Veritable potpourri
NOTHING ORIGINAL ABOUT IT: Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi.
Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi
Genre: Fantasy
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao, Prem Chopra, Arshad Warsi
Director: Mahesh Manjrekar Storyline: `Ghost' becomes Mr. India in the guise of Men in Black to save his gang from `Koi Mil Gaya,' thanks to Munnabhai...ooops Yamraaj
M. A.
Bottomline: Too many flicks spoil the mix.
First, some one tell Shahid Kapur that he is not Shah Rukh Khan. For, he seems to be convinced that he is Shah Rukh Khan trapped inside Pankaj Kapoor's son.
Starting with Shahid, there is absolutely nothing original about ``Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi."
The movie begins with a Mr. India-like household full of naughty kids. The man of the house, Adi (Shahid) dies in an accident leaving his love Piya (Amrita Rao). He becomes the `ghost' who tries to kick the Pepsi can, until a medium (Arshad Warsi) decides to help him out.
`Ghost,' with a little help from Hanuman Chalisa, becomes `Mr. India' who protects his kids and family from Mogambo's goons from the original, with nods to Men in Black, E.T. and Koi Mil Gaya.
There's also Sanjay Dutt as Yamraaj with an identity crisis and a liking towards alcohol. Sometimes, Mr. Yamraaj talks in poor Brit English, sometimes he becomes ``Munnabhai MBBS" and sometimes he just becomes a pale shadow of the actor he used to be until last year, doing yet another terrible comic act after `Shaadi No.1.' So much so that when the actor plays himself in the end, you just cannot tell the difference.
But to the movie's credit, it does have a few genuine laughs in store, thanks to Dutt and Warsi, who rely on the `tapori' act to make it watchable. As a result, towards the end, the whole movie has a `Munnabhai' hangover.
A sprinkle of Indian mythology is not enough to rescue a plot derived from over a dozen fantasy movies.
The biggest problem with `Vaah' is that after the Shahid-turned-Shah Rukh Khan-turns into Mr. India, there is no problem whatsoever. Even Mr. India was visible in red light. But here, there is no conflict, nothing to stop superhero. There is no powerful Mogambo.
This largely wannabe movie has Shahid wanting to be Shah Rukh, Mahesh Manjrekar wanting to make another Mr. India and Sanjay Dutt wanting to remind people he was their lovable Munnabhai.
Only kids (really young children who do not care much for a plot) keen to watch special effects would dig this movie on a lazy afternoon.
SUDHISH KAMATH
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
