VALENTINE
DAYS - Let the Makers
Take the Blame
Valentine
Days, directed by
Sumir Sabharwal,
seems to have been
made in English
originally and then
dubbed in three
other languages
- Hindi, Tamil and
Telugu. One can't
blame poor performance
on a modest budget,
if the storyline
is packed with power
and thrust. But
that is not the
case. And if the
film just makes
it to theatres with
a thin sprinkling
of audience, no
one else is to blame,
but the makers.
The only other culprit,
one may say, is
the World Cup and
very poor publicity
in these days of
media hype even
about a two-penny
pope singer who
does not know the
difference between
the upper and lower
octave.
Three boys and one
girl lead the show.
The negative factor
is the girl's step
mom. To begin with
the girl Jeena (Gina
Marie), she is the
only daughter of
a mixed parentage
- Indian father
and an American
mother. Her father,
after the mother's
death, returns to
India and marries
an Indian, Naina
who, strangely,
is almost of the
same age as Jeena.
It is somewhat natural
that, married to
a middle-aged man,
Naina too eyes every
suiter of Jeena.
As if that is not
enough, Naina is
a nymphomaniac.
A good idea for
a character though,
to introduce complications
in the story, it
is also a comment
on the man's choice.
Complications are
galore in the story
except that they
are not intelligently
exploited. Jeena's
lovers are three
in number - Samir
(Nikhil Sakhrani),
a wealthy boy and
her closest friend,
Aditya (Samir Kochar),
"a rich and carefree
stud with a string
of girls in his
arms" and a conspiratorial
mind, and Vishant
(Manoj Bidvai),
an introvert from
a middle class background,
believes in his
own values and principle.
Each boy harbours
a feeling for Jeena,
but in his own way,
according to his
temperament and
upbringing. But
Jeena is closest
to Samir. Nothing
much happens among
all the four, or
five, if Naina is
also accounted for
as a player, which
she is. She is the
entry point for
the aspiring boys.
The entry ticket
to Jeena is spending
a night with her
step mom!
Since the American
mother of Jeena
is not shown in
the movie, no comparisons
are possible. But
Naina is a bad representation
of Indian women.
Father is not also
around, which weakens
the story in a way.
Most of the characters
are flat. Their
individual ambiences,
along with the total
ambience, are more
in the void than
in tangible form.
Performance-wise,
of course, mediocrity
is the norm. The
best comes from
Protima Chadda doing
Naina's role. She
plays really bitchy
and shocks everyone,
not her daughter
and suiters alone,
but also the audience.
Choreographers -
Pappu Khanna, Oscar
and Bosco - and
action master Ram
Shetty put up a
good show with a
lot of colour, including
that of the bloody
kind. A Valentine
Day theme gone muddy.
-by
Our Film Critic
February 28, 2003
