KISMET LOVE PAISA DILLI | 6 October, 2012

Invincible Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.’s Kismet Love Paisa Dilli (UA) is the story of one night in Delhi. Lokesh (Vivek Oberoi) is an ordinary young man studying in a college in Delhi. He meets Lovina (Mallika Sherawat) at a party. He meets her again the same night when he is forced to spend time on the streets because of an unfortunate incident which happens on the metro train he boards. Lovina and he have to go through a number of situations and encounter different kinds of people that night. First, Lokesh is charged with the murder of Anamika alias Aarti Uttaroo (Neha Dhupia). He is also chased by the stooges of minister Manohar Achari (Sashikant Sikhar Sharma) as they feel, he has a tape containing the sting operation conducted on him (minister). It is very necessary for the minister to get hold of the tape as it could expose his corrupt ways and thereby ruin his political career. There is also Kaptan Sahab (Ashutosh Rana), a hoodlum, whom Lokesh has to deal with, among other things, to save Lovina from being raped by him.

Does Lokesh actually have the sting operation tape? Is his meeting with Lovina after the party just a coincidence or is there more to it than meets the eye? Are Lokesh and Lovi­na working at loggerheads with one another or do they have a common goal? What is/are the goal/s? Does each of them achie­ve the goal?

Sanjay Khanduri’s story is hotch-potch and offers no novelty whatsoever. His screenplay is also replete with clichéd scenes, some of them obnoxious and of the kind which would hurt sensibilities. There are just too many characters and incidents which happen in one night, making the entire drama rather unbelievable. What’s more, none, repeat, none of the characters is interesting at all, making it almost impossible for the audience to get engrossed or interested in the film. In fact, the excessive characters confuse and bore the audience no end. The writer turns to toilet humour every now and then, leaving a bad taste in the mouth be­cause those scenes are crass. In particular, the scenes showing Lokesh relieving himself on people’s heads and in the glasses of whisky are repulsive. What’s more, people are shown drinking the whisky and relishing it!! Equally repulsive are the references to sex and scenes showing some characters, including Lokesh, in their under-garments. Also, in the initial reels, Lokesh is shown to be such a letch that the viewers get put off him right from the word ‘go’. The audience gets the feeling that scenes have been written mindlessly with the sole intention of moving the drama forward without caring for logic or continuity.

There is hardly any performance in the film which is better than average. Vivek Oberoi does an ordinary job. Mallika Sherawat is also so-so. Those looking for oomph and sex from Malli­ka will be sorely disappointed. Ashu­tosh Rana is earnest and sincere. Neha Dhupia leaves a mark in a brief role. Anshuman Jha, as Nunna, suffers on account of weird characteri­sation. Why does he keep biting people’s ears?!? And how does he suddenly become a super-hero, almost flying in the air every now and then? Sashikant Sikhar Sharma does an average job. Ashok Samarth makes his presence felt in a tiny role. Aseem Hattangady stands his own as police inspector Dhondiyal. Tahir Raj Bhasin (as Bambi), Naveen Kaushik (as Shishodiya), Hemant Chopra (in the role of Seetu), Gaurav Sharma (as Qureshi), Vishal Chaker Bhardwaj (as Rawat), Pramod Pathak (as P.A.), Istayak Arif Khan (as Pauwaa), Rajinder Sharma (as Chaudhary), Ashutosh Virendra Kaushik (as Bhatti), Bobby Vats (as Rohit Pichhwadiya), Vishwanath Chatterjee (as Popli), Megh Pant Varn (as the giant Sardar), Om Prakash (as Nunna’s uncle), master Veer Jangid (as the kid Sardar), Rubina (as the girl in the metro train) and the rest of the actors do as required.

Sanjay Khanduri’s direction leaves a lot to be desired. His narrative style does nothing to save the insipid script from irritating the audience. Music (Amjad-Nadeem and Santok Singh) is fair. Shabbir Ahmed and Santok Singh’s lyrics are ordinary. Song pic­turisations, choreographed by Brinda and Kiran Giri, pass muster. Amar Mohile’s background music is jarring to the ears. Savita Singh and Rituraj Narain’s camerawork is average. Rajat Poddar’s sets are nothing to shout about. Action scenes, by Parvez Khan, are, at best, functional. Dharmendra Sharma and Sandeep Francis’ editing is far from nice. Production values are okay.

On the whole, Kismet Love Paisa Dilli is a poor show and will not get the love of the audience. It will entail heavy losses for all concerned.

Released on 5-10-’12 at Inox (daily 1 show), Metro Big (daily 3 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Invincible Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Publicity: fair. Opening: very poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was frighteningly weak everywhere.