Hum To Mohabbat Karega (2000)
Starring: Bobby Deol, Karisma Kapoor
Director: Kundan Shah
Synopsis: Trying to fuse slapstick and crime caper, the director comes a cropper
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

Kundan Shah serves up a completely different dish this week from last week’s Kya Kehna. Funnily enough, Hum To Mohabbat Karega is far more in keeping with his usual style of filmmaking, yet whereas Kya Kehna was a well-knit and involving film, this is a colossal waste of tremendous potential. Kundan Shah takes quite a fall with this one.

The basic plot is excellent. It is apparently inspired by a foreign film, though I cannot for the life of me remember which one. Still, there is nothing wrong with borrowing an idea—everyone does it—and if it is adapted successfully, why not?

Raju (Bobby Deol) is hopelessly infatuated with television crime reporter Geeta Kapoor (Karisma Kapoor), who presents her own programme. One day, a murder takes place at Raju’s workplace and, believing that he may possess useful information, Geeta arrives to interview him. Raju knows absolutely nothing, but desperate to spend time with the woman of his dreams, he lies and claims that he witnessed the murder.

Geeta promptly puts him on television, where he invents the appearance of the supposed killer. By sheer coincidence, the description turns out to resemble the actual murderer (Shakti Kapoor). This places Raju in a considerable predicament. The gang wants him dead, the police want to question him, and Geeta wants to keep him close because he has become invaluable to her television programme.

It is a wonderful beginning.

One only wishes the rest of the film had been executed with equal skill.

The story continues to lurch unevenly from one situation to another, with the potential always present for a genuinely hilarious comedy caper. Sadly, the film never hits the bull’s-eye. Slapstick is an extremely difficult form of comedy to carry off successfully. It requires perfect timing, tremendous energy and a genuine flair for escalating absurd situations.

Kundan Shah has demonstrated a natural gift for comedy in the past, but here he comes badly unstuck.

Bobby Deol, despite his obvious efforts, simply fails to get the tone right. He tries very hard to be funny, yet I cannot remember laughing—or even smirking—at any of his antics. Salman Khan or Govinda might have been better suited to the role, as both possess an instinct for broad comedy.

Even so, the failure cannot be blamed entirely upon Bobby. The screenplay lets everyone down. What begins at a furious pace soon slows considerably because the writers seem to run out of ideas about how to propel the story forward. Within a short while it becomes obvious that the ingredients for a riotous comedy are all present, yet the result is surprisingly tedious and often rather silly.

Kundan Shah himself appears unsure of exactly what kind of film he wants to make. Is it a slapstick crime caper? A murder mystery, despite there being no mystery whatsoever? Or is it primarily a love story?

Perhaps he was trying to balance all these elements, but as so often happens, the attempt to do too much results in very little being achieved at all. That, unfortunately, is precisely what happens with Hum To Mohabbat Karega.

Karisma Kapoor plays her role with considerable gusto and remains reasonably engaging throughout. Nobody else makes enough of an impression to deserve much mention.

Anu Malik contributes a largely mundane soundtrack, though one or two numbers are pleasant enough. The title song is catchy, while “Lehliya” begins with some impressive orchestration before losing momentum completely once the antara begins. “Baap Manjha” might have been enjoyable had Anu Malik resisted the temptation to sing it himself, though it remains worth hearing once. The rest of the songs are thoroughly forgettable.

I actually feel rather sorry for this film because the potential for great fun was clearly there. Instead, it ends up being something of a bore.

Mind you, I did manage to remain seated until the end.

Anyone watching it later on DVD or video would be well advised to keep the remote control close at hand. It may prove the only way of making the experience remotely palatable.