Aa Dekhe Zara, Not Much Dum
/* Disclaimer Alert
Way back in 1990, there was a Mallu movie Iyer the Great, starring Mamooty in the lead role. The movie was about the eponymous character, who has a sixth sense and an ability to predict the future, including his own death. The Bhavishyavani concept, where a person can look into the future and predict it accurately, has all the potential of being translated on screen into a surrealistic thriller kind. Which is what first time director Jahangir Surti attempts in Aa Dekhe Zara, starring Neil Nitin Mukesh, in his second outing after Johnny Gaddar.
The Bhavishyavani here is a camera, gifted to the lead hero Ray Acharya( Neil Nitin Mukesh), what an odd name, by his grandpa( yesteryear’s hero Biswajeet). It is supposed to be a special kind of camera, which can predict accurately what is going to happen in future from the photographs taken. Ray himself is a totally down on luck wildlife photographer, heavily in debt, needing the money. On discovering the camera’s magical powers, he uses it to make money from gambling, and before you know it, he is living the fast life, driving in snazzy cars, staying in a huge mansion straight out of “Architectural Digest”. And yes he has a sexy girlfriend Simi Chatterjee( Bipasha Basu), a DJ and wannabe singer. Yeah she reveals she is a Bong from Kolkata, but loves Mumbai, and keeps offering gyaan on how if one can’t make it in Mumbai, they can never succeed any where else.
Anyway Ray becomes more materially obsessed, too busy for Simi, and making her give more gyaan on how he is forgetting everything around him in his quest for riches. So far so good, obviously with such a special camera, the baddies are not gonna be far behind, so here we have Rahul Dev, playing a smirking Captain, who wants the camera. And yes even RAW also wants it in interest of National Security. So we have Ray and Simi on the run, from every one.
Aa Dekhen Zara has a really interesting concept, around which a really good thriller could have been made. And director Surti starts off quite well. The opening credits are pretty snazzy, and also the camera angles , jump cuts, wipes are handled well. And by making Ray, use the camera for his own purposes, like winning lottery and horse races, he creates a character who is somewhat more human and believable. Even the romance portions between Ray and Simi are handled in a low key manner, without taking up too much of the screen time. Credit also needs to be given to director for comming straight to point without beating around the bush too much.
The problem is the post interval part, where the movie just goes horribly wrong. This was a movie that needed a strong screenplay to make it work, and for a major part, the screenplay is a muddle. Characters keeping flitting in and out, and there is no consistency in any of them. What was the RAW agent doing? What was his motivation? And who was this baddie called Captain? We dont know whether he belongs to the Mafia or is a plain crook or a bookie. What makes Ray’s grandpa’s manager become a sudden turn coat? And Sophie Choudhury as an undercover RAW agent?? Gimme a break please.
And if the characterization is absolutely lame, the screenplay and script are a total muddle, especially in the post interval portions, in Bangkok. You have corrupt cops, shady pubs with Thai goons, boat rides, car chases and eternal confusion. Also some of the resolutions in the script look totally lame. I mean you listen to the hero decoding some of the mysteries, and makes you feel ask “Eh, what was that”. And what was that song suddenly doing in a pub, with all those Thai babes dancing around, in the midst of a tense chase. Honestly by the time you come to the end of the movie, you stop caring about whats happening. And even when the supposed twist is shown, you honestly dont even feel any surprise, its something you had seen long comming. And what was that last scene, was the director planning a sequel? Anyway as i said, by that time its like “I dont really care a damn”.
What prevents the movie from becomming a total stinker, is the fact that its fast paced, so that does prevent you from looking at your watch often. Also director Surti’s taking and visualization is pretty good for a first timer. Even the stunt scenes are well choreographed. Sadly the hotchpotch script, and lame characterization, let down the movie badly. Aa Dekhe Zara is perfect example of a good concept being ruined by shoody script writing.
Neil Nitin Mukesh, does show he has the potential to make it, he has the screen presence, the charisma, and talent. Just needs a proper script and director. Bips keeps on alternating between “now i love you” to “now i hate you” expressions, with some teary expressions thrown in, nothing special.
Tags: Bhavishyavani, Bipasha Basu, Iyer the Great, Jahangir Surti, neil nitin mukesh
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
tell me..is it a straight lift from some firang flick…or has some originality?…
I’ve even heard that soon to be released 8*10 has a similar premise…
I dont think this is lifted from any movie as such, though i do recall seeing some firang movies having this guy able to see the future funda. Hmm two supernatural themes in a row, lets see what Nagesh Kukunoor does.
thanks for a great honest review, looks like i will wait to rent it on dvd.
@Ratnakar
It’s similar to Nicholas Cage’s NEXT !!!
GK
@GK
I have seen Next…ok thriller…fast paced so that u can’t have time to think why…
i’d have to watch this one to see how much inspiration it has taken…
Jitaditya, as far as Next is concerned, only the basic concept is taken i think, not much. Honestly i dont care if this movie was inspired by Next or Previous or Forward, as long as it has a good screnplay. ADZ fails miserably on that count.
you started this post with ” /* ”
By any chance have you done any programming in MATLAB? :-)
This movie is a miserable piece of atrocious tripe. Spend your time reading a book or get a nice nap.
Wow! You could actually make out the difference between Bipasha’s “Now I love you” and “Now I hate you expressions”!!! Now thats something positive about the film!
hehe….I have survived after seeing Tasveer 8 x10 and ADZ on the same weekend, Sent my reviews to iview.
Exactly same feeling i had, the concept was great, the story had potential and then they force fed the formulae and killed it.
The first half was very interesting and the camera work inside Ray’s flat, his darkroom etc were enjoyable. As you said, the script & bogus characters kills the movie. Sad.
Cheers!
~uh~
hehe….I have survived after seeing Tasveer 8 x10 and ADZ on the same weekend, Sent my reviews to iview.
Exactly same feeling i had, the concept was great, the story had potential and then they force fed the formulae and killed it.
The first half was very interesting and the camera work inside Ray’s flat, his darkroom etc were enjoyable. As you said, the script & bogus characters kills the movie. Sad.
Cheers!
~uh~
Pls ignore if this is a duplicate comment.
Ratna,
I have posted a review of this movie and Tasveer 8×10 thru’ iview.
I agree, the movie had potential, but script and baddies screwed it up.
Cheers!
~uh~