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A slice of life, a slice of fantasy Cinema

ZIYA US SALAM

THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC

(At Delite and other theatres in Delhi and elsewhere)

On our shoulders reside two guardian angels. One notes down all the good deeds we do. The other jots down all evil. Anyone who ignores the good slips into a web of lies and deceit, breaks relationships, tears a child away from her father, a man away from his mother…. For such people, hell is a torment in waiting. Anyone who tends to the old, forgives those around, brings people together….well she is an angel!

A bit moralistic, that? Yes, but it is such dashes of morals that save Kunal Kohli’s new release “Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic” under the Yash Raj Films banner from being an insufferable compilation of other kid shows with surprise as the missing element. This film is replete with predictables: naughty children in a mansion orphaned with the death of parents in an accident, an angry guardian; and of course, a fairy who rides a pink bicycle, wears white, floats over clouds and gets everything right for them.

“Thoda Pyaar…” is a fantasy film, basically, a dream vehicle for the young and impressionable. The director spins a story out of little prayers and fond hopes of the innocent, hoping to laugh all the way to the bank with a few tender scenes and many stereotypes.

Kohli’s is a middling essay. It half disappoints, half delights. There are moments when dew-fresh Rani Mukerji enters the scene as a fairy that you smile, and life does seem to hold hope in its lap. She is fresh as the morning sunshine, radiant as the moon. After quite some time, Rani appears fetching, a woman fit to be pampered with a thousand pearls and a million rose buds. The camera caresses her face in many close-ups. And just as well. Because when it does go into the distance, Rani with her well endowed waistline does not look as appealing. Yet she sails through her role, knowing she might have the centre-stage here, but it is essentially for length rather than substance. Almost every heroine worth her pancake has played a fairy in her career, now is her turn. No more.

Much like Saif who plays a tyro who, again predictably, cannot stand the sight of kids he is supposed to bring up after being responsible for their parents’ death. Again, no guesses needed: he undergoes a change of heart and becomes a lovey-dovey guardian who can risk his millions but not tolerate a slap to his kids!

How does the metamorphosis take place? Well, Kohli does not take the viewers into confidence. He says, and we are expected to believe. We believe the four kids, each of whom is likeable without really leaving a lasting impression. Yet again, Kohli goes by the popular stereotypes: so he inserts an adopted Sikh kid in the family with an eye at the turnstiles, and a smile towards the bank.

Amid all this, one occasionally gets involved with the story of an angel out to protect the kids from their uncaring guardian. The kids’ antics work at times, and Rani lights up the screen every now and then. As indeed does Ameesha Patel who as Saif’s girlfriend given the short shrift is supposed to slide in and out of micro minis. She does it with aplomb.

However, these are only slices of compensations. Otherwise there are periods in the film when one wishes the director had laid his hands on a better script, the detailing was better, and Kohli could do away with his song-and-dance routine. The candyfloss look, the designer sets all look so jaded. If he had cut out the flab, added a better dash of emotion, and not packaged everything in such a transparent manner, the dream film with a customary dash of romance could have held interest throughout.

The way “Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic” evolves, it comes across as an average family film for an undemanding section of the audience. For those who ask uneasy questions of novelty, professional treatment and at least a semblance of a script, it is disappointing. As for the guardian angels, they would have surely taken note of all the “inspirations” here. Want to ask about the reality of this dream at the box office? Ah! You could as well ask about the joy of losing.

THODI LIFE, THODA MAGIC

(At Wave, Noida; and Delhi theatres)

There was a time when he was a million people’s favourite hero. Well past the high noon of popularity now, he struggles to hold a film together, often reduced to a mere shadow player in multi-starrers or acting from memory in insipid low-key ventures. Here Jackie Shroff gets a rare chance to relive his “Hero” days. As the pivotal MK, Jackie gets enough screen space to last a summer. He is the soul of the film. Also, its stuttering life, its ageing body. < /p>

Talking of the soul, here he mouths homilies with the ease of a rehearsed practitioner. But such is his charisma that everyone around gets smitten. Count among them Saahil Chadha, who is never quite likely to make it in charisma stakes. And Meera Vasudevan, an under-valued, under-explored actress who deserves better.

Now throw in loud-as-usual Arbaaz Khan and you know why Jackie can only be the saving grace of this otherwise flawed film where one man’s philosophy is supposed to be the harbinger of change in everybody’s life! There is lack of drama in the script, music is listless and poor Anita Raj is wasted in her comeback vehicle.

Director Aanand Rai’s “Thodi Life Thoda Magic” is a slice of life most will find avoidable. As for magic, well, Mr Rai, try another time.

VIA DARJEELING

(At Spice, Noida; and other theatres)

This is an emerging stereotype. A new director targets the multiplex audiences with a film distinctly urban in its ethos. Populated by a crop of reliable actors who would never threaten to be stars, Arindam Nandy’s film has all that one expects from the body of a multiplex show. The characters live and dress in a manner befitting an upwardly mobile professional. Their lingo is apt too: a mix of English and Hindi. Spirits are high. Liquor flows along with kebabs and loose talk. They discuss everything under the sun, including a colleague’s divorce and an acquaintance’s murder with the nonchalance of someone discussing the day’s weather.

What is missing is the soul. The film ostensibly talks of a honeymooning couple in Darjeeling. One of the partners, however, disappears. Is he kidnapped? Killed? Or is it a suicide? Did the man have another woman in his life? Or the woman another man? There were myriad possibilities for Nandy to explore. Unfortunately, he himself gets lost in unravelling this whodunit saga. There is not enough focus on the possible murder to make it a thriller. There is not enough outside footage to make it an eye-soothing exercise.

Shot largely indoors, the film can be tolerated only because of its bankable actors: Kay Kay Menon in the pivotal role of a newly married man who disappears is likeable as ever. And the likes of Simone Singh, Rajat Kapoor, Sonali Kulkarni all go through their motions with professional poise. Nothing more, nothing less. Much like the film.

Yes, thanks to the limitations of the script, and an assembly line ragtag collection of shots from memory, “Via Darjeeling” is just a cure for afternoon boredom. Nothing more.

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