TAAL

A movie review by Balaji Balasubramaniam

Cast:	Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Aloknath
Music:	A.R.Rehman
Direction:	Subash Ghai

(This is a review of the hindi film. Since the movie has been dubbed into tamil as Thaalam, I felt the review fits in here.)

The most surprising thing about this latest offering from Subash Ghai is how ordinary it is. Subash Ghai is one of the directors in whose movies I expect top-class entertainment. And rarely has he disappointed. Unfortunately, this is one of those times. Take away the foot-tapping music and eye-catching photography from Taal and what you have underneath is the simplest of love stories - a love triangle where a woman is caught between two men - replete with situations and scenes seen several times before. In this respect, it reminded me of Kaadhalar Dhinam.

Manav(Akshaye), while on a visit to a hill station in Himachal Pradesh, falls in love with Manasi(Aishwarya), daughter of a local singer Tarabhai(Aloknath). But when Manasi and her father go to visit him after his return to the city, they are insulted by his father(Amrish Puri) and relatives. She runs into music director Vikrant Kapoor(Anil Kapoor) who turns her into a big dancing star while falling in love with her along the way. Manav tries to win her back while she agrees to wed Vikrant.

The first half has a languid pace that makes the proceedings veer dangerously close to being boring. Since its obvious that Akshaye and Aishwarya are going to fall in love, the only option Ghai has is to make the romance itself interesting(like Vaali). But he fails. Barring a couple of scenes(Akshay asking Aishwarya for a photo while dangling over a cliff is one), the romance is largely uninteresting and as a result, the movie proceeds at a snail's pace. The first hint of a story is only when Akshaye leaves the village, which is almost midway through the movie. The scene where Aishwarya and her father are insulted by Akshaye's rich family has been seen so many times(most recently in Sangamam where the boy's father was at the receiving end) that it is just painful. Here too, this scene has all the standard ingredients including the cardboard characters of the boy's haughty, rich relatives and the hero who stands up for his insulted father.

But looks like Ghai has put a lot more effort into the latter half of the movie though. Anil Kapoor's character - the hard-hearted, money-minded Bollywood man - is quite well described and his change of heart seems plausible. His encounter with Akshaye at the MTV awards is one scene that is well-handled. The same goes for Akshaye's talks with his father. The dialogs during these scenes are natural and delivered well by both, especially Amrish Puri. But lack of credible suspense about what is going to happen and who is going to get the girl makes it hard for the viewer to sustain any interest in the happenings. One just keeps waiting for the next song sequence to make its appearance! And to make things worse, the climax is a complete mess.

Anil Kapoor's performance rescues the second half and the movie. Sure its over-the-top but that's exactly what's needed to resuscitate the movie from its coma. With his flashy costumes and exaggerated actions, he pumps some life into the movie and actually makes us root for him to get the girl. Akshaye Khanna does the job of the loverboy well enough. But he does seem ill-at-ease during the playful parts and seems more suited to mature potrayals. Aishwarya Rai continues her maturity into a talented actress with a competent performance. Both senior artistes, Aloknath and Amrish Puri, perform their roles well.

Other technical aspects are flawless though. Photography is excellent especially during the initial scenes in Aishwarya's village. Some colorful sets have been constructed for Anil Kapoor's studio. Songs by ARR are terrific and the song sequences complement the songs very well.