Humraaz (2002)
Cast: Bobby Deol, Amisha Patel, Akshaye Khanna
Director: Abbas Mustan
Music Director: Himesh Reshamiyya
Synopsis: Reworking of The Perfect Murder is a fair effort with fair performances
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

 

After Ajnabee, Abbas-Mustan return with yet another adaptation of a Hollywood thriller, suitably Indianised to make it more palatable to Bollywood audiences. They never quite managed to convince with their tale of wife-swapping in Ajnabee, but this time they steer a much surer course.

Karan (Akshaye Khanna) and Priya (Amisha Patel) head a troupe of dancers desperate to hit the big time. They dream not only of fame but also of the wealth and luxurious lifestyle that accompanies success. Invited to audition for a prestigious cruise liner, their hopes are dashed at the last moment when their rivals, led by Jojo Fernandes, sabotage their chances through foul play.

Watching his dreams collapse before his eyes, Karan confronts Jojo in a fit of rage and, in the ensuing struggle, throws him from a balcony to his apparent death, all witnessed by one member of his troupe.

Soon afterwards, Karan and Priya are invited to perform aboard the luxurious cruise ship owned by wealthy businessman Raj Singhania (Bobby Deol), sailing to Singapore and Malaysia. Raj quickly becomes besotted with Priya, while she is equally dazzled by the opulence and privilege that surround him. Before long, Raj proposes marriage and Priya accepts.

Then comes the film's first genuinely effective twist.

We discover that Karan and Priya have orchestrated the entire romance as part of a plan to marry Raj, divorce him and make off with his fortune.

Raj, blissfully unaware of both their relationship and their scheme, walks straight into the trap. Priya postpones consummating the marriage by claiming she has made a mannat that, should she marry Raj, she must remain celibate for a month.

However, fate intervenes.

Our dutiful Indian wife unexpectedly begins to fall genuinely in love with her husband and decides she can no longer go through with the plan. This sends Karan into a frenzy. Desperate to regain control, he engineers a situation in which Raj catches him embracing Priya, igniting murderous jealousy and setting into motion a series of twists and reversals that culminate in a violent, if somewhat overextended, finale.

Abbas-Mustan have become the acknowledged masters of adapting Hollywood thrillers and, by and large, have managed the exercise with considerable success over the years, the occasional Daraar or Ajnabee notwithstanding. Humraaz is an engaging and thoroughly enjoyable thriller, and both the directors and cast deserve much of the credit.

Bobby Deol plays Raj Singhania, the head of a vast business empire, as an unusually decent, patient and genuinely loving man, completely untouched by his enormous wealth. While this makes him instantly likeable, it also renders his later transformation rather less convincing than it ought to have been. Nevertheless, Bobby brings considerable warmth and charm to the role.

I still cannot understand what it is about Amisha Patel that leaves me completely cold. She certainly looks better here than she has done previously, despite the permanently immaculate lipstick, endless designer outfits and glamorous styling—or indeed, when she happens to be wearing very little at all. Yet she possesses remarkably little screen charm and delivers little more than a standard performance.

The greater disappointment lies in the writing of her character. Priya possesses genuinely interesting negative shades, and the film would have been far more compelling had she remained the ambitious, greedy opportunist she initially appears to be instead of conveniently reforming under the influence of her husband's love. It would have been far more convincing had she realised she could keep the entire fortune for herself, forcing Karan into blackmail rather than simply abandoning their scheme.

Akshaye Khanna, despite sporting one of the more peculiar wigs seen in recent Hindi cinema, is absolutely superb.

One must applaud him for playing not the traditional "villain" but simply a fully realised character. Perhaps Shah Rukh Khan paved the way by making anti-heroes commercially acceptable, but Akshaye takes things a stage further. Karan is driven by nothing except naked ambition. He is greedy, calculating, manipulative and prepared to sacrifice absolutely anyone in pursuit of success.

Yet there remains something strangely pathetic about him.

There are no lengthy speeches explaining that he grew up in a chawl, suffered childhood abuse or deserves our sympathy because society wronged him. No convenient psychological excuses are offered. He is simply consumed by greed, a characteristic sadly representative of many people today.

Akshaye underplays the role beautifully, and this follows splendidly on from his work in Dil Chahta Hai. First Akshay Kumar in Ajnabee, now Akshaye Khanna in Humraaz—are we perhaps witnessing the emergence of the "character" replacing the traditional Bollywood villain?

Shah Rukh's obsessive lover in Darr at least carried an element of sympathy because he was mentally disturbed. The central figures in both Ajnabee and Humraaz, by contrast, are simply greedy and malevolent, with no justification offered whatsoever.

There are perhaps too many songs, though "Bardaasht Nahin Hota" stands out as one of the better numbers. Johnny Lever also manages not to become irritating, and the comedy is thankfully kept to a minimum, despite Abbas-Mustan's long-held belief that every thriller requires comic relief to offset the tension—a philosophy that nearly overwhelmed Daraar.

This ranks among the duo's more accomplished efforts and is well worth a look.