The Hindu : Karnataka News : Just for time pass

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Saturday, Oct 11, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Just for time pass

Film: Hello (Hindi)

Cast: Sharman Joshi, Sohail Khan, Salman Khan

Director: Atul Agnihotri

It was long due. Hindi cinema could not have ignored life in a BPO (business process outsourcing) firm any longer. Director Atul Agnihotri found an able ally in the form of novelist Chetan Bhagat on whose bestseller “One Night@The Call Center”, the film is based. Still Atul has given us a film that engages us for moments, touches us in a flash, but leaves us disappointed in the end.

He has had the advantage of the first mover, in a world where action begins at midnight. Where Ridhima becomes Rebecca and at times morality becomes as elastic as a Russian gymnast. Everybody is living an American dream which could be right-sized any moment.

Alas, Atul frittered away the advantage! This time, the problem is not with the script or dialogues. Chetan has managed to hold on to the punch in Hindi for a large part of the film. But there is something lost in translation. And that something is the soul of the story.

So Atul has brought in Salman Khan in a guest appearance to raise the tempo. The gamble could work against the film, as apparently Salman’s hardcore fans don’t want to know what’s happening behind the walls of a call centre. Go for it, if cinema is a weekly time pass for you, otherwise don’t take this call.

ANUJ KUMAR

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