Article Updated 08 April, 2006 03:04:02 AM IST   Saaawan - The Love Season By Prema K. ©2006 Bollyvista.com   'Saaawan - The Love Season' had the makings of an interesting, gripping film but has gone wrong in its execution especially in the post-interval sections. The pre-interval sequence grips the audience but the sequence of events that follow makes the film lose the impact. The climax is a let down. Let's tell you the story first. Raj (Kapel Jhaveri) and Kajal (Saloni Aswani), both Mumbaiites, meet in Cape Town, while on a holiday there. Raj calls their meeting destiny while Kajal calls it mere coincidence. It's love at first sight for Raj, but Kajal isn't interested in him. There are the usual chase and rejection scenes until Kajal too begins to like him. A call to their respective parents and the engagement is fixed. Where's the drama in the love story. This way the film would be over in an hour! Cut to Mumbai. There's a modern version of Devdas (Salman Khan) weeping and singing a sad number in memory of his dead girlfriend. He's pleading with God to kill him as he has no desire to live. What's the connection between the love track and this man? The film has two tracks running parallel to each other. Yeah, we forgot to mention that this sad man (he has no name in the film) also has a connection with God. God informs him of the next tragedy that will strike somewhere. So in a way, he's like God's messenger. He even averts a couple of disasters. One of them is saving Kajal from a major road accident. She thanks him profusely and he tells her that her father will die at 9 p.m. today. It's her birthday as well as her engagement today. A shocked Kajal goes through the formalities and is scared as the stipulated time for her father's death is nearing. The clock strikes 9 and the father dies. Interesting interval point! Kajal is on the prowl for the strange man who communicates with God. A few predictions later, he even predicts her death on Friday. Initially she's depressed but decides to live life to the fullest till Friday. She breaks into a song with Raj, not one but two, one is a romantic flashback and the other is when they consummate their marriage. Yeah, she also tells Raj that she wants to die a complete woman. In this day and age, we don't think a couple need to be married to get intimate, at least not if the girl is dying! This sounds funnier because the two have gone off together on a holiday to Dubai after their engagement. Which young, virile couple in love would be able to hold back, especially while holidaying in a new place! So what's special about this film? The love story is like any other love story. Then why watch this film with two newcomers? Salman Khan is obviously the draw! While his getup is interesting, somehow his character could have been made more interesting. He's also done away with easily in the climax. Some sort of explanation would have seemed in place. He also looks convincing as God's messenger but lacks the punch. Kapel and Saloni look very confident for newcomers. Saloni has more footage than him but needs to be careful of her weight, makeup and costumes. But we have to add that she looks good in saris. There's an overdose of songs in the film. Some of the sequences and dialogues are very clichéd and old-fashioned. Johny Lever and Bobby Darling's comedy track was meant to be funny but seems forced and out of place. It's irritating. Cinematography is good. This film might just about be average fare courtesy Salman's strong fan following. ** (Two stars) *poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/29/6459