Truth or Dare?

CAST: Rajat Kapoor,Ranvir Shorey,Neha Dhupia,Manjari Fadnis,Lillete Dubey,Vijay Raaz,Delnaaz Paul,Saurabh Shukla

Rating: **

What would you do if you were 42,balding,and somewhat of a bore,and you had to impress a pretty young thing? One day,in an internet chat room,struggling writer Shubhendu Roy (Kapoor) is stopped in his tracks by chirpy college girl Kanak (Fadnis). Junking his love for truth-at-any-cost persona,which has maddened his roommate and desperate-for-a-break actor Gagan (Shorey),he weaves a web of lies. He tells her he is youthful and handsome,the kind of man any girl would fall in love with.

Great idea. When was the last time we had a leading man with these qualifications? But the execution is flat and stretched and underlined. This is a bunch of actors whom I usually enjoy,and because they have close off-screen linkages,their on-screen play is smooth. Sometimes too smooth,but almost always watchable because they are good at what they do. Apart from the middle-aged,young-girl relationship tango,I M 24 takes you into the familiar world of Bollywood’s corpulent producers (Shukla) and the hangers-on (Dubey) and the ever-hopefuls (Dhupia and Raaz).

There are some good,sincere moments in the film. But I expected something fresher from Saurabh Shukla,who is also the writer. And overall,more edge.