Article Updated 31 January, 2004 09:30:18 PM IST   'Woh Tera Naam Tha' - Avoidable! By Prema K. ©2004 Bollyvista.com   The film is set in 1956 in Bhopal and is the story of a maestro of Hindustani classical music, Ustad Samad Khan (Amrish Puri), and his daughter, Reshma (Kanchi Kaul). She has a childhood friend, Badruddin (Gaurav Chanana), a tangewala brought up by Samad. He is her silent lover but is heartbroken when he discovers that she has fallen in love with a Delhi-based photojournalist, Akthar (Arjan Bajwa), whom he had befriended. Reshma's friend, Naseer (Shalini Pal), is in love with Badru but her love is unrequited. Badru has eyes only for Reshma. However, soon he reconciles himself to the fact that Reshma and Akthar love each other deeply but in true filmi style tragedy strikes the young lovers. This leads to an action-packed climax. Badru (as he is referred to in the film) brings forth a few claps and whistles from the audience for his action scenes as well as his supreme sacrifice. Wish the cinematographer had indulged in a few close ups in the climax. The first half of the film is bearable. It has its light and funny moments. The 'mehndi' song is lively and enjoyable. However post-interval, the film becomes torturous. There is unwanted melodrama thrown in for effect but it misfires. Doesn't seem like the audience has the patience for all this today. A couple of songs could have been easily done away with. The song in which Badru behaves like Devdas, when he learns about Reshma and Akthar's romance is hilarious. A pity it was meant to be tragic. The qawwali too could have been avoided. The title track is okay but the rest of the songs are mediocre. The romance developing between Reshma and Akthar is cute and very convincing. The film has its dose of emotions (between Reshma and her father too), and there are a few tender moments but on the whole it seems very dated. People from Bhopal will surely agree to this. The film does not boast of a star cast but the four newcomers have put in decent performances. The sincerity in their performance is seen on screen. If only they had been given a better script and an intelligent director. Rajat Bedi as a young nawab looks the part but lacks the decorum expected of a nawab. Amrish Puri is his dependable good self. Ditto for Prem Chopra. This one is surely not worth investing 3 hours in. Strictly avoidable! ** (TWO STARS) *poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/29/1776