| Abbas-Mustaan
are renowned for making edge-of-the-seat thrillers and they have some
interesting films to their credit, including Baazigar, Khiladi,
Humraaz and Ajnabee to name a few. Aitraaz is
another feather in their cap.
It
has a bold and daring concept never seen before in an Indian film.
However, it is heavily 'borrowed' from Barry Levinson's Michael
Douglas - Demi Moore starrer Disclosure.
Raj
Malhotra (Akshay Kumar) is an executive working in a 9-5 job for
a mobile phone company. He has a simple life, some good friends
and life is generally a breeze.
Things
get even better when Priya (Kareena Kapoor) enters his life. They
fall in love and get married. She is expecting their first child,
he is due for a promotion. He couldn't have asked for more.
That
is, till the predatory man eater Sonia (Priyanka Chopra) is appointed
as his MD and it all goes a bit topsy-turvy.
She
accuses him of rape after he spurns her advances and the case ends
up in court.
To
make matters even more complicated, it is revealed that Sonia is
actually Raj's ex girlfriend. He dumped her after she aborted their
child. How the case is resolved forms the crux of the story.
Technically
the film is sound with some good locations and cinematography. Music
by Himesh Reshammiya is not of the chart busting variety but a couple
of the numbers like Gela Gela, Hey You and Talatum
are catchy.
Directorially,
Abbas-Mustaan have done a good job in 'Indianising' the whole
concept.
What
could have been a silly sleaze fest turns out to be a gripping edge
of the seat drama that keeps viewers glued to their seats.
Some
of the sequences especially in the courtroom have been deftly handled
and they deserve full credit for this.
The
dialogue is bold and raises a number of questions that are usually
brushed under the carpet.
Why
must the male always be held responsible for clandestine happenings
between men and women? Can't a man be an object of sexual harassment
even in a society like ours?
Of
the cast Akshay is restrained and has a fairly passive role. Kareena
is good and shines in her one and only confrontational scene with
Priyanka and the final courtroom sequence.
She
is turning into a fine performer and has finally shaken off her
Poo image from K3G.
Both
Paresh Rawal and Annu Kapoor are in splendid form.
Ultimately
though, Aitraaz is Priyanka Chopra's film. As the deliciously
wicked, gold digging, scheming seductress, she chews up every scene
she is in with her magnetic screen presence.
Of
the four Diwali releases, Aitraaz has a good chance of being
successful especially after word of mouth publicity.
It
has a bold theme, good music and good performances going for it.
It should find the going easy, in spite of strong opposition from
Veer Zaara. A thumbs up!
Guest
Reviewer
Jay Mamtora
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