Humraaz - The Abbas-Mastan Type

          NEW DELHI: Humraaz can be signed off as one more hit from Abbas-Mastan duo after Ajnabee. They are directors of the box-office and never fail their producer. The film is more promising than either Kaushik's 'Badhai Ho Badhai' or 'Awaara Pagal Deewana'.

Devdas Released                   The costliest Bollywood film, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, was finally released in Indian theatres on Friday, July 12. There were indications at the end of all excitement that the more serious, wailing and tragic scenes may keep out a large chunk of the cine-goers - the youth - in the days to come.           Meanwhile, prints are being sent abroad for overseas release. -Editor (See Review)

          The strongest point of Humraaz is the story: along with it, the screenplay and the dialogue is the joint

contribution of Shyam K Goel and Shiraz Ahmed. That grip, rarely seen today on the screen, and the strong interest the film sustains throughout comes from the pen of Shiraz. The film stands on the two legs of characterisation and drama. And the cast - Bobby Deol, Akshaye Khanna and Amisha Patel - carry off the whole show with much flair and aplomb.

           The two players begin with positive shades, but slowly, as the story strides aheead, what appeared to be developing into a negative character begins showing its positive side, while what appeared to be positive degenerates into totally negative. And that makes it difficult to decide who is the hero in the conventional sense.

           Amisha Patel is part of a musical group led by Akshaye. The two are very close emotionally. They dream together of making it big some day, when they get this chance to win a contest and be chosen to entertain guests aboard a luxury liner owned by Raj Singhania (Bobby Deol), "the most eligible bachelor", as the society columns have been screaming.

           Akshaye gets what he wanted - a highly paid assignment and all the comforts. But his last move in collaboration with Amisha misfires, because conscience intervenes and spoils the game. 

         Humraaz falls perfectly in the Abbas-Mastan class of films. Right from Baazigar, they have proved their forte is a theme of conspiracy, intrigue and revenge. Their love stories also tend invariably to be crooked. They excel in such fare and here is another film of the same genre - a musical thriller.

           Talking of music, the lyrics are credited to a new name - Sudhakar Sharma. Himesh Reshammiya has set them to music, including the haunting title track that goes with a very innovative, computer-generated visual package.

-by Our Film Critic
July 5, 2002