De Taali

How can you review a movie that you have decided to see on the spur of the moment, because you had nothing better to do? More importantly, one that you have seen, sitting in the first row! Difficult task, I know; but I want to give it a try. So here goes.

De Taali is the latest offering by Eshwar Niwas; this is how the name appears in the credits, I think the director thought that this movie would get his career back on track, and therefore people should know his full name. He earlier credited himself as E. Niwas. Get my drift. Now, if my memory serves me right, the director’s other offerings include Shool, Love ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, Dum, and Bardasht. While, Shool and Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega were largely appreciated by the critics and audience alike, the others sank without a trace. I am one of minuscule few, who liked ‘Dum’ but that’s another story.

You cannot slot ‘De Taali’. It’s not a comedy, neither is it a romantic movie. Therein, lies the problem. The confusion within the script which is translated onto the big screen and you really don’t know what to make of it. The promos on TV give you the impression, that the movie is fun with large dollops of comedy. Hmm.. After a lot of thinking, and comparing the promos with the whole movie, I do think the promos claim is misplaced. The movie is a little bit of fun, with very few comic moments.

De Taali is a story of three friends, Paglu ( Ritesh Deshmukh), Amu ( Ayesha Takia) and Abhi ( Aftab Shivdasani) who while away their time, partying, pubbing, shark riding ( I don’t know, if I want to know what this is) and of course doing everything else apart from working. Along comes another character, Kartika, who loves Abhi, more so, his money; and the movie is all about how the other two try to keep her away from their friend. There is a love angle, thrown in for good measure and you have the crux of the movie in a nutshell. As you can see, there is no semblance of a story and whatever there is, is not good. More importantly, the screenplay of the movie, is not taut and portions of the movie just drag on; especially the second half.

The only time when you really laugh or smile, is when Paglu, kidnaps Rimi Sen (Kartika) and tortures her. That’s just a 5 minute sequence and this takes care of the comedy in the movie. Nothing else in the movie is overtly funny. Now, when you are sitting in the front row, the visuals just stand out! You notice things that you might not notice, if you are sitting a few rows in the back. Well, the one stand out feature was Rimi Sen and her thighs. For god sakes, what was she thinking? She will put some of the world footballers to shame. She has tried to don the avatar of hot and sexy manipulator and though her face is good, everything else is in pretty bad shape. She is plump, towards the fatty side and her thighs stand out as the symbol of her fat content. Please don’t castigate me for going on and on about her thighs, but whenever she was on screen, all I could see was that part of her body, as I was in the front row. They enveloped the screen. Alright, enough about her; let’s get to the acting bit.

Now let me be very frank here. Anybody who is going to see this movie should only go because of Ritesh Deshmukh. He and comedy are synonymous and thus people might think about watching this movie. Nobody is going to watch it for the other three actors. Well, as the lovable ‘Paglu’ he is pretty good. He is great in the minimal comedy scenes in the movie and overall his performance is up to the mark; nothing extraordinary but worth a watch. Aftab is passable and what’s more he has nothing better to do in the movie, other than having a serious and shattered look on the face. Now, I don’t know if anybody else has noticed it, but the guy look a bit under the weather. He looks like he is coming off a long illness or something. But that’s neither here nor there. Ayesha Takia does justice to her role and looks………..thin. Yes, the fatty is actually thinning; or is it the affect of Rimi Sen being in the movie. Anybody would look thinner then her.

On the whole, it’s the four characters that make the movie ‘watchable’. It’s they who try and hold the tattered scrip and screenplay together. That’s about it. If you are a discerning viewer then avoid the movie at all costs. Don’t waste your hard earned money. However if want to watch a movie, for want of anything better to do, then you might just think about going for this one. Just don’t expect to come out with a feeling of money well spent.