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Zoran009
 Post subject: AETABAR..REVIEW
PostPosted: Wed Jan 21, 2004 3:24 pm 
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http://teenstation.com/movies/bollywood ... hp?aid=241


Aetbaar Teenstation Rating: / 5 , Visitor Rating: 0 / 10 By

Obsession has long been a staple of Hindi film love stories that explore the darker side of love. It came into fashion with Shah Rukh Khan’s Darr and has been repeated ad nauseum since then.

Now it is John Abraham’s turn and he does it all. Quivering lips, facial twitches, upward glance through the hair, they are all there. Why an obsessed lover cannot be a normal looking, normal sounding guy with hidden depths has always intrigued me. Wouldn’t it be much scarier if he looked normal and behaved weird than if he looked on the edge.

Despite that Aetbaar, directed by Vikram Bhatt, is an edge of the seat thriller, which, if it weren’t so similar to the director's earlier film Inteha, would have worked. The feeling of deja vu persists all through the film and having been shot by the same director and cinematographer some scenes too look the same. And yet there are a few scenes that raise your hackles and make you hate John Abraham who uses his drop-dead good looks to ensnare Bipasha Basu.

Bipasha is the naive (never mind the figure hugging and figure revealing clothes she wears) daughter of Amitabh Bachchan and Supriya Pilgaonkar. An accidental meeting with John Abraham leads to him falling in obsession with her. As she succumbs to his charm, she fails to see the darker side of him despite all indications. It is left to her father to sense that and this leads him to check on John’s antecedents.

What he discovers, shocks him. John is a pathological liar given to bouts of immense fury, who has murdered his own father. He manages to pull his daughter out of the abyss she has got into only to have to fight for her life one more time, this time in fact, for the lives of the whole family.

Obsession has been dealt with at length in Hindi films and to that extent there is nothing new about the film. What makes it somewhat intriguing is the cast. For one, Amitabh Bachchan is on the other side of the fence as the father, and John Abraham is doing a role like this for the first time.

Rajesh Roshan who has given the music is rather Nadeem Shravan in terms of melody. A couple of the songs are hummable.

Amitabh Bachchan is once again simply marvelous. For one who has always been seen as invincible, he is convincingly vulnerable and emotional and yet does the protective father act with the appropriate amount of force. Bipasha Basu looks glamourous and sexy but it is John Abraham who is the surprise packet. He manages to be charming and menacing at the same time and acts like a veteran. Definitely an actor to watch out for.

Vikram Bhatt gets the dark mood of the film right, one just wishes he hadn’t attempted to dish out the same story, albeit with a few changes, earlier. Luckily Inteha was a major flop and so not many people have seen it. Hopefully, more will see this.




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filmibuff
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 21, 2004 5:14 pm 
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arsh bhai john abraham seems to be proving he is not a fluke... both paap and aetbaar reviews seem to suggest that.. and he was also good in his past films saaya (?) and jism....
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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 21, 2004 5:20 pm 
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But, again, to my dislikening IT IS FACTUAL, his VOICE is being DUBBED, consistently !! taking atleast 50% credits out of his performance..he is HANDSOME HUNK too..
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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2004 1:40 am 
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MoviemagiK



AETBAAR
thriller

Starring Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham, Bipasha Basu

Direction : Vikram Bhatt




So what does Vikram Bhatt exactly intend to achieve in his career. The maker of some good Bollywood flicks or the maker of the most number of Hollywood remakes?

After copying flicks like WHAT LIES BENEATH, WHOLE NINE YEARS, ON THE WATERFRONT, BODY HEAT etc, this time Vikram Bhatt tries to take a B-grade thriller flick and thinks that it is good enough to make an A grade Bollywood flick??

So this time he ropes in Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham, Bipasha Basu and tries to do a desi version of the 96 thriller FEAR, one of the early flicks of Mark Wahlberg.

And like all the Vikram Bhatt flicks, this is just another remake that lacks that extra zing to make it reach any heights of cinematic excellence or even for that sakes, great popcorn entertainment.





Dr Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan) is still struggling to get over a fateful accident fifteen years back, that resulted in the loss of his young son. However for the same reason, he holds his family together and close to his heart. And he could not ask for more with his lovely papa's gal Priya (Bipasha Basu) and an equally understanding wife (Priya).

But he has more reasons to worry now, since his daughter has fallen for a young man Aryan (John Abraham) who is obviously all wrong. And despite of being a threat more than a lover, Priya falls for the magnetic personality of Aryan.

Malhotra decides to play the good father and tries to find more about this man that his daughter is dating, And he stumbles on more shocking truths that what he can handle.

Two things that save this movie from completely going into the dumps- Amitabh and Abraham. Obviously watching them both work out the tensions and heating things up is definitely that keeps things afloat.



Wonder what drives Vikram Bhatt to take on these kind of subjects...I mean, to begin with the film was a lame one right in the original itself. and moreover, how much more can he give to a story about ' an obsessed lover' angle. I mean DARR scored it all well in the first go itself, and it is hard to see another performance without comparing it to Shah rukh Khan's. So when John Abraham hisses his dialogues like a serpent, we know that we have seen this act before. And this deja-vu is something that the film is burdened with from the first reel onwards.

The film starts off awkardly trying to set up a romance between Priya and the weird Aryan but don't bother asking what on earth did the girl see in him in the first place. Then the film begins to get a little more intense as the father and the lover lock horns over the rights of the lady in question, and gradually moving closer to a violent finale which is a straight copy from any of your average 'hollywood' thriller with the riverside mansion, the boat, the fog and all the other props.

Vikram Bhatt once again fails to improve on the screenplay department and tries to hard to infuse age-old Hollywood-ish look and feel into a Bollywood setting. I mean, the lonely 'FOOTPATH' street sets or the hazy 'RAAZ'y night look are all getting boring now. Atleast can't he give things a new and innovative look.

But first things first, Bipasha as a the goody goody gal is a wrong choice. I guess, Vikram saab should have gone for a more 'naive and innocent' gal rather than this too-hot-to-handle sizzler. It is also one of the reasons why I just couldn't fall for the daddy-daughter concerns. And all the revealing clothes and the frequent disco hanging outs weren't any good for her character either. (But what to do, the original flick had a rave dance setting so can Vikram bhai be far behind??).

Forget show stealers....Amitabh still stands tall. Yeah, he might not be the angry young man, but when this man gets angry he still is in top form. Bachchan does a wonderful job as the father- aggressive, vulnerable, controlled yet helpless, all of them wrapped up perfectly. He was a dynamite in several sequences, especially the ones where he has to remain silent, his face does speak a lot.



John Abraham does a convincing job as the obsessed lover but I really wanted to see if he could come out as an actor. However I could not find much under all that blood and hair that covered his face and expressions. So Abraham just had to carry on with his 'hunky' persona and then make a 'average bad guy' role into a little bit more interesting.

Bipasha Basu, well, cries a lot and just throws in a lot of ordinary sissy dialogues. Nothing much to be impressed with her this time. Even Supriya Pilgaonkar has been thrown as a silent spectator to the three main players.

Music was pretty average nd thankfully the songs do not cram the movie, but instead takes care to move the story along.

But the confidence in which the makers of AETBAAR pitted the movie against the much-awaited KHAKEE gave me a feeling that the movie might be something different and special. Ah, nothing like that was in store.... a very average flick but a few notch above the Vikram Bhatt level.

But all said and done, AETBAAR is as ordinary as it can get. And save for the performances of Amitabh and John Abraham, the film would have been a big time dud. Not that now the movie is any good, but it still is pretty much watchable- probably when your cable operator is playing it!

But then again, atleast here is a remake, where I wouldn't even recommend the original to anyone!





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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2004 4:26 pm 
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Artbaar, a loosing purposal, by rediff:



Gaurav Sharma | January 22, 2004 13:08 IST


Aetbaar is the latest in the Vikram Bhatt Film Festival. (He comes up with a film every few months!)

With a corporate producer and Amitabh Bachchan as the major attraction, one expected a good show or at least a sensible flick.

But this one is a major disappointment. Given the last few films of Bhatt (Inteha, Footpath, Awara Paagal Deewana, Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage), this one is no exception.

First the plot. It revolves around a small family of three with Amitabh (Dr Ranvir) as the head and Bipasha (Ria) as
the daughter. Everything seems okay till John Abraham (Aryan), a psycho, comes to their life and falls 'madly' in love with Ria.

The rest of the plot is for the father to convince his daughter about Aryan's reality and to get even with him. Unfortunately, by then, the audience is pretty unsettled.

Let us see where things went wrong. First, one expects a remake to be at least half as good as the original (Fear) with a margin for Indianisation and adaption.

But Aetbaar performs miserably on that front. The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or
interesting. To add to the slow pace, there are songs. Even Bachchan lends his voice to a track that must have been composed just to cash in on the recent hits having Bachchan-sung songs like Baghbaan and Kaante.

Second, the characters. Throughout the movie, John is in the same mode: red eyes, wet hair and sweaty face. Though he gets violent like anything and mashes people's faces, he is anything but scary. The character fails to instill fear. Bipasha plays a college girl of today, who wants to attend economics lectures and cares about her dad and his feelings.

All of a sudden, Aryan comes into her life and has an effect on her that is anything but believable. He is mad, never smiles, hits her, clutches her neck, yet she loves him. She goes to Aryan's house in their second meeting. And actresses make it a point to mention in their interviews that their characters think and are important to the movie!

Third, the direction. When Mani Ratnam saw the Hindi remake of his Nayakan, his only comment was, "The filmmaker just missed the point." Ditto for Aetbaar.

Slow and not at all gripping, not even when the father decides to go after Aryan. The romantic scenes are torturous. Especially when John meets Bipasha at the disco and, hold your breath, enters her small classroom in the middle of an economics lecture, sits next to her and they talk! Guess the director needs to restrict the number of ventures at a time. He should concentrate on one or two movies a time and at least work on the script.

Last but not the least, the content. There is nothing more to the movie than the trailer. You wait for something interesting to happen but the movie ends before that.

Guess Vikram Bhatt will have to come up with another Ghulam to win back audience trust.

CREDITS
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, John Abraham
Director: Vikram Bhatt
Producer: Mandeep Singh (Cutting Edge Entertainment)
Story: Vikram Bhatt, Robin Bhatt
Screenplay: Robin Bhatt, Sanjeev Duggal
Music: Rajesh Roshan
Cinematography: Pravin Bhatt



Edited By arsh on 1074901998
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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 11:52 pm 
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Aetbar does not stand any CHANCE:Abysmal prospects!!!

BOLLYWOOD NOT WORTHY OF TRUST

By S Pankaj

Critic's I-view


These days there is much hype about the corporate sector making an entry into Hindi film industry. It was Pantaloon fashion house, which initiated the process with 'Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage' and later almost wound up its operation post-debacle of 'Chura Liya Hai Tumne'. DS group of Paas Pass moth freshener failed in its first venture 'Raja Bhaiya' and now it is the turn of none other than Tata group. 'Aetbaar', this week's second release along with 'Khakee' is first and most probably the last film of Tata Infomedia because later this month this company is going to change hands.


A close look at this scenario reveals that big companies entered Bollywood on a healthy note but failed to meet the needs of the hour, presumably they chose the wrong horses to make their bet. What else can be said about a project where you have a stalwart like Amitabh Bachchan and the hottest lady Bipasha Basu and still the movie gives nothing fresh? More importantly, the director who was assigned to make it a viable project, steals the idea of the film, makes another film on the subject and also releases it before his first project. This shows that one cannot have Aetbaar (trust) on many people in this industry. So, 'Aetbaar's story is stale, the same as that of director Vikram Bhatt's last debacle 'Inteha'. The basic source of both the films is Hollywood flick 'Fear'.

For those who have neither seen 'Fear' or 'Inteha', the plot of 'Aetbaar' could look a little bit interesting. The film deals with possessiveness of a father for his daughter. Here the father is none other than Amitabh Bachchan. He plays Dr. Malhotra. He is like any other father on earth, very much protective about his daughter Ria (Bipasha Basu). Ria on the other hand loves to live life to the hilt and doesn't listen to anything if she has decided once. It is not that Ria is a spoilt brat. She is a caring woman and takes utmost care about her aging father.


But once she meets Aryan (Johan Abraham), all ideologies, thoughts and heritage come crashing. Ria has always dreamt of a macho man in his life. She likes the mystery man and succumbs to the magnetic attraction of Aryan. He is wild; full of destructive energy and, more importantly, good looking. Dr. Malhotra wants to save his daughter from the clutches of this bad boy and prepares for her protection. Aryan will do anything to get Ria on his side whereas Dr. Malhotra will leave no stone unturned to see Aryan out of Ria's life. Malhotra and Aryan have common goal and that is to have Ria under their control. However, none of them bothers to listen to Ria. This goes on until the situation goes out of hands.

click for larger view

Had it been an original plot, it would have been a marvelous piece of work for a filmmaker. But it was not. Despite Vikram Bhatt's bid to maintain a good flow of drama, 'Aetbaar' has failed to impress in the majority of scenes though it does impress in parts. However, he has worked on the sequences very well. In any scene involving Amitabh, the screen gets on fire but that's it. Amitabh cannot salvage a pirated plot and that too when one has seen films like this. Anubhav Sinha's 'Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai' too revolved around the same line and it is astonishing that Amitabh refused to do the role of a girl's father in that film that eventually went to Om Puri. Maybe he couldn't resist the hefty amount paid by Tatas that Anubhav could not pay for his small budget film.


There will be different views about this film. Embedded PRO's doubling as film critics will praise it, but as a common viewer the film doesn't secure even pass marks. Screenplay writers Robin Bhatt and Sanjeev Duggal have tried to make the film look like an original one but in vain. They have failed to even bring Indianness to a foreign subject. The scenes between Bachchan and Bipasha are too intricate to be understood by those with middle class background. John's character of a psycho who indulges in violence for no reason will not be accepted.


The film also fails on acting front. Amitabh works hard to give a feel of an overpowering father, but this species seems to be missing. These days father hardly poke their nose so deep in their children's day to day happenings. And, kids too are not so dumb that they cannot judge between a wrong and a good guy. Bipasha's affection for John in the film looks very artificial. 'Aetbaar' also fails at the music front. Rajesh Roshan seems to have reserved his best for his nephew Hrithik's films. In 'Aetbaar', he could not give even a single super hit song. Title tune reminds of some oldie from 50's. Girish Dhamija has once again failed to pen punchy dialogues. The plus points are its cinematography by Vikram's father, Pravin Bhatt and action scenes by Abbas Ali Moghul. Among character artistes, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Shruti Ulfat and Ali Asgar act well and Tom Alter and Pramod Moutho too try to support the film fully. But seeing the competition that it faces from the other film of the week, the chances for 'Aetbaar' to sail through the box office look dim.

:ffs:
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