Deewanapan (2001)
Starring: Vinod Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Diya Mirza
Director: Ashu Trikha
Music Director: Adesh Srivastva
Synopsis: Run-of-the-mill kinda stuff is surprisingly tolerable despite umpteen songs
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

 

A lone figure skis down the slopes, revealing himself to be Suraj (Arjun Rampal), who lives amidst these rather variable weather conditions—snow-capped mountains one minute, green fields with sheep grazing the next—apparently somewhere in a hill station in India, although it looks dangerously close to New Zealand.

But who cares?

A busload of girls arrives from Mumbai to tour the area and guess who gets left behind? Yes, our hapless heroine Kiran (Dia Mirza). Yes, yes, you got it... It has to be, in case there was any doubt, the story of Suraj aur Kiran. She pleads with him to help; he places her beside himself and, on their backsides, they go zooming down the mountain to intercept the bus further along its route. Love has made its mark despite the obviously frostbitten and sore butts.

Sure enough, love blossoms, although it remains unspoken. On the day of her departure, Suraj is unable to meet Kiran before she leaves because his father suddenly falls ill. The two are separated, and he has no idea where she lives or how to find her. Happily, Suraj and his family are transferred to Mumbai, where he joins a college. One day he comes across Kiran, and they simply carry on from where they left off. Songs galore, happiness abounds, everything is going smoothly... hey, wait a minute, there are still two hours of the film to go.

Enter the portly figure of Chaudhary (Vinod Khanna), who has Suraj abducted and brought before what resembles a meeting of Parliament. All the bigwigs, from senior policemen to politicians, are summoned there simply to demonstrate the clout Chaudhary possesses. What Chaudhary actually is never really becomes clear, but, mercifully, he is not a mafia don, although the way matters proceed he is no less than one. It transpires that Kiran is Chaudhary's daughter and he does not think Suraj worthy of her. Why is another mystery, although it is probably because she lives in a palatial mansion while he comes from far humbler origins. Suraj is given thirty days to leave the city... or else.

Suraj and his family are then systematically victimised in an attempt to drive them out of Mumbai, all the while with the hard-headed Chaudhary refusing to see any sense. Will true love triumph in the end? How will it triumph? Will the sun and its rays (puke, puke) finally come together? All rather perfunctory questions, but unfortunately the film has a thoroughly unconvincing and rather pathetic climax which spoils much of the goodwill it has built up. Because, despite all the clichés and the deluge of unnecessary songs, this film actually passes muster and is quite likeable. The director, saddled with the usual commercial fare, fashions a reasonably well-knit film that never really flags in pace, although the placement of a few songs is decidedly forced and merely adds to the tedium when the story is actually flowing along quite nicely.

It seems to be the month of Arjun Rampal and, once again, he fits comfortably into the mould of the conventional commercial hero, giving another perfectly decent performance. Dia Mirza, on the other hand, can certainly look pretty at times but is a decidedly poor actress—or at least from what little one has seen of her so far. Her dialogue delivery, in particular, requires considerable improvement. A jowly Vinod Khanna, looking as though he is almost bursting out of his clothes—perhaps explaining why they are left hanging so loosely—fails to make much of an impression. The music is noisy, largely uninspired and the sort that is instantly forgettable.