Filmographie » Mehbooba - 2008 (11. Juli)

Voraussichtliches Erscheinen (indisches Kino): 11. Juli 2008

Director/Producer/Story: Afzal Khan

Cast:
Ajay Devgan
Sanjay Dutt
Manisha Koirala
Kader Khan
Reema Lagoo

Music Director: Ismail Darbar
Publicity Designer: Rahul Nanda, Himanshu Nanda
Lyricist: Anand Bakshi
Cinematography: Ashok Mehta

New York – a city of affluences and grandeurs…an ideal place for the handsome, successful and very rich Shravan Dhariwal (Sanjay Dutt). A business tycoon, Shravan has everything one can dream of having and what he doesn’t have, he buys it. A winner all the way with an envious lifestyle makes him the most eligible bachelor around. He loves being in the company of beautiful and desirable women. His charm and money gets him any beauty he desires till he meets Varsha (Manisha Koirala).

Varsha is an Indian girl who values self-respect and morality much above the money and glamour of America. She is the first girl in Shravan’s life who says no to his advances. Shravan is not a guy who would take NO for an answer and starts showering Varsha with presents and gifts that she keeps refusing, which are then followed by costlier gifts. Unmoved by the money being showered on her, Varsha insults Shravan in front of a few thousand people which comes as a jolt to him.

For the first time in his life Shravan wakes up to the fact and is made to understand that like everything else, women are not commodities that he can buy by showering gifts on them. He realizes his mistake and apologizes to Varsha asking for her forgiveness. To make amends for his misdeeds, he goes to meet Varsha’s father and express his love and respect for her. He asks for Varsha’s hand in marriage. Varsha’s father convinces her that he is a changed man now and genuinely loves her. After much deliberation, Varsha agrees and they get engaged. They take off on a holiday and their romantic sojourn ends in lovemaking.

Varsha’s beautiful dream comes to a shocking end when Shravan tells her that his love for her was just a drama to get engaged so he could sleep with her – ‘Every woman has a price tag, some sleep for money and some fools like you for the promise of marriage’. Heart broken and shattered, Varsha’s whole world collapses around her. She leaves the country and goes as far away as possible from Shravan Dhariwal to start a new life.

Shravan is summoned to his hometown in India by Maasa (Reema Lagoo),as his younger brother Karan (Ajay Devgan) has decided to get married. Karan settled in Europe, is in complete contrast to his brother. They are like two sides of a coin, emotionally attached but poles apart. Intrigued as to who his brother is so smitten by, Shravan keeps pestering his brother to tell him more about the love of his life. Karan describes Payal as an angel, a goddess he is madly in love with. A girl with amazing charm and beauty like none other. It’s virtually impossible for him to stop praising her. As the marriage day arrives closer, Payal arrives from Europe. Shravan meet Payal. Payal is none other than Varsha.

Is this a plan by Varsha to teach Shravan a lesson? Or is this fate playing a leveler in Shravan’s life? Why did Varsha change her name? What happens when Karan comes to know what happened between Varsha and Shravan? Will Shravan stop Karan from getting married to Payal aka Varsha? Who will Varsha / Payal marry?

So many questions to be answered…this is the story of Afzal Khan’s Mehbooba.

Quelle: http://www.movietalkies.com/movies/index.asp?MovieId=18542
1 zu 1 geklaut von IndiaFM http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/p...3852/index.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shravan Dhariwal, a business tycoon, lives in New York. His charm and money gets him any beauty he desires till he meets Varsha. Varsha, an Indian girl values self-respect and morality much above money. She rebukes Shravan’s advances and for the first time in his life Shravan wakes up to the fact that women are not commodities. To make amends, he goes to meet Varsha’s father and asks for her hand in marriage and very soon the two get engaged. They take off on a holiday and get intimate with each other. However, Varsha’s beautiful dream comes to a shocking end when Shravan tells her that his love for her was just a ploy to sleep with her. A devastated Varsha leaves the country away from his life. Later, Shravan is summoned to his hometown for his younger brother Karan’s wedding to Payal. Shravan meets Payal and is aghast. Payal is none other than Varsha.

Übersetzung Diwali:
Der Geschäftsmann Shravan Dhariwal lebt in New York. Mit seinem Charme und seinem Geld bekommt er jede Schönheit, die er will. Dann trifft er die Inderin Varsha, der Selbstrespekt und Moral mehr wert sind als Geld. Sie weist Shravans Annäherungsversuche zurück, und zum ersten Mal wird Shravan klar, dass Frauen nicht einfach nur Gebrauchsgegenstände sind. Er bittet Varshas Vater um die Hand Varshas, und die beiden werden verlobt. Sie fahren in Urlaub und werden intim - doch schon bald findet Varshas schöner Traum ein schockierendes Ende, als Shravan ihr erklärt, dass er seine Liebe nur vorgetäuscht hat, um sie ins Bett zu kriegen. Varsha, völlig zerstört, verlässt das Land. Einige Zeit später wird Shravan in seine Heimatstadt zitiert, um an der Hochzeit seines jüngeren Bruders Karan mit Payal teilzunehmen. Als Shravan Payal sieht, erkennt er erschrocken in ihr Varsha ...

Und wenn es schon sonst nichts über diesen Film zu berichten gibt, dann wenigstens einen Trailer 1raucher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPwWHjnh5uE


Hier mal was geklautes von Diwali aus dem Molo-Forum zur Story:

Mehbooba ist die Geschichte einer reifen Liebe mit Akzent auf den Gefühlen. Im Grunde dreht sich der Film um Beziehungen, die mit viel Würde und ohne Ecken und Kanten gefilmt worden sind von Produzent und Regisseur Afzal Khan.

Auf "M" gehen dann auf Seite 2 Mehbooba - Ajay Devgan gehen:

http://www.erosentertainment.com/eroslibrarylist.asp?Page=2

Neuer Release-Termin für Mehbooba: 13 June 2008

http://www.movietalkies.com/movies/index.asp?MovieId=18542

http://mehbooba.erosentertainment.com/

Published by Hanumant Bhansali at 05:35:24 pm on July 1, 2008

Cast: Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala, Reema Lagoo
Director: Afzal Khan
Producer: Afzal Khan
Music Director: Ismail Darbar
Lyricist: Anand Bakshi
Story: Afzal Khan

EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW BY HANUMANT BHANSALI

Afzal Khan’s Mehbooba has been in the making from the last five years or so. The star cast includes Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt and Manisha Koirala playing key roles in the film.

The story of Mehbooba starts off with the character of Shravan Dhariwal (Sanjay Dutt) who is a rich businessman residing in the lavish city of New York. Shravan believes in getting whatever he desires for, at any cost. He believes in the myth that money can buy anything in the world.

His definition of love is restricted to his bedroom. However, Sharavan’s ego gets hurt when Varsha (Manisha Koirala) refuses his advances. Shravan tries to please Varsha with costly gifts but fails to change her heart. Varsha loses her temper and abuses Shravan in front of many people.

Shravan realizes the true meaning of love and decides to amend for the pain he has given to Varsha. He goes to her father and asks her hand for marriage. Varsha’s father, who is convinced by Shravan’s change of attitude, agrees for the same and persuades his daughter to accept Shravan.

Shravan and Varsha get engaged and off they go on a holiday to spend some quality time with each other. Shravan comes closer to Varsha and they cross all the boundaries of love. Shravan’s intentions are different. He conveys to Varsha that he was just fooling her and using her for his desire and revenge.

Varsha is horrified. Her world of dreams comes crashing in front of her. She leaves the country and goes far away from Shravan. Sometime later, Shravan gets to know that Varsha is going to marry his younger brother Karan (Ajay Devgan). Moreover, she has changed her name to Payal.

For Varsha, there is her disastrous past and on the other side stands Karan, her lovely future. Will her heart bend towards Shravan once again? Will Shravan undergo a change of heart? Is Karan just a ply for Varsha to take revenge for Shravan’s act?

Radiosargam Predicted Rating: 4/10

Quelle: http://www.radiosargam.com/films/archive...f-mehbooba.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

übersetzt von soulsurfer:

SPOILER
Shravan Dhariwal (Sanjay Dutt) ist ein reicher Geschäftsmann aus New York. Er bekommt immer alles, was er will - egal, zu welchem Preis. Geld kann alles kaufen, daran glaubt er.
Seine Vorstellung von Liebe beschränkt sich aufs Schlafzimmer. Trotzdem ist Shravan verletzt, als Varsha (Manisha Koirala) ihn zurückweist. Er versucht sie mit Kostbarkeiten zu überzeugen - und scheitert. Varsha verliert irgendwann die Geduld und beschimpft ihn in aller Öffentlichkeit.
Da erkennt Shravan das wahre Wesen der Liebe und gelobt Wiedergutmachung für Varshas Leid. Er bittet ihren Vater um ihre Hand. Dieser, überzeugt von Shravans Gesinnungswandel, stimmt zu und überredet seine Tochter, den Antrag anzunehmen.
Shravan und Varsha verloben sich und fahren zusammen in Urlaub. Dabei kommen sie sich endlich näher. Doch Shravan hat anderes vor: Er offenbart Varsha, dass er sie zum Narren gehalten hat. Lust und Rache waren seine Ziele. Varshi ist entsetzt. Ihre Welt liegt in Scherben. Sie verlässt das Land und Shravan.
Später erfährt Shravan dann, dass Varsha seinen jüngeren Bruder Karan (Ajay Devgan) heiraten will. Sie hat allerdings ihren Namen in Payal geändert.
Varsha ist nun gefangen zwischen der Vergangenheit mit Shravan und der Zukunft mit Karan. Wird sich ihr Herz erneut Shravan zuwenden? Wird sich Shravan vielleicht doch ändern? Ist Karan nur Mittel zum Zweck für Varsha, um sich an Shravan zu rächen?

By Taran Adarsh, July 11, 2008 - 11:30 IST

A film like MEHBOOBA makes you nostalgic. It takes you back to the cinema of 1990s, when an altogether new breed of film-makers took over Bollywood. Multiple heroes, lavish sets, scenic locations… money was being pumped in from all corners in Hindi movies.

MEHBOOBA comes across as an offshoot of films made in that phase. It bears an uncanny resemblance to SAAJAN [two brothers in love with the same woman], HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM [locales of Budapest + Ismail Darbar + execution of songs], HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN [a big hasta-khelta parivaar, with mama-mami, sisters, domestic helps et al… hero atop a chandelier, a la 'Didi Tera Dewar Deewana']. Come to think of it, there could be so many more inspirations…

That MEHBOOBA wears a dated look can be gauged by the outfits and hairstyles. Also, the presence of Manisha Koirala gives away [she reigned supreme then].

Having said that, let's also add that MEHBOOBA isn't a 'bad' film. It's dated, yes, but it has the old world charm that still works in the hinterland, in the mofussil areas, the Hindi belt. The tuneful songs coupled with the lavish execution, the atypical Hindi film situations [well presented], the presence of formidable stars like Sanju and Ajay…

MEHBOOBA is definitely not for the multiplex or yuppie crowd. It's for those who still want their dose of 5 emotional scenes, 4 comic scenes, 6 songs, a good dose of glamour and an item song, all packaged in those 2.30 hours.

Shravan [Sanjay Dutt], a casanova, loves being in the company of beautiful and desirable women. His charm and money gets him any beauty he desires till he meets Varsha [Manisha Koirala].

Varsha is the first girl in Shravan's life who says 'no' to his advances. Shravan is not the type who would take no for an answer. Yet, he realizes his mistake and apologizes to Varsha. To make amends, he asks for Varsha's hand in marriage. Varsha's father convinces her that he is a changed man now and genuinely loves her. After much deliberation, Varsha agrees and they get engaged. Soon, their romantic sojourn ends in lovemaking.

Varsha's dream comes to a shocking end when Shravan tells her that his love for her was just a drama so he could sleep with her. Heart broken and shattered, Varsha feels shattered, her father dies of heart failure. She leaves New York and starts life afresh in Budapest.

Much later, Shravan's younger brother Karan [Ajay Devgan] decides to get married. The girl is Payal, who, in actuality, is Varsha. Is this a plan by Varsha to teach Shravan a lesson? What happens when Karan gets to know what transpired between Varsha and Shravan?

The story [Rumi Jaffery] of MEHBOOBA is as old as the hills. Actually, you don't need to read the synopsis in the booklet to know what the storyline is. 10 minutes into the film and you know what's in store next. But what saves the film from sinking is Afzal Khan's handling of the scenes and the lavish making.

A few moments are truly well handled. Take, for instance, the two confrontations between Sanju and Manisha in the first hour as also the hair-raising climax. But what dilutes the impact is its length. With a running time of close to 3 hours, you actually want to scream, “Ab bas bhi karo yaar!”

Ismail Darbar's music is a major asset. Although the songs have a HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM hangover, they still linger in your memory. Ashok Mehta's cinematography is top notch. That the veteran is a master in his field is re-affirmed yet again. Dialogues [Javed Siddiqui] relies on clichéd lines. Sets [Nitin Chandrakant Desai] are truly lavish.

Both Sanju and Ajay have visited similar roles in the past and hence, it doesn't take much effort to get these roles right. But Manisha Koirala, what can you say? So beautiful, so regal, so talented… where did it all disappear? Kader Khan's role is also an extension of what he has portrayed in film after film.

On the whole, MEHBOOBA comes too late in the day. Had it released in the 1990s, well, it might've been a huge grosser. But there's still hope! A film like MEHBOOBA works well, even today, in the hinterland, the Hindi belt, the interiors and that's where it might find its audience.

Rating: 2/5

Quelle: http://indiafm.com/movies/review/13852/index.html

Tired, dated and a waste
Udita Jhunjhunwal
Saturday, July 12, 2008 03:16 IST

Mehbooba
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala
Director: Afzal Khan
*

Varsha (Manisha Koirala), a New York-based modern-day Indian girl with the most brittle set of values, screams at playboy and misogynist Shravan Dhariwal (Sanjay Dutt) trying to teach him a lesson publicly and later beseeching him for mercy privately. She repeats his name five times during each tirade on how he has no right to use her, and later on how he must not leave her. Shravan Dhariwal, Shravan Dhariwal…it's enough to make you throw your umbrella at the screen.

Later Varsha adopts the identity of Payal and relocates to Budapest where she meets romantic Karan (Ajay Devgan) who recognises Payal as his dream girl of eight years. As he woos her, successfully, she never enquires what his last name is, where he hails from or who is in his family. Nor is she frightened by this stalker with paintings of her all over his walls. But this is just the set up of this supremely dated, over-done film, which I feel I saw way back in 1988, and which looks jaded and archaic in 2008.

As the love triangle is established, via several songs that fail to linger on your lips, the characters' values get warped further. Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Sooraj Barjatya might take umbrage to this as we see resonances of their films Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun in the joint family setting within the Rajasthani haveli, the grand wedding rituals, the sacrificing siblings etc. Suddenly the kindhearted Karan is willing to trade Payal, without any consideration for her wishes, for the sake of his brother's happiness.

From the opening song set against the backdrop of the Alps, you know this film has come eight years too late, compounded by slim versions of Sanjay Dutt and Manisha Koirala and a youthful Ajay Devgan. Shot in New York, Budapest, Austria, Bikaner and Jaisalmer and Mumbai, Mehbooba might have fared better if it was made a decade ago, with fewer songs and a completely different production design.

The choreography is haunting, but not in a way that makes you shudder; the sets, by the usually reliable Nitin Chandrakant Desai, are marzipan- meets-gulab jamun as we traverse from Budapest to Rajasthan; the costumes, hair and make up are a thesis in retro with Ashok Mehta's cinematography perhaps the only redeeming feature.

Director Afzal Khan fails to use this frame effectively, with the action either too static or then clumsily all over the place.

Eight years delayed or not, he should have attempted to make his film more relevant to the times, if not in values then in length. As it is, Mehbooba is a tiresome period film. UJ

Quelle: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1177077

Mehbooba has got all the trappings of an 80s potboiler
Published on Sat, Jul 12, 2008 at 00:15

Cast: Manisha Koirala, Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt

Director: Afzal Khan

Checking into cinemas this week, some nine odd years after it began filming, director Afzal Khan's Mehbooba is the kind of blast from the past that's best forgotten.

Ajay Devgan stars as a hapless romantic who's dreamt up an imaginary girlfriend whose portraits he's painted across the walls of his Budapest home. Surprise, surprise, his dreamgirl turn up in the form of Manisha Koirala, and convinced she's the one for him, he chases her no end. Manisha turns down his many romantic overtures, finally revealing that she was used and abused by a man who claimed to love her. Heartbroken for life, she says she cannot love again. Overwhelmed by Ajay's affection, Manisha agrees eventually to give love another chance.

Cut to India, at Ajay's family home in Rajasthan where the couple is to be engaged. Now comes the twist – you've got to be stupid if you didn't guess it already – Manisha's tormentor Sanjay Dutt turns out to be who else, but Ajay's brother. Worse still, Sanjay regrets the way he treated her, and is now in love with her himself.

Archaic in its storytelling, Mehbooba is the kind of film that went out of fashion many, many years ago. It's got all the trappings of an eighties potboiler – love triangle, family drama, mistaken identities, revenge and sacrifice. Sitting there watching Mehbooba on screen, you cannot help but giggle at the sheer silliness of the film and its format, one that has thankfully become obsolete now.

Having said that one must admit that Mehbooba has scale. Whether it's Ashok Mehta's lush cinematography of picture-postcard Budapest, or the larger-than-life approach with which the director shoots his many songs. Alas, it's a pity these resources were wasted in a film as pointless as this. Mehbooba is the kind of film that reminds us why we got tired of watching the same kind of movies over and over again. It's not a terrible film, it's just a thoroughly boring one.

I'll go with one out of five for director Afzal Khan's Mehbooba, if there's one thing I actually enjoyed about this film it's the sight of Manisha Koirala looking fresh as a daisy. So fresh that I fell right back in love with her again. You see, this film was shot before time and alcohol took their toll.

Rating: 1 / 5 (Poor)

Quelle: http://www.ibnlive.com/news/mehbooba-has...er/68709-8.html

Mehbooba - A delayed project!
SAVIO ZACHARIA, IndiaGlitz [Friday, July 11, 2008]

‘Mehbooba’ comes across with the likes of Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan and Manisha Koirala. You might be wondering how come Manisha plays the heroine in 2008 when she has almost vanished from the film circuit. Well, take a closer look at a much slimmer Manisha and the drastically younger looking Sanju Baba and you will definitely figure out that the movie is maybe over 6-8years old.

The film fuses is various elements of bollywood like numerous dance sequences with enormous sets, Manisha Koirala in the midst of two men , elements of ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ and a battle for love between two brothers that would have worked years ago.

Synopsis…

Shravan (Sanjay Dutt), a casanova, loves being in the company of beautiful and desirable women. His charm and money gets him any beauty he desires till he meets Varsha (Manisha Koirala).

Varsha is the first girl in Shravan's life who says 'no' to his advances. Shravan is not the type who would take no for an answer. Yet, he realizes his mistake and apologizes to Varsha. To make amends, he asks for Varsha's hand in marriage. Varsha's father convinces her that he is a changed man now and genuinely loves her. After much deliberation, Varsha agrees and they get engaged. Soon, their romantic sojourn ends in lovemaking.

Varsha's dream comes to a shocking end when Shravan tells her that his love for her was just a drama so he could sleep with her. Heartbroken and shattered, Varsha feels shattered, her father dies of heart failure. She leaves New York and starts life afresh in Budapest.

Much later, Shravan's younger brother Karan (Ajay Devgan) decides to get married. The girl is Payal, who, in actuality, is Varsha. Is this a plan by Varsha to teach Shravan a lesson? What happens when Karan gets to know what transpired between Varsha and Shravan?

Director Afzal Khan handles the proceedings well but the story by Rumi Jaffrey is outdated. Also the film drawing tremendous resemblance to ‘Hum Dil Chuke Sanam’ offers nothing new from Ajay Devgan. The similar drunk sequences, the same lines of returning the heroine back to her first love etc.

Manisha Koirala who was at the peak of her career when the film was shot does well. She emotes and expresses but wonder whether today’s audiences would accept her in a wet red sari dancing across the screen.

Sanjay Dutt or our very own Munnabhai who is the ultimate good guy for all Indians after the Munnabhai series has been portrayed as a Casanova who rapes his wife and then dumps her. Well though the latter half of the film portrays a change of heart, audiences may not approve Sanjay as the Casanova. Also take a look at the lack of continuity is the film as Sanjay goes from long hair, younger looks to the present looking Sanjay Dutt. Afzal Khan can’t be blamed for that as this film was being shot in the midst of all court hassles surrounding Sanjay.

The music by Ismail Darbar is not bad with couple of tracks actually seeping into you. The album would have been a sure hit years ago.

One element that comes across as a treat in the film is Ashok Mehta’s cinematography. It’s brilliant capturing the various locales of Budapest and Rajasthan.

On the whole, the film is definitely not headed for success at the multiplex’s but caters more to the single screen audiences who still enjoy watching films with over 6 tracks and all that family drama . The film is definitely good for it’s time but falls flat in the present.

Rating : *1/2

Quelle: http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/review/10238.html

Published by Hanumant Bhansali at 06:42:10 pm on July 11, 2008

EXCLUSIVE REVIEW BY HANUMANT BHANSALI

Afzal Khan’s Mehbooba has been in the making since 2002, thereby ,making the look of the film belonging to the goneby era of film making. The lavish sets, the item number, the comedy scenes all assemble to make a film which could have run to packed houses if it was released in the late 90s.

The story of Mehbooba starts off with the ‘flirty vicious’ character of Shravan Dhariwal (Sanjay Dutt) who is a rich businessman residing in the lavish city of New York. Shravan believes in getting whatever he desires for, at any cost. He believes in the myth that money can buy anything in the world.

His definition of love is restricted to his bedroom. However, Sharavan’s ego gets hurt when Varsha (Manisha Koirala) refuses his advances. Shravan tries to please Varsha with costly gifts but fails to change her heart. Varsha loses her temper and abuses Shravan in front of many people.

Shravan realizes the true meaning of love and decides to amend for the pain he has given to Varsha. He goes to her father and asks her hand for marriage. Varsha’s father, who is convinced by Shravan’s change of attitude, agrees for the same and persuades his daughter to accept Shravan.

Shravan and Varsha get engaged and off they go on a holiday to spend some quality time with each other. Shravan comes closer to Varsha and they cross all the boundaries of love. Shravan’s intentions are different. He conveys to Varsha that he was just fooling her and using her for his desire and revenge.

Varsha is horrified. Her world of dreams comes crashing in front of her. She leaves the country and goes far away from Shravan. Sometime later, Shravan gets to know that his younger brother Karan (Ajay Devgan) is going to marry Payal, who is none other than Varsha herself.

Afzal Khan had an honest intention to make a large film with magnanimous sets, orchestraic music (Ismail Darbar), toplines stars like Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan including Manisha Koirala who was in good form during the mahurat of the film.

The undue delay caused to the film will hurt a lot of people including the ones who have toiled hard to get it released. The story of Mehbooba is filled with masala factors that used to entertain the audience ten years back.

Director Afzal Khan has done a competent job by incorporating a lot of Bollywoodish flavours. Though, his storytelling is quite monotonous. Cinematography is flawless but something that has been already witnessed on the silverscreen.

The biggest flaw of Mehbooba is its length. The movie just goes on and on and on..for almost three long hours making it unbearable after a point.

The music composed by Ismail Darbar isn’t great either and none of the songs get on the lips.

Actingwise, Manisha Koirala sheerly proves that she is talented but has lost out on the looks. She is not a babe anymore and turns out to be factory of tire. Ajay Devgan is alright. Sanjay Dutt is good.

On the whole, Mehbooba is meant for the family audience who are longing to watch a drama on the silverscreen. ‘Old Wine in an old bottle’ to be specific ...

Radiosargam Movie Rating: 5/10

Quelle: http://www.radiosargam.com/films/archive...f-mehbooba.html

04 Jul, 2008 08:00 am ISTlGaurav Malani/INDIATIMES MOVIES

Rating: 1 Stern

Hindi films continue to have hypothetical heroes who recurrently see the same face in their dreams for years. Strangely I never ever remembered my preceding night’s dream but sure will I remember this nightmare of a film for years to come. Karan (Ajay Devgan) not only remembers the accuracies of the female face that he dreams of but also has the precision to paint it all across his living room. Ludicrously, the dreamy face exists in real life too by the name of Payal (Manisha Koirala) and Karan stumbles upon her one fine day. Karan chases Payal through the city singing songs but for a change this heroine isn’t amused. She exclaims that such cheap dramas to lure girls are outdated. Wish the director had actually taken note of her remark, since the actor’s antics are actually archaic and obsolete.

Now Payal has a past. She was Varsha then and had publicly slapped a spoilt millionaire Shravan (Sanjay Dutt) who made illicit advances towards her. With the slap, Shravan is a changed man. He approaches Varsha’s father who willingly approves of all his earlier illegitimate affairs and gets him engaged to his daughter. You don’t have to be an Abbas-Mustan addict to estimate the twist that Shravan is seeking a ‘slap’dash revenge with intentions of sleeping with Varsha.

Varsha loses faith from love and we lose hope from Bollywood love stories. Karan re-infuses love in Payal’s life but one keeps wondering why Bollywood heroines always change their identity post losing virginity immorally.

Suddenly you enter Sooraj Barjatya state-of-affairs as Karan returns Rajasthan to an ever-grinning Hum Aapke Hai Kaun cast of Reema Lagoo, Bindu, Himani Shivpuri, et al. But why have Annu Kapoor in a double role when none amuses? Expectedly you are informed that Karan and Shravan are brothers. To give Shravan a positive stamp of approval, the director rinses all his misdeeds of the first half by showing him seized by guilt pangs. And this time you are supposed to believe that he is really repentant of his wrongdoings to Varsha. Clearly this reeks of a chauvinistic outlook of the filmmaker to simply sanction Shravan with a heroic conduct.

What follows is the standard sacrifice story between siblings on who will forego the girl and who will gain her. Each one tries to outdo the other in surrendering, till the point that the heroine claims she has never seen such love amongst brothers before. Surely she hasn’t seen Saajan that this film ends up being. As per cinematic laws, one brother has to die in the climax.

The film resorts to all sorts of gimmickry from a sari-clad rain song in the studio-shower to a sleazy nautanki item number and an action packed finale. But each one acts as a failed formula. Afzal Khan’s direction is evidently amateurish and shoddy. Surprisingly Ismail Darbur composes a sleazy version to his trademark tune of Dholi Taro and tries to stuff the title word Mehbooba in every track but to no avail.

The performances are as much lackluster as much as the film is delayed. Though Sanjay Dutt looks relatively young, Manisha Koirala carries the same old flab. Ajay Devgan tries too hard to breathe life in this dead script but sometimes artificial respiration doesn’t help.

Quelle: http://movies.indiatimes.com/moviereview/3221037.cms

July 11, 2008 5:21:29 PM IST
By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network

This dialogue has to be the clincher. Here is what a father tells his daughter when he gets a proposal from a playboy tycoon for his daughter. The daughter is aghast that he even proposed because just a few reels earlier, she had slapped him at a party for wanting to get in bed with her. But her father sees no reason. Says he: "So what if he has been around with 50 girls, shaadi ka offer sirf tuj ko diya. A man proposes marriage when he feels something in his heart." Hearing this from an experienced man, who is a father of a grown up daughter, you know then where this film is headed. You want to get up and slap the father because even the daughter has enough sense!

MEHBOOBA is a film that was stuck in the can for a long time and even if it were released 10 years ago, that particular dialogue would still stink. It's a film that clearly belongs to the nineties when songs were more than the scenes. This movie is a little bit of SAAJAN, a little bit of HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM and a little bit of HUM AAP KE HAI KAUN.

The sets are lavish, the sahelis are all over the palace, and the engagement parties will give even a Sanjay Leela Bhansali sleepless nights. So lavish is director Afzal Khan. On the plus side, the camera work is brilliant. Vast, picturesque landscape of Budapest has been filmed well by Ashok Mehta. A special mention here to the choreographers as well. The songs are very grand with scores of extras and costumes to match. Here too, the camera captures the dance moves beautifully, covering all the angles. A lesson here in choreography and camerawork for budding aspirants. The sheer magnitude of the picturisation brings to mind the grandeur of HDDCS and HAKHK. The storyline is similar too.

Sanjay Dutt is a playboy who likes to bed every girl that walks. He comes across Manisha Koirala where he is a judge at a contest and exclaims to his secretary, "Kya Cheez thi." Secretary has to now find where she stays and what she does. Manisha is soon offered a job in his company. Little does she know the intentions of Sanjay. When she learns about it, she insults him in public. Sanjay then comes with his shaadi ka offer! However, before the wedding he exacts revenge by sleeping with her, slaps her, and sends her away. This happened in New York.

Ajay Devgan is in Budapest. He keeps dreaming about a girl whose paintings adorn his walls. One day he runs into the girl of his dreams and she happens to be Manisha. After a few songs, she tells him that she has been cheated in love and cannot trust anyone anymore. Ajay convinces her. She agrees. The three (Ajay-Manisha-Sanjay) then meet in their haveli in Rajasthan where all have converged for the Ajay-Manisha wedding. The rest you can guess.
The three-hour plus length is a killer, but if you are one who want to watch this movie from the art point of view, go for it. The camera work, choreography and costume designing are simply a treat.

But there is no meat in the story. Little wonder then you heard no 'PR-driven' incidents of sand getting into Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan's mouth in the dead of night, or Manisha twisting her ankle when she runs down the steps (all fabricated, though) to garner interest in the movie a week before it's release. Even the stars have stayed away from promoting it.

Ratings : 1/5

Quelle: http://www.glamsham.com/movies/reviews/1...view-070808.asp

11th July 2008 19.15 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh

‘Mehbooba’ is a revelation – a depressing one, however. It is a film that leaves you embarrassed with the thought that Hindi cinema used to be so underdeveloped just a decade ago.

Last week we saw a love story that took us to ‘the future’. This week we have Mehbooba that takes us 10 years back in time, when Manisha Koirala used to be much desirable, Ajay Devgan used to look young, and Sanjay Dutt had more hair on his head.

More than the look of the actors, it is the theme, the story and its telling by Afzal Khan that makes you aware of the time that has elapsed since love stories in Bollywood used to abound with flogged-to-death clichés. ‘Mehbooba’ is dressed with all of them – foreign locales, hero-heroine dancing against scenic backdrops, weepy melodrama, love, deception, and, not to forget, a marriage setting with song-and-dance involving a happy family a la Hum Aapke Hain Kaun .

In case you care to know the story, Sanjay Dutt plays a womanizer who pursues Manisha Koirala and manages to win her over with a promise of marriage. He beds her and then conveniently dumps her. Devastated completely, the girl leaves New York for Budapest, changes her name, and starts her life anew.

A few years later, Ajay Devgan meets Manisha and falls in love with her. She is the girl he has been dreaming about for years. But by a strange coincidence (that often happen in Bollywood films) Ajay turns out to be the younger brother of Sanjay.

Perhaps due to bankruptcy of any original idea, the makers of ‘Mehbooba’ derive inspirations from a good many hit films of the 1990s – from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam to ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’.

The dialogues in ‘Mehbooba’ are utterly filmi and, to top it, the actors speak them as if they would get an award for over-acting. Their histrionic expressions and theatrical dialogue delivery in the film only go to prove how better they have become now.

The music and the songs are nothing to rave about. The cinematography is just about okay. And, overall, the film is tortuously long.

Honestly, if you want to play a cruel joke on someone, gift her/him tickets to this film.

Rating: 1/2*

Quelle: http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20080711-4.html