A VISUAL FEAST FALTERS

The trouble with going head to head in terms of release dates is the spin the stories get. Even media that has traditionally ignored Bollywood, they'd rather review some of the unwatchable Hollywood movies instead of picking the best of Bollywood. That's another story and it'll take me on a rant like never before. As I was saying, the thing about two of Bollywood's biggest releases has been the talk of the rivalry. With the information overload, the phones calls missed, the invites ignored, no comments from either side, one will never quite fathom what the intensity of the rivalry is - if there is one.

As far as cinema goes, Saawariya and Om Shanti Om are as different as chalk and cheese. Or as Bala would say they are like fish and mutton - both are good, you need to learn to savour them differently. Yet, over the Diwali weekend as we mentioned our movie plans, everyone we bumped into gave us their two cents worth anyways.

"Our friends watched it and said blah, blah, blah...."

Not one to let anyone colour our judgment blue, we made it for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's eagerly anticipated and much talked about Saawariya last night. The sets are grand, often you get confused guessing whether this bit was in Moulin Rouge or perhaps that train bit from The Polar Express. It almost seems like something you have seen before. The surreal sets come alive with the sound of music as star-crossed lovers collide on one rainy day, on another snowy day and then a moon lit day.

Seasons may be colliding, the story doesn't. Three days of waiting, walking, watching, talking, Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) finds himself falling madly in love with Sakina (Sonam Kapoor). No prizes for guessing the twist in this tale.

Love is put to the test, though the palpable excitement in the theatre revolves around the towel scene.

"Aiyoh, why you getting so excited?" boy seated behind us tells the girl.
"Haven't you seen this in other movies?"
"Never in Bollywood," she chokes on her laughs.


The towel scene notwithstanding, both Raj and Sonam, who are making their debuts are fairly impressive. As is Rani Mukherji who pulls off the role of the hooker - Gulabji with elan. Zohra Sehgal manages to pull out a couple of laughs as the endearing landlady 'Lilly-pop.'

The songs are beautifully choreographed, the costumes designed by Anuradha Vakil make you want to get on to the next flight to Ahmedabad. Somehow, its the story that fails to make the leap into the realm of a grand narrative.

After Devdas, I was ready to be shaken and stirred again. Sadly, nothing quite tugged at the heart-strings this time round. The Kleenex packet remained unopened.