 |
Starring:
Dia Mirza, Ishitta Arun, Tejaswini
Kolhapure, Rocky Bhatia, Gauri Karnik, Om
Puri, Kiran Jhanjhani
Producer: Laxman Bhatia
Director: Ajai Sinha
Music: Vishal-Shekar |
| Stop
Movie Stills : |
Click
here |
| Stop
Wallpapers : |
Click
here |
|
 DIL
CHAHTA HAI triggered off the trend of films that looked
at the lives of friends, their highs and lows, their
lives taking new routes, how each one gets affected
in the process and the reunion subsequently.
Ajai Sinha's STOP! steers
into the same lane, narrating the story of four friends.
Like Farhan Akhtar attempted in his directorial debut,
Sinha's big screen debut also tries to tell the individual
stories of each character, but the outcome is a pale
clone of films in this genre.
The reason is crystal
clear: Barring the incidents involving Tejaswini Kolhapure
and to an extent, Rocky Bhatia's characters, the remaining
sub-plots fail to entice the viewer. Clearly, the writer
is to be blamed completely for losing an opportunity!
STOP! tells the story
of four friends - Pooja [Gauri Karnik], Tina [Tejaswini
Kolhapure], Sonia [Ishita Arun] and Om [Rocky Bhatia]
- who share an apartment in Dubai. Everything seems
hunky-dory till…
Om's ex-girlfriend Shama
[Dia Mirza], now married to someone else, arrives in
Dubai for work. Shama is having problems in her marital
life and in an effort to lend her support, Om starts
getting dependent on her gradually.
Tina's father Anand
[Om Puri], a drunkard, resurfaces in Tina's life, aggravating
situations.
Pooja's dream is to
be the best Radio Jockey in town, but her boss [Harsh
Chhaya] makes an 'indecent proposal' if she wants a
show of her own.
Rohit [Kiran Janjani],
a casanova, works in the same office as Om and one night,
at a pub, Om introduces Sonia to him. Om's subsequent
warnings to Sonia vis-à-vis the playboy fall
on deaf ears.
Conflicting opinions
and temperaments create a rift amongst friends…
What could've been a
light entertainer, with emotional moments aplenty, falls
prey to mediocrity because the narrative just doesn't
excite. Besides being slow paced, the narrative fails
to hold your attention.
As mentioned above,
the sub-plots involving Tejaswini Kolhapure and Rocky
Bhatia have meat, but Gauri and Ishita's sub-plots seem
like a half-hearted attempt.
Tejaswini's interaction
with her drunkard-father and why she abhors him is justifiable.
It does involve the viewer largely. Rocky's portions
are not as captivating, but have their share of interesting
moments. But why this need to bring Dia's husband back
in the end and make Rocky look like a loser?
Gauri's sub-plot suffers
all through because the intentions of the boss are crystal
clear the moment he is introduced in the story. Strangely,
the viewer is well aware that something is coming, but
Gauri isn't aware till he actually says it in clear
words. Surely, a present-day independent girl, living
all by herself in Dubai, couldn't be so naïve.
And when she does agree to the demands but develops
cold feet later, she weeps and sobs as if it were her
fault. Really strange!
Ishita's sub-plot is
the weakest. Her love story never takes off, it follows
the routine path, till Kiran's true colours come to
the fore during the 31st December celebrations. By the
way, the writer deserves to be 'complimented' for having
thought of a 'novel' end to Ishita and Kiran's prem
kahani.
Besides, the comedy
track - involving Ali Asgar and Tejaswini - is the most
irritating aspect of the enterprise. Director Ajai Sinha
doesn't deliver. He is terribly letdown by the script.
Vishal-Shekhar's music is functional. 'Meri Kahani'
- filmed on Rocky and Dia - is the pick of the lot.
Cinematography is the only redeeming aspect of the enterprise.
The locales of Dubai are visually striking.
Amongst performances,
Tejaswini Kolhapure does leave a mark in a well-defined
role, although she needs to concentrate on her make-up
[bad] and outfits [horrendous]. Rocky Bhatia enacts
his part with sincerity and does a decent job. Both
Ishita Arun and Gauri Karnik could've performed better
had there been meat in their characters.
Dia Mirza, in a small
but significant role, is maturing into a fine actress.
Kiran Janjani looks the character and enacts it well.
Om Puri is splendid. Himani Shivpuri is okay. Harsh
Chhaya hams. Ditto for Ali Asgar.
On the whole, STOP!
has precious little to offer in terms of content. Lack
of face-value and a poor start at the ticket window
will only add to its woes.
Indiafm.com
|
