He didn’t take a single call the whole of last weekend. But Aag ki RGV was more than willing to exchange thoughts on Darling. “Why did you feel it’s like Daud? That’s not great news for Darling” — the movie maverick’s sense of humour seemed intact. Despite the Aag burnout.

In Darling, easily the most refreshing film by Ramu in a long time, he has created a new genre of sorts — comedy horror or horror comedy. “I remember reading a Stephen King story where a girl was lying in her bed and she saw a shadow. She got scared but then the shadow was there for so long, she got bored. That’s where I thought of Darling, about this ghost who is not into blood and gore and you start liking her.”

Before she turns into the Blithe Spirit — the David Lean film based on Noel Coward’s play about the ghost of a man’s first wife coming to haunt him and his second wife — Geeta (Esha) is usually all over her boss Aditya (Fardeen), who among other things has a freaky foot fetish. The gharwali (Ishaa) baharwali balance goes perfectly well till Geeta gets pregnant and in a My Wife’s Murder moment, Aditya accidentally kills her. She is buried in the garden, phone thrown away in the sea and life returns to normal — till Geeta makes a spirited return.

It is here that we start seeing flashes of the Ramu of yore. Killing every cliche in the horror business — and he’s made so many of those darna flicks — RGV toys with the set-pieces and in a masterstroke changes the mood of the movie. Horror turns into comedy, intentionally, and not in Ramsay style, which had influenced RGV’s growing-up years.

Just like he had done with Daud, he spoofs the very scenes he must have shot in a Vastu Shastra or a Bhoot and gives a refreshing twist to them. Like where Geeta’s bhoot sits wearing a rudraksh round her neck and asks Aditya: “Why should I be afraid of god? If he hears my story he will help me.” Barring the last scene, when he again tries to change the mood from fun to serious, RGV keeps the audience completely hooked. And he even manages to end it on a high note.

A great all-round performance makes Darling quite endearing. If Esha teases and terrorises just enough to make you feel for her, it is Fardeen who makes the ride worth it. Boy, can he get spooked or can he get spooked! You envy him, get scared with him, laugh at his despair and want to bail him out. Ishaa is the weakest link amongst the three, but she too keeps the party going. The real knockouts, however, are Zakir Hussain, as the sleazy friend in office who breaks into Sandeshe aate hain all the time, and Upendra Limaye the inspector who looks like Dawood Ibrahim and talks like James Bond.

Darling may not be big enough for people to forgive him for his Sholay act but RGV is definitely not burnt out. He is still burning bright. Just like Geeta.

Pratim D. Gupta
(Should RGV just make horror films? Tell t2@abpmail.com)

Fun on the run

No heroines and no villains. No sub-plots and no item numbers. No high-strung emotional scenes and no romantic interludes. And yet Dhamaal easily qualifies as one of the better comic capers to have hit the big screen in recent times. Hilarious moments, witty one-liners, amusing situations — almost every frame of Dhamaal is a joyride, keeping the audience in splits for two-and-a-half-hours.

Arshad Warsi, Riteish, Jaaved Jaaferi and Ashish Chowdhry play four wastrels in life who nurture dreams of getting rich the easy way. When a criminal dies in their arms telling them the whereabouts of Rs 10 crore, the four take it as their ticket to the good life.

With cop Sanjay Dutt who himself wants to lay his hands on the cash close on their heels, there begins a marathon chase complete with thrills, spills and a whole load of fun. The quartet hops, skips and jumps from one sticky mess to another, delaying the search for the money, but adding to the laughter quotient all the time.

Before you can recover from one witty one-liner, another one is thrown at you. It’s first half, in particular, rocks big time.

Granted that the film does not present anything novel in terms of plot and situations, but Dhamaal’s strength lies in using the same age-old comic cliches but weaving them smartly to create 14 reels of no-holds-barred fun.

After Ishq and Masti, director Indra Kumar comes up with another winner. Dhamaal has the right doses of humour and repartee, with the jokes not being stretched beyond a point. The film clicks predominantly because of its actors. Sanjay Dutt comes up with a restrained and mature performance, allowing his younger co-stars to carry the day.

Arshad, Riteish and even Ashish are top notch. But it is Jaaved Jaaferi who steals the thunder in Dhamaal. As the endearing buffoon Manav and armed with the best lines in the film, he is the one who remains with the viewer after Dhamaal ends. Pity that this talented actor doesn’t do too many films.

Adnan Sami’s music is also just what the doctor ordered, especially the title track and the Miss India marti mujhpe promotional ditty.

So book your weekend tickets, grab a bucket of popcorn, settle down in your seats and let the Dhamaal masti take over.

Priyanka Roy

A slice of the sky

Kaushik Roy’s semi-autobiographical director debut Apna Asmaan is one of those films which works only by the time the end credits roll. The journey may not be easy but the denouement is heart-warming. And that’s why you have to give it a chance.

It’s about differently abled 15-year-old Buddhi (Dhruv) whose parents (Irrfan and Shobana) are struggling with the fact that their only son can only sketch animals. It doesn’t help matters that the mother, who was once a gold medalist in mathematics, is now a bored homemaker giving missed calls to other men. And the father has sold so much plastic in his life that he can only mouth plastic lines about plastic.

Enter a magic brain booster with amnesia as side effects invented by a dubious Mexico-based doctor (Anupam Kher) and the parents are ready to send Buddhi to the lab table. It all works for some time and then, of course, the Frankenstein boomerangs. It needs a filmi climax to turn things around and some hospital hungama to sort things out.

The problem with Apna Asmaan is it’s not sure what it wants to say. The tagline says ‘how far would you go to make your child a genius’. But after watching the movie you do not leave the theatres with that feeling. Rather you wonder how parents are at the receiving end all the time, whether their child is differently abled or specially abled.

Apna Asmaan is definitely not the gripping short story in Magnolia where a father did everything possible and more to win money on a quiz show by making his child a genius. And when you add Khalil Gibran quotes from The Prophet and those cliched Chinese sayings, it all gets so, so preachy.

Yet, what makes the painstakingly slow narrative watchable are the great performances punctuating Apna Asmaan.

First-timer Dhruv does have a heart-wrenching effect. The gorgeous Shobana rises above the terrible dubbing. But it’s Irrfan again, all the way, who makes it look so natural. Directors would do well not to go cut (during shoots or at the edit table) in the middle of his shots.

PDG