It's an indication of how indelible a mark his father has left on the Hindi film industry that with just one film behind hima flop at that, Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa is still popularly dubbed "Abhishek Bachchan's second release". And in case any of us were forgetting the relationship, director N Muthu has made sure that traces of the father are apparent in every second frame of the film.Abhishek's opening scene has a dance sequence that tries to cash in desperately on Amitabh's classic number in Don, Khaike paan Banaras wala. Both father and son are not born dancers. But, when he shot for Don, Amitabh was already a super star, and the confidence that status bestows helped him carry the sequence off with great panache. Not only does Abhishek lack that confidence, he also cannot help revealing, through facial grimaces and frowns, the great concentration it must have required for him to do Agre mein hain mashoor.A pity, that. For Tera Jadoo. did not need gimmicks to help it along. It is a clean, straight love story, which makes no demands on your intelligence, yet leaves you with a good feeling. You cannot ask more of a Hindi film in today's world.Muthu has also not been able to resist presenting Abhishek a la Hritik. The comparison is unfair, and it was unforgivable of the director to subject the young actor to a situation in which comparisons become inevitable. Hritik is older, more poised, and has reportedly spent months shaping up for his acting (and dancing) career. Abhishek's Chori chori chupke chupke thus becomes a shabby cousin of Hritik's mind-blowing Ae mere dil tu gaye ja.Surprisingly, Abhishek looks pretty good doing the dance steps any youngster would normally do in a discotheque; it's the stylised steps the choreographers have set up for him that appear gauche. So it would appear that all he requires is practice and hard work.Before one quite forgets, Tera Jadoo. has a heroine, too. Kirti Reddy, fresh from south Indian films, and frankly, quite forgettable. She has neither voice not acting skills. The one fixed expression she imparts to all situations palls after exactly 10 minutes, and you spend the rest of the film cringing at her whining and whingeing.It's the secondary line-up that is excellent in Tera Jadoo.. Paresh Rawal and Himani Shivpuri as the surrogate parents of Kabir (Abhishek) are brilliant as the wrangling but loving miya-biwi. Kader Khan turns in a polished performance as the pony-tailed ad agency chief. Johnny Lever as Maggie, Pooja's (Kirti's) friend, is also fun. Sanjay Suri as Kirti's boyfriend is eminently forgettable.Muthu keeps a firm hold on the story line, and his direction is competent. He is aided amply by Ismail Durbar's very melodious musical score.
