripping are the courtroom scenes and the sequences between Ajay and Akshaye. The scenes featuring Seema Biswas and Ajay, especially the one when Ajay’s split personality comes to the fore, further elevate the audience interest.
Among the highlights of the film is the interval point that catches the viewer completely unaware. A couple of good twists to the plot help the film to keep the suspense moving.
However, the film strays into absurdities in the second half when Ajay lands up at the show as a co-dancer and soon thereafter, kidnaps Urmila by guising himself as her driver. The director hasn’t taken Ajay’s character to its conclusive end in the climax leaving many questions unanswered.
Another sore point is Ismail Darbar's music, which fails to elevate the goings-on. The tunes are just about okay and how one wishes that a story that had so much to do with music (it depicts a music baron, a pop star and a music composer), had everlasting melodies to offer.
The film's plus points are its cinematography by Pushan Kripalani and action by Bhiku and Pappy Verma.
Deewangee gives you two more reasons to sit through the film. Ajay Devgan and Akshaye Khanna. Devgan maintains his track record for good performance with this film, it's the latter's handling of the role that amazes you. Akshaye's reputation as a natural born actor gets cemented. His growth as a consummate, exquisite performer is an eye-opener, so is his choice of roles. Urmila Matondkar is just about average.
Technically, the film is very good. If only Anees Bazmee had kept a tighter reign on the script in the second half, Deewangee could have been amazing. All in all, Deewangee is a gritty thriller that is likely to entertain most of the Bollywood movies fan out there. |
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