Tell Me O Kkhuda: Movie Review post here

Life seems to have come full circle for Hema Malini. In an attempt to reintroduce daughterEsha Deol with Tell Me O Kkhuda, the yesteryear dreamgirl does a spinoff on Dil Aashna Hai (1992), a film with which she miserably attempted to launch herself as a feature filmmaker. While the erstwhile film derived its roots from the novel Lace (also made into an US tele-series), her latest endeavour comes closer to Amanda Seyfried's Mamma Mia(2008).

Tania (Esha Deol), a supposed novelist who inspires others, is disillusioned when she learns that she was an adopted child. Thereby she sets on an aimless, endless and pointless journey to find her biological parents, accompanied by her friends (Arjan Bajwa, Chandan Roy Sanyal) who have nothing better to do than escort her on her sponsored world tours. She has managed to preserve her 24-year old hospital birth tag (phew) which leads them to an overtly enthusiastic municipality clerk ( Johnny Lever) who is more than willing to help her with paternal prescriptions. And every time the municipal hospital is refurbished, the clerk comes up with new options for Daddy dear!

That gives the film an excuse to explore different geographical territories from Rajasthan,Turkey to Goa. Of course that doesn't make the narrative one-bit multidimensional as one only wishes the story could have explored the characters and their conflicts better. The first father candidate is a Rajasthan Royal (Vinod Khanna) and the ensuring episode is a moral science lesson against female feticide and about gender equality. Nominee number 2 is a Turkish hotelier (Rishi Kapoor) whose wife has turned recluse ever since the death of their daughter. But do we care?

Finally comes our very own Papaji (Dharmendra) with tweaked side-locks and studded ears as Goa's don Tony Costello, in one of his most unintentionally funny screen avatars. Hema Malinialso makes a default special appearance and you know who the daughter belongs to. So by the time Esha Deol walks with 'four fathers' in the climax, you realize that this dull drama dates back to your 'forefathers'.

While the film is certainly not designed as some suspense flick about the identity of the real father, it doesn't even work as a decent drama. Hema Malini's direction is slack, shallow and lacks the dramatic punches when the scene demands and, on the contrary, gets melodramatic when not required. There is no palpable tension when Tania confronts any of her prospective papas for the first time. The dullness in her direction can be simply sensed from the fact that she fails to add excitement or animation even in the potential camel race sequence.

Completely centered on Esha Deol, the actress disappoints with her apathetic act. She carries the same red-nosed, crybaby expression throughout and fails to strike a chord. And as desperately as she tries to exude an oomph appeal, all her attempts fall flat. Arjan Bajwa gets no scope. Chandan Roy Sanyal is used as an add-on who merely giggles and sprints like a buffoon. His comedy seems forced and the film could have even done without his character. Vinod Khannahas good screen presence. Rishi Kapoor is marred by a half-baked role. Dharmendra comes across as jaded in his looks, talks, act and action. Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval are decent. Hema Malini fails to impress both off-screen and on-screen.

It's quite uncertain if the film will find any audience and the ones who accidentally stumble upon it would only come out complaining 'Tell Me O Kkhuda... Why did you have to subject me to this'!

Verdict: Below Average