Monday, September 15, 2008

Bas Ek Pal


Rating : 3/10
Running Time : 142 Minutes
Release Date : September ‘06
Director & co-writer : Onir; Writer : Irene Dhar Malik; Music : Vivek Philip & Mithoon
Starring : Juhi Chawla, Urmila Matondkar, Sanjay Suri, Jimmy Shergill, Rehaan Engineer


If the director wanted to show that one moment can irrevocably change your life, he could’ve chosen other better ways to show it. Sanjay Suri, fresh back from an MBA in Boston, meets up with childhood friend Jimmy. As he pursues a ‘mystery’ woman, Urmilla, a scuffle ensues between Sanjay, Jimmy, Urmilla’s date and Jimmy’s business partner (Rehaan). A shot gets fired. Jimmy is a wheelchair cripple for life. Sanjay spends three years in jail where all sorts of bad things happen to him. Rehaan’s wife, Juhi, bails him out. Urmilla is now about to get married to Jimmy. Sanjay can’t get her out of his mind. And Rehaan is an abusive, suspicious, wife-hitting man who now suspects Juhi of having an affair with Sanjay.

The conversation is nice and realistic, especially in the beginning, before the madness begins. The film gets darker and more morbid as time progresses and makes for painful watching. The only relief comes from the song ‘Tere Bin’ and some good performances from Urmilla, Juhi and Sanjay. But you don’t understand any of the five principal characters in the film – each one seeming more psychotic than the other.

They could have also called the film ‘Lets see who lives’ or ‘How much craziness can people put up with’. This one leaves a bad taste in the mouth and it took me two sittings to be able to go through this one.

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