Bewafaa

'Hum Aapke Hain Bewafaa Dhadkan'

Bewafaa Dir- Dharmesh Darshan Cast- Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Sushmita Sen, Manoj Bajpai, Shamita Shetty and Anil Kapoor. Written by- Robin Bhatt, Dharmesh Darshan and Raj Sinha. Rating- **

There is this game where you watch a movie, go back home and think of different alternate endings to it. After the many versions, if the actual ending still seems more interesting then you've lost. Dharmesh Darshan probably played this game after watching Sooraj Barjatya's 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun…' and his very own 'Dhadkan'. Mr. Darshan must've thought- what if Madhuri Dixit had actually married Mohnish Behl in the former and Sunil Shetty had returned in the latter to find Shilpa Shetty willing to leave hubby Akki? Now develop these plots, and what you get is a fair idea of Darshan's 'Bewafaa'. Sadly, even though Mr. Darshan must've considered his endings more interesting, he still is the loser!

Welcome then to the shakalaka baby family in Montreal, Canada. We have papa Kabir Bedi, firang(?) mummy Nafisa Ali, badi beti Sushmita Sen and chotti beti Kareena Kapoor. Sen is Aarti, married to Aditya(Anil Kapoor)- a businessman(we're not quite sure what business he does?) who has little time for his family and probably mistakes his wife for a personal assistant! Aarti dies, leaving behind two twin daughters. You guessed it right! Within a reel, chotti beti Anjali(Kareena) is married off to Aditya and sent packing to New Delhi. Living in a loveless marriage, her life is provided a pacemaker with the return of her former love, hold your breath, Indian Raja?!?(Akshay Kumar)- a popular popstar. Old flames are lit again and the lovers decide to elope. But there's a spooky couple(Manoj Bajpai & Shamita Shetty) to cope! Oh nope!! The audience is left with no hope!!! Follow a predictable storyline then to a tiring climax where everything is restored. The audience is bored. Yeh dil manage no more!!!

The whole movie is riddled with songs that emerge out of nowhere like land mines in a war zone! Mind you- the songs are good to listen, they are just not used properly. The first half drags along with only the beautiful sights of Montreal keeping you interested. The second half promises a similar fate but things are made lively with the entrance of Dil(Manoj Bajpai) and Pallavi(Shamita Shetty). Bordering on the line of vulgarity, Manoj Bajpai delivers a hammy performance but there is a guilty pleasure in watching his antics. A tip Mr. Darshan- publicize Bajpai's character. Kareena is passable(sorry Bebo, 'Bewafaa' won't do for you what 'Raja Hindustani' did for Lolo) while Sush is seriously challenging the position of Simi Garewal as Miss Grace. It is common knowledge that Akshay Kumar has a cocky attitude which can be used to his advantage when cast in roles similar to the ones he essayed in 'Khakee', 'Aankhen' and 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi'. But here as a lover boy, he is at his stolid best! That leaves us with Anil Kapoor. This man is like wine- he's only getting better with age. In a thankless role, he acts his part with dignity. Only for him and a fairly decent second-half, 'Bewafaa' is not as bad as it sounds!

• Abhishek Bandekar

Rating- **

* Poor ** Average *** Good **** Very Good ***** Excellent

25th February, 2005

I cannot believe I wasted my money on this horrible film. A ghastly storyline, none of the characters have any depth - in fact I did not feel a shred of empathy for any of the characters. Kareena Kapoor, who I usually like, spent the entire film with her eyes wide open looking shocked (and was otherwise utterly expressionless). This I blame (as well as everything else) on truly bad directing. They drone on and on about Indian culture and renouncing of the self for the good of others - but none of it seemed genuine. The main characters sleepwalked through the performance, and I do not understand how talented actors like Anil Kapoor could have agreed to "acting" in this. The side characters of Manoj Bajpai and Shamita Shetty only serve to annoy. I am still reeling in horror at the fact that I wasted my time in this utterly pointless manner. Save yourselves, don't even stray close.

Bewafa is a typical love triangle movie with a script that has been seen 100s of times. The movie starts with Kareena waking up from bed after a sleep with so much make up on. Perhaps, she woke up 1 hour ago,added make up, lied on the bed and woke up again. She is in love with Akshay Kumar, who loves her dearly. Her Sister Sushmita marries Anil, has a child and dies. Nobody forced or even suggested Kareena to marry her brother in law, but she immediately did. She never bothered to tell Akshay, she just quickly decided to get married. Years later, the movie focuses on the married couple, who are always distant from each other. Does it take years to get to know one another, here it does. Akshay suddenly returns, and the question is will she become unfaithful. Kareena Kapoor delivers yet another disastrous performance, I would slap her up if i see her. Akshay Kumar is generally a good actor, but why he chose to star in this. Anil Kapoor has given us great performances in the past, not anymore. Sushmita Sen is hardly there, and with a blink she is gone. Manoj Bajpai and Shamita Shetty are ever so annoying and so unrealistic. Manoj has given us Powerful performances in the past, in this film he was pathetic. A complete disaster coming from a good director, BOREDOM.

Bewafaa is a rip-off of B.R. Chopra's classic Gumrah, and it is a great joke of a movie. The only good things about the film are the beautiful locations, the songs and... nothing else! The story is pathetic. It was just a misleading attempt to draw people to theaters. People may have thought they'd see an intense film about betrayal (Bewafaa - Unfaithful) in the light of such films as Murder. But this one is a slow, stretched, boring and flawed film with no story. So unrealistic that you feel it is actually for kids. I mean, Kareena wakes up at morning all made-up like a clown?

This is a weak show. Not a single funny moment, no excitement, no love story, nothing. This is a collection of situations taken from different films, and it's incredibly dull. Just follow: she marries her late sister's husband, cares for his children, soon her previous lover comes back out of nowhere, they hardly speak and someone decides to blackmail her for no reason?? Oh and there the melodrama only starts - a climax full of tears by all the cast members and a separation accompanied with a song... Old clichés, cheap dialogues and poor execution. At the end of the film, you sit, trying to understand what was it all about...

Kareena is lifeless and bland. You can tell her that her car is burning outside, and she'll still have the same indifferent expression. Anil Kapoor and Akshay Kumar are the same - no impact, no character. Shamita Shetty is hot, Manoj Bajpai is annoying as never. It's terrible to see such a great actor playing this silly over-the-top character and accepting any role in this film in the first place.

The film's saving grace may lie in some of the songs, but Bewafaa is still one poor attempt and that's simply because the director tried to take this immature script way too seriously.

If you've seen Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, then you'll know what I am talking about when I say that the idea for the story came from the 90s blockbuster. I'm going to start of with the performances. Akshay Kumar's performance is well below average; he doesn't do much and his costumes don't do him any favours. Kareena Kapoor is also well below average, and the way in which she's acted in the film doesn't convince the viewer that she can do those kinds of roles. Sushmita Sen was OK, as was Anil Kapoor. The music is good. The two best tracks are 'ek bewafaa hai' and 'yaad yaad'. The direction though, it has to be said, is quite bad, but the screenplay is OK.

Overall: this film is a waste of time. I give it 3/10.