Stars and Starlets on the block

ER...(SOB, sob) Mujhe..(sob, sob) Kuch (sob, sob) Kehna (sob, sob) Hai... Ladies and Gentlemen, Tusshar Kapoor, Jumping Jack Junior is the newest star-kid ban gaya gentleman. A bit too gentle for the audience to handle. At least here in Chennai.

Hrithik crowned himself as the icon of machoism. Critics lauded Abhishek for his intensity and potential. Girls screamed that Fardeen was Greek God. And we were waiting to see what Jeetendra's Tusshar could do, when the movie opened in the city recently.

Tusshar can cry. He cries gloriously throughout his debut flick (flicked from Telugu) `Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai', in between songs, during songs, tears out of sadness, tears of frustration, depression and tears when he is happy. Glycerine overdose?

But the good news for Hindi cinema or rather star-dads waiting to launch their betas is: There is still hope. Yet another star-son made his debut successfully.

Tusshar has most certainly created his own slot. The kind of slot Murali enjoys in downtown Kollywood. The silent sobber has arrived in Hindi cinema too.

`Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai' was a movie the critics were anxiously waiting for. To find out if the magic of star-dad-dust working wonders for son really existed? It does. It does. It does. Credit it to Satish Kaushik, the director or the Telugu original `Tholli Prema', Anu Malik's music for this flick or the magic of the other two star-lets in the cast - Dimple and Rajesh Khanna's little Rinke (who plays sister to Tusshar) and the most promising Kareena (Karisma's own sister) Kapoor.

Kareena is definitely the actress to watch out for, if her debut with Abhishek in `Refugee' and now `Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai' (MKKH) are any indication. She has had critics singing praises right from her take one at Bollywood.

In MKKH, she plays Pooja, an NRI who's come here to do research on Indian culture and tradition, as we see her clicking pictures of temples, caves and festivals of mahaan bharath, besides taking autographs of do-gooders.

Tusshar is Karan, a do-gooder, ``good-for-nothing'' college chappie (who hangs out with a bunch of clowns including the mandatory effeminate friend). Karan falls in love with her, after spotting her playing with children, `Minnale' style minus the `minnal' and the rains.

After a series of close chance encounters of the fourth kind, the hero is hopelessly in love with her, but does not get a clue of who she is or where she's from. So he whiles away time, chopping wood, with amazingly decked up clouds in the background, does push-ups, cries bucketfuls, singing the title song even before knowing the girl's name!

Enough opportunities throughout the film for old friends to unite, catch up with old times, meet new people, make friends, meet their friends, take a walk to research menu-list in cinema halls and posters of forthcoming movies before the legitimate break in the movie, i.e. the Interval.

That comes up when Karan finally does meet Pooja, only to save her from falling off the cliff, doing a bit of cliff- hanging before doing a bit of free-falling himself.

Watch Rinke Khanna over-act in a cute cameo, playing the understanding sister who gives love-tips to her brother - asks him to befriend the girl first. Rinke might just have settled for the sister roles a bit too early in her career.

If playing sister to debutant Tusshar makes it worse. Her character getting married to an middle-aged unknown extra (who would have had the pleasure of telling the world that he was playing Rinke's pair) in the film almost makes her career a non- starter, especially after `Pyar Main Kabhi Kabhi' didn't do all that well.

So we have Tusshar crying once again as he sees his sister married. Everything thereon is most predictable, but for the end. The climax is certainly the highlight of the movie. It makes you believe that you were watching a different movie all that while. The saving grace climax is one reason why one should stay till the end (Tusshar cries very less there).

Kareena shines throughout the flick, with the grace of a seasoned sizzler already. She could very well be the next Madhuri Dixit or Karisma Kapoor, especially with two films with Hrithik in the pipeline - `Yaadien' with Subhash Ghai and `Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham' with Karan Johar.

Not every newcomer gets a chance to work with the likes of Subhash Ghais and Karan Johars. That is where, it more than helps to have a star-dad/mom. We have seen two junior Dharmendras making it big, now it's the turn of Hemamalini Junior, Esha Deol when she debuts in `Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche'.

Surely, there's something about star-kids. They all seem to have something to say. And that's reason enough to stay.

By Sudhish Kamath

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Section  : Entertainment