The Train: Pedestrian fare

By Movietalkies.com, 08 June 2007 1.5 / 5

This is a film which is a direct take-off on Hollywood thriller Derailed starring Jennifer Aniston. The entire story has been inspired from the Hollywood original but the film barely manages to keep the viewer hooked till the end. The film deals with an extra-marital affair which goes awry when a blackmailer enters the picture. The film revolves around the stale marriage of Vishal (Emraan Hashmi) and Anjali (Sayali Bhagat), who live in Bangkok. The couple are trying to do their best to keep the marriage going as they have a five-year-old daughter Nikki, who is suffering from juvenile diabetes and needs a kidney transplant, which Vishal is saving up for. The strain is probably telling to both of them but it is he who succumbs to it first. One day one his way to work in the train, he meets a woman called Roma (Geeta Basra), who is trapped in a loveless marriage herself. He is immediately attracted to her and the feeling is mutual. Back at home, Anjali starts getting suspicious of Vishal's behaviour but that does not deter him Very soon, Roma and Vishal are in the throes of a passionate affair. But one incident changes their lives forever. The lovers are robbed in the hotel room where they meet. The burglar takes off with Vishal's wallet and rapes the girlfriend. And then begins the blackmail. Someone now knows about the affair, which could destroy three lives. Vishal decides to take drastic action and eliminate the threat in his life forever. The film has all possible ingredients in it for a potboiler. There is love, lust, blackmail, rape, murder, everything that a thriller would demand. Even though the film has been ‘inspired' from a recent Hollywood thriller, the director duo of Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwala manage to keep the action going at a fairly fast pace. But what seems to suffer in the bargain is quality. It's not the greatest of stories and what comes across is too much ‘supposed movement or action' with very little happening really. Actor Emraan Hashmi is very much at home in The Train. He manages to fit into his character of Vishal well enough. It's quite his type of genre. Both the actresses, Geeta Basra and Sayali Bhagat have a long way to go before they can be called actors. The two of them are quite wooden. The rest of the cast is passable. There aren't many endearing things about the film. But the music given by newcomer Mithoon is quite hummable. That's about the only redeeming feature of the film, which really isn't saying much about the film.

The Train: A mixed bag of goodies

By MovieTalkies.com, 14 June 2007 2 / 5

The best thing about the music of The Train is the fact that marks the debut of Mithoon as composer for the entire album as well as singer. The young composer had created a stir of sorts with his Maula Mere Maula in the film Anwar. There was also another number called Javeda Zindagi as well in that film. However, that was a one-off. It's with The Train that he comes into his own as a sole composer and one can only say, welcome. The music of this film has nothing in common with the Maula Mere number and just goes to prove the versatility of this composer. As a singer, he is definitely not in the top-rung but will get by. It's Mithoon, the composer, who is the life of this album. The young composer owes it all to Himesh Reshammiya, who was the original choice for music director. But since he was very busy with Aap Ka Suroor, Mithoon was roped in and he has made his presence felt. The Train is an album which has some pleasant and some very good compositions. The best among them would be the number called Beete Lamhein sung by KK. There is nothing new that one can add about KK's voice. Given his kind of a song, and this is his kind, the singer creates magic with his voice. A sentimental number, Beete Lamhein has a lounge version as well, which works very well too. The slow feel of the lounge version just adds to the mood of the song and the rest is taken care of by KK. He sings another song in this album, Teri Tamana with Zubeen. The song has three versions in the album – Club and Euro mix, besides the normal one. This one too is very well sung by the duo. The other surprise of the album is singer Shilpa Rao of Javeda Zindagi fame from Anwar. Her song in this film is far removed from the world of Anwar, and it is to her credit that she has managed to mould her voice so perfectly to a different genre in this album. She has Mithoon for company in this duet called Woh Ajnabi. Shilpa has an amazing voice. It is husky, strong and every note is very precisely delivered. She dominates the song and Mithoon, who makes his singing debut here, just about manages to keep up. This song also appears in two versions in the album. Shaan makes an appearance with a song called The Train, which is the theme song of the film. As always, he is in form and gives this slightly philosophical piece a Shaan-daar rendition. Mausam, is rendered by Mithoon, with support vocals by Kshitij Tarey. It is a pleasant number as well. The only problem with this song is that it sounds quite similar to Beete Lamhein. But it still makes for pleasant listening. The lyricist Sayeed Quadri, continues with his good work and gives us some memorable lyrics in Beete Lamhein, The Train (the theme song) and Mausam. All in all, the music of The Train enthralls in places and is worth repeat hearings.

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