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Hum Tum aur Ghost: Movie Review
25 March 2010, 10:27am ISTlGaurav Malani/INDIATIMES MOVIES
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Director: Kabeer Kaushik
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Dia Mirza, Boman Irani
Rating:
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Dia Mirza, Boman Irani
Rating:
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Ghost ghost na raha. Ghost dost ban gaya ! From Paheli to Bhoothnath , the concept of friendly ghost is not alien to Hindi cinema. This one is just an addition to the Bollywood bhoot buddy brigade.
'I see dead people' says Armaan (Arshad Warsi) and my sixth sense says I have heard this line before. Armaan works as a fashion photographer for a magazine and is in love with its editor Gehna (Dia Mirza). He stations himself on railway platforms in the night to escape the strange sounds emanating in his apartment.
Much to his horror, he is able to communicate with a ghost, Mr. Kapoor (Boman Irani) who seeks his help to get in touch (literally) with his wife. Kapoor also introduces Armaan to more poor souls like him who have their own wish lists. Armaan chooses to help a mother, Carol (Zehra Naqvi) in search of her son, separated at her death.
Though the basic premise of the film (a human communicating with a good-hearted ghost) holds a lot of potential and life in it, most of it remains untapped in the screenplay penned by Arshad Warsi, Arshad Ali Syed and Soumik Sen that lacks the spunk and is too shallow. One can find loose references from Hollywood films like Ghost to Ghost Town but the narrative fails to create any magic (or should we say ' Chamatkar ').
Too much song, dance and screen-time is spent on the romance between the lead pair though the couple is already in love. The heroine's suspicion of the hero cheating on her gives way to an unnecessary subplot straight out of Bridget Jones's Diary that ends on a happy and 'gay' note. When the uneventful screenplay fails to initiate a decent situational comedy, the writers try hard to induce humour through dialogues. And though the lines are funny at instances, you can still feel the hollowness in the dull proceedings.
The ghost enters in the story pretty early though, true to its character, it remains nonexistent in contributing anything towards the first half. In the second half you are enlightened that the ghost's widow is mistreated by her son who wants her to shift to an old age home. It's certainly not a coincidence that the son is played by the same guy (Ashwin Mushran) who dumped his father into an old age home in Lage Raho Munnabhai (starring the same cast of Arshad-Boman-Dia). The Baghban -ish background account of Boman Irani is both boring and banal. Soon the male ghost exits from the plot never to return back and you wonder if that was all that Boman had to offer to the film?
That gives way to a female ghost with maternal instincts to pursue Armaan for her long-lost son. And while director Kabeer Kaushik might have thought of surprising with a twist in the climax, you can sense the suspense much early in the film, with the sluggish pace giving you enough time to ponder. The final sequence is a direct spinoff on the end of Delhi-6 where Abhishek Bachchan's soul exits and reenters his body. The redeeming part is that it complements the culmination of this film to a better extent than Delhi-6 .
Ashok Mehta's cinematography is decent but nothing extraordinary. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music is plain passable.
Arshad Warsi reigns supreme in the film and gives a lively performance. Comedy obviously comes naturally to him but he is equally good in the climax emotional outburst. However the writer in him hasn't been able to do justice to the immense potential of the performer in him. Dia Mirza looks gorgeous. The talented Boman Irani fails to make his 'presence felt'. Sandhya Mridul has nothing much to do. Zehra Naqvi is average.
Arshad Warsi's debut as a writer is so 'lifeless' in Hum Tum aur Ghost that even his 'spirited' performance isn't able to save the dead slow film from dying a slow death.
By Taran Adarsh, March 26, 2010 - 08:37 IST
I've often said, interesting ideas don't necessarily translate into enthralling celluloid experiences. That's what I realized, for the umpteenth time, as HUM TUM AUR GHOST concluded.
Hollywood has attempted several films wherein the living has been shown interacting with the dead. In fact, two decades ago, there was a mad rush to Indianize GHOST [Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg]. The fascination with the dead continues to haunt Bollywood to this date.
Arshad Warsi - who has been credited with the story of HUM TUM AUR GHOST - has denied that the film is inspired by GHOST TOWN. Yet, there're some similarities and that could be coincidental. So far, so good!
I've often said, interesting ideas don't necessarily translate into enthralling celluloid experiences. That's what I realized, for the umpteenth time, as HUM TUM AUR GHOST concluded.
Hollywood has attempted several films wherein the living has been shown interacting with the dead. In fact, two decades ago, there was a mad rush to Indianize GHOST [Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg]. The fascination with the dead continues to haunt Bollywood to this date.
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Now here's the hitch. The screenplay - the lifeline of any film - is what makes a film stand on its feet and in this case, HUM TUM AUR GHOST suffers due to inept writing. Ideally, the writers and director should've come to the point right away, but the film takes its own sweet time to come to the point and what comes across is also not enticing, barring a couple of attention-grabbing moments. By then, the viewer has already lost interest in the film.
The sole saving grace is the performances by the principal cast. Sadly, that's not enough!
For Armaan [Arshad Warsi], life was picture perfect. He has a doting girlfriend Gehna [Dia Mirza] and also a great job. But there's a problem: Armaan hears voices. Voices that torture him. Voices that disturb him. More importantly, voices that nobody else can hear.
Gehna is irritated with his weird behaviour. Add to that her father [Javed Sheikh] constantly berates him for his fondness for the bottle. No one seems to understand his predicament. What puzzles everyone is the fact that he talks to himself… or rather, he talks to people, who no one can see, simply because they don't live.
Soon, Armaan becomes aware of his special ability to connect with the dead. Equipped with a will to fulfil the wishes of these spirits who hound him, Armaan sets out on a mission to help out three souls - a child, an old man and a young woman.
Generally, most Hindi movies come to the point at the very inception. HUM TUM AUR GHOST also opens its cards at the very outset, but loses focus soon after. In fact, the moment you're told that Arshad can see the dead, you expect to embark on a journey you've never embarked upon earlier. But there's hardly any movement in the story after a captivating start.
No doubt, the concept is fascinating and had the writers concentrated on tackling the three stories that Arshad chooses to solve, and without wasting time on romance-n-songs, HUM TUM AUR GHOST would've been one journey you would've never forgotten.
The build-up to the first story - a dead kid asking Arshad to help his father - is simply missing. The second story - involving Boman Irani - could've been tackled far more expertly. The entire sequence in the bank is bizarre and far from funny. In fact, you wonder, did the writers run out of ideas at this point? Of course, the sequence thereafter - between Boman and his wife [Asawari Joshi] - is touching.
The third story - of a woman in search of her son - starts off very well, but midway through this story, the moment Arshad enters his father's house, the mystery never remains a mystery. You can predict what's in store next. The culmination to the film, although well shot, doesn't make the required impact either.
Director Kabeer Kaushik was entrusted with a great idea, but his team of writers blew it up into smithereens. The impact generated by a few worthy of note sequences gets evaporated as the film reaches its culmination, primarily because the writing doesn't hold. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music is strictly okay. Ashok Mehta's cinematography is of top quality.
HUM TUM AUR GHOST has skilled performances, starting with Arshad, who's likable and believable. A complete natural, this is among his finest works. It's a new Dia you get to watch in this film. Not only does she look ethereal, but is exceptional in the acting department as well. Boman is tremendous, especially in the sequence when he's meeting his wife again. Sandhya Mridul doesn't get much to do. Zehra Naqvi is convincing. Shernaz Patel is wasted. Ditto for Tinnu Anand. Javed Sheikh is as usual. Asawari Joshi is perfect for her part.
On the whole, HUM TUM AUR GHOST is a terrible waste of a terrific idea. Disappointing!
The sole saving grace is the performances by the principal cast. Sadly, that's not enough!
For Armaan [Arshad Warsi], life was picture perfect. He has a doting girlfriend Gehna [Dia Mirza] and also a great job. But there's a problem: Armaan hears voices. Voices that torture him. Voices that disturb him. More importantly, voices that nobody else can hear.
Gehna is irritated with his weird behaviour. Add to that her father [Javed Sheikh] constantly berates him for his fondness for the bottle. No one seems to understand his predicament. What puzzles everyone is the fact that he talks to himself… or rather, he talks to people, who no one can see, simply because they don't live.
Soon, Armaan becomes aware of his special ability to connect with the dead. Equipped with a will to fulfil the wishes of these spirits who hound him, Armaan sets out on a mission to help out three souls - a child, an old man and a young woman.
Generally, most Hindi movies come to the point at the very inception. HUM TUM AUR GHOST also opens its cards at the very outset, but loses focus soon after. In fact, the moment you're told that Arshad can see the dead, you expect to embark on a journey you've never embarked upon earlier. But there's hardly any movement in the story after a captivating start.
No doubt, the concept is fascinating and had the writers concentrated on tackling the three stories that Arshad chooses to solve, and without wasting time on romance-n-songs, HUM TUM AUR GHOST would've been one journey you would've never forgotten.
The build-up to the first story - a dead kid asking Arshad to help his father - is simply missing. The second story - involving Boman Irani - could've been tackled far more expertly. The entire sequence in the bank is bizarre and far from funny. In fact, you wonder, did the writers run out of ideas at this point? Of course, the sequence thereafter - between Boman and his wife [Asawari Joshi] - is touching.
The third story - of a woman in search of her son - starts off very well, but midway through this story, the moment Arshad enters his father's house, the mystery never remains a mystery. You can predict what's in store next. The culmination to the film, although well shot, doesn't make the required impact either.
Director Kabeer Kaushik was entrusted with a great idea, but his team of writers blew it up into smithereens. The impact generated by a few worthy of note sequences gets evaporated as the film reaches its culmination, primarily because the writing doesn't hold. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music is strictly okay. Ashok Mehta's cinematography is of top quality.
HUM TUM AUR GHOST has skilled performances, starting with Arshad, who's likable and believable. A complete natural, this is among his finest works. It's a new Dia you get to watch in this film. Not only does she look ethereal, but is exceptional in the acting department as well. Boman is tremendous, especially in the sequence when he's meeting his wife again. Sandhya Mridul doesn't get much to do. Zehra Naqvi is convincing. Shernaz Patel is wasted. Ditto for Tinnu Anand. Javed Sheikh is as usual. Asawari Joshi is perfect for her part.
On the whole, HUM TUM AUR GHOST is a terrible waste of a terrific idea. Disappointing!
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