Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Cast: Bobby Deol, Akshaye Khanna, Urvashi Sharma
Directors: Abbas-Mustan
Rich boy loves poor girl. Poor girl thinks she loves rich boy. Along comes a poor little boy, and the equation gets jammed.
Naqaab looks so much like Abbas-Mustan8217;s 2002 hit Humraaz, that you go fearing they8217;ve ripped off their own movie. Both share the same leads 8212; Bobby and Akshaye, both have what Bollywood loves to call 8216;a triangle8217;, and both topline treachery and deceit.
If the director-duo had stuck to doing just that, Naqaab may have turned out to be the sort of film you can park yourself at for a couple of hours without whingeing too much. It has all the ingredients of an Abbas-Mustan film: lavish locations, a plot which looks vaguely familiar thanks to its allegiance to countless Hollywood thrillers, flashy songs-and-dances, and passable acting. They8217;ve hit pay dirt with this formula many times over: remember their early Baazigar, Shah Rukh8217;s first huge bad-boy hit, and Soldier with permanent fave Bobby and still-new girl Preity?
But their latest has hit dead-end with a thud. Bobby plays a millionaire again who lives in this massive palace in Dubai. How does he make his money? Silly question. All he seems to do is to lovingly stroke his velvet jackets and shake his ringlets. New girl Urvashi is his cutesie tenant. And how did that come about? That8217;s even sillier, okay? She shares his house, not his bed, paying him a fistful of dirhams as rent. And Akshaye is a poor lad on the make again who enters the girl8217;s life with a lie, and a wink.
Nothing about the trio jells. Nothing about the proceedings is interesting, except perhaps for Akshaye, who says his lines as though he actually believes in them. The most memorable thing about Ms Sharma, whom the directors seem very taken with, is her long, flowing hair. You leave the movie behind even before you8217;ve left the theatre.
