BEZUBAAN ISHQ

Gangani Motion Pictures’ Bezubaan Ishq is a musical romance. Rumjhum (Sneha Ullal) and Suhani (Mugdha Godse) are cousins. While Rumjhum lives with her parents (Sachin Khedekar and Alexandra Ashman) in London, her paternal cousin, Suhani, lives in India with her widower-father (Darshan Jariwala) and paternal grandmother (Farida Jalal). Rumjhum is a very nice girl, caring and loving. Suhani is just the opposite – loud, brash and self-centred.

Suhani demands a swanky car as her birthday gift from her rich father but as there’s a waiting period for the car’s delivery, her father is unable to fulfil his promise on her birthday. Suhani reacts so violently to this that the family has to take her to the doctor who diagnoses her with a mental disorder which has no cure. The doctor suggests, in the presence of Suhani’s close friend, Swagat (Nishant), that the family should think in terms of getting her married in the hope that marital life will probably mellow her down.

As luck would have it, Swagat’s parents (Muni Jha and Smita Jayakar), who are close family friends of Suhani’s father, are more than willing to accept the eccentric Suhani as their daughter-in-law. They are sure, Swagat, who has known Suhani for so many years, would agree to the alliance. Swagat is not very happy but he gives in.

Meanwhile, Rumjhum and her parents have come to India for Suhani and Swagat’s engagement and marriage. After the engagement, Swagat falls in love with Rumjhum while on a picnic to Rajasthan with Suhani, Rumjhum and friends. Rumjhum, too, gets fond of Swagat. All hell breaks loose when Suhani sees Rumjhum and Swagat together in a bath tub where they had landed accidentally.

What happens thereafter? Whom does Swagat finally marry? Who sacrifies his or her love?

Jashwant Gangani’s love triangle story is as old as the hills with not even a hint of novelty. The screenplay, written jointly by Jashwant Gangani and Sanjay V. Shah, is as jaded as jaded can be. Quite strangely, Swagat’s parents are shown to be oh so excited about getting their son married to a girl who is diagnosed with a mental disorder – so excited that it would appear as if their son himself had some major shortcoming. Their reason for this – of sharing problems of one another – sounds tame and rather unbelievable. Again, why Swagat himself is not able to tell his parents that he wants to marry Rumjhum and not Suhani is unclear. After all, his parents are not idiots to force him to marry a girl with a mental illness – or are they idiots?!? It is because of this weak link that nothing really creates an impact after Swagat’s parents volunteer to get their son married to Suhani. Not even Suhani’s crazy behavior and suicidal tendencies, which come to the fore after the engagement, prompt Swagat to take up the matter with his parents – and this looks so weird that the audience is unable to sympathise with Swagat. The owner of Love Nest, where Swagat, Suhani, Rumjhum and their friends stay in Rajasthan, advising Swagat at the end of their trip, also appears unwarranted. All in all, the screenplay is not only dated, it is also confused and one of complete convenience. Sanjay V. Shah’s dialogues, like the rest of the script, belong to an era gone by.

Mugdha Godse does a fairly good job. Sneha Ullal is expressionless at many times. She looks alright in the initial reels but a bit stocky in the latter part of the film. Nishant has performed quite well. Of the supporting cast, it is only Farida Jalal who stands out with her expressions and acting. Darshan Jariwala, Sachin Khedekar, Smita Jayakar and Muni Jha have roles which are not very significant, and their performances are alright. Alexandra Ashman and Soniya Mehta pass muster. Others lend very ordinary support.

Jashwant Gangani’s direction is not bad but does appear dated like the drama. Music (Babli Haque and Rupesh Verma) is good. ‘Teri masumiyat’ (Babli Haque) is very well-tuned and the title track (Babli Haque) and ‘Teri meri ankahi dastaan’ (Rupesh Verma) are fairly nice. Lyrics (Jashwant Gangani; ‘Har lamha kar party’ song lyrics by Prashant Ingole) are nice. Choreography (Rajeev Surti, Longines Fernandes, Ricky and Pappu Khanna) is functional. Raju Singh’s background music is ordinary. S. Kumar Bhagat’s camerawork is average. Kaushal-Moses’ action and stunts are too ordinary to deserve special mention. Paresh Y. Manjrekar’s editing is not bad.

On the whole, Bezubaan Ishq will be a mute spectator to its rejection at the box-office due to lack of merits.