Article Updated 15 May, 2004 06:40:39 PM IST   'Lakeer' - 'When Time Stood Still!' By Prema K. ©2004 Bollyvista.com   Watching this disaster will make one feel like time has stood still. Three hours have never seemed so long. We wonder what choreographer-turned-writer-director Ahmed Khan had in mind while making this film! He takes his own time to introduce his five main characters that one can't help feeling. Tasteless Art direction (was there any really?) and the garish clothes all add to the drudgery of watching the film. If 'Lakeer' suggests that it's a film based on Indo-Pak relationships then you're wrong. Sunny Deol plays Arjun Rana, a don with a conscience, and is very popular with people as well as with the police commissioner. He is firmly attached to his foster brother Karan (Sohail Khan), whose father, Baba, had supported him as an orphan and initiated into the mafia. If you are expecting an underworld film, then you are wrong again. The film is about relationships and how circumstances change when relationships cross the forbidden lines. So the title, 'Lakeer'. Coming back to the story, Arjun is equally attached to his foster sister, Bindiya (Nauheed Cyrusi), another orphan whom Baba had taken under his wing. Like all brothers, Arjun too wants the best for his siblings and wants to keep them away from his dangerous world. Suniel Shetty (Sanju), the local mechanic and a real toughie idolizes Arjun, and has a younger sibling Sahil (John Abraham) whom he dotes on. As films have it, Sahil studies in the same college as Karan and Bindiya. So there is great scope for songs and a car-race. We wonder why every filmmaker after 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' believes that cheerleaders, pompoms, and Kawasaki bikes are all there is to college life? Life cannot be all fun and games. So Sahil has a crush on Bindiya, who reciprocates his feelings. But suddenly Karan realizes that she is the girl of his dreams (Now aren't they living in the same house as siblings?). A love triangle develops. Words are replaced by fists and that's when you finally decide that you've had enough but A. R. Rahman's music prompts you to stay on. The performances are just about okay. But one can't blame the actors. It's impossible for an actor to do justice to such roles with badly etched-out characters although Sunny does keep you interested in some portions. Suniel is looking cool. That's about it. Sohail Khan is wooden. Probably that's his idea of underplaying and looking cool. John Abraham should stick to the 'Jism' sort of roles. Nauheed Cyrusi shows a slight improvement as compared to her previous films. Abbas Ali Moghul's action scenes are superb. Otherwise it is one more film that will find a place for itself in the list of disasters of 2004! ** (TWO STARS) *poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/29/2588