Good for a few thrills

By MovieTalkies.com, 28 March 2009 3 / 5

Jehangir Surti's Aa Dekhen Zara has a very interesting premise and the director takes great pains to develop this thriller well, but about halfway through, the film seems to run out of steam, before picking itself up and making its way to the end. It works in fits and starts only as there are too many loopholes in the screenplay. The storyline is quite original and deals with a down and out photographer, who has inherited a camera from his grandfather. This is no ordinary camera as it can predict events that will take place in the future. It changes the photographer's life and he uses it to amass money for himself and even gets the girl of his dreams. But nothing comes that easy in life and the photographer has to content with the dark and negative forces. The film, takes one on a thrilling journey, where the photographer is racing against time as he can see his own death in the camera. The rest of the film unfolds and details the photographer's bid to evade death and keep his moll and the millions. Ray Acharya (Neil Nitin Mukesh), plays the struggling photographer who inherits a camera from his grandfather (Biswajeet), which can predict the future. He discovers the special quality of the camera by chance, when he takes a picture of the DJ next door, Simmi (Bipasha Basu) only to get a photograph which shows her being shot. Ray now uses the camera to save Simmi's life as well as mint millions. But soon, there are other people who are after the camera, like the gun toting villain (Rahul Dev) and some corrupt RAW agents. But that's really the least of Ray's problems as he can see his own death in the camera. It is now a race against time for Ray and Simmi. The film begins with quite a bang as the director manages to hook the audience and draw them into the life of Ray. From then onwards it is quite an exciting journey, but the film seems to run out of ideas halfway through, once the villains make their entry. Of course, to give credit to the director, the film does pick itself up again as the movie moves towards the climax. The director builds his premise very well, but during the chase, as Ray and Simmi run for their lives, they find time to break into the song and dance routine as well, which kind of takes away from the film's thrill quotient. The problem begins with the screenplay in the second half of the movie. Surti manages a taut, thrilling first half, but cannot maintain the tempo in the second. With a tighter script and screenplay this could have been an on the edge thriller, right through, instead of being one just in parts. But what Aa Dekhen Zara has going for it is its music, the title track specially, which add to the youthful vibe of the film. The director has also acquitted himself well in the action sequences, which have also been shot very well. The other pluses for the film are its cast, headed by Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bipasha Basu. After his chilling performance in Johnny Gaddar, Neil comes up with another good performance as the man on the run. Bipasha looks quite sensational in the movie and puts in a competent performance as well. Rahul Dev is quite good as the gunman. Sophie Chowdhury merely looks glamorous and does not impress in the acting department. Veteran actor Biswajeet makes one of rare appearances in a Hindi film in a small role as Ray's grandfather. But overall, Surti has not done to bad a job and the film is definitely good for a few thrills.

It Lives Up to Expectations!

By MovieTalkies.com, 03 March 2009 3.5 / 5

Debutant director Jehangir Surti's Aa Dekhen Zara is a much awaited film for quite a few reasons. One of the main reasons for the interest in the film is the presence of Neil Nitin Mukesh who made an impressive debut in Johnny Gaddar last year. His pairing with Bipasha Basu is also a point of interest. But where the music of the film is concerned, what is interesting about it is the fact that Neil sings the title song of the film, which has been lifted from the 1981 Sanjay Dutt starrer Rocky, also his debut movie. The music of Rocky was composed by the late RD Burman and the number still rocks in its original version. The album of Aa Dekhe Zara consists of five numbers, including this, which have been composed by Pritam and Gourav Dasgupta. But first about the much talked about and hear title track, 'Aa Dekhen Zara' which occurs twice in the album in the first instance, it makes its appearance as a dance number, while in the second, it comes across as a lounge version, which has a more mellow sound. The highlight of the first version is the fact that it has been sung by Neil, the grandson of the legendary singer Mukesh, with Sunaina providing the backup vocals. Neil does a very decent job with the song and makes for pleasant hearing. But the number which is the real attention stealer is the slower lounge version of the title track which is sung by Dibyendu Mukherjee. Both these tracks have been composed by Gourav Dasgupta. What is remarkable is the manner in which Dasgupta has managed to tweak the song and give it an altogether different flavour in the lounge version. This difference is truly enhanced by Mukherjee's rendition. He is aided by some superb back up support by vocalist Shweta Vijay. The number has been credited to lyricist Sheershak Anand, though for the most part, the song stays true to the original lyrics written by Anand Bakshi. Composer Pritam makes his entry with the next number titled 'Gazab', which has a club mix version as well. It is a peppy number which has been extremely well sung by Shaan and Sunidhi Chauhan, both of who seem to be having a blast while rendering the number. The lyrics of this song have been written by Irshad Kamil. The next number, composed by Pritam, is the romantic 'Mohabbat Aap Se', which too has been written by Kamil and sung by Aakriti Kakkar. The number has a lovely feel to it and Aakriti does a wonderful job with it, bringing out its essence with her soulful singing style. Composer Dasgupta makes his comeback with the next two numbers, 'Power' and 'Rock The Party'. The first one, 'Power', has been sung by Mukherjee and it has a 'club mix' version as well. The number is punchy and has a decent pace to it, but somehow Mukherjee cannot do to the song what he did to the title number. That magic is missing in this number, which has been written by Syed Gulrez and Prashant. 'Rock The Party', the next number composed by Dasgupta, has been sung by Sunidhi with her usual gusto. Written by Avishek, Ravi and Sheershak Anand, the vocalist truly rocks the party in the company of Shweta Vijay. But there is nothing new or original in the song even though Sinidhi gives it her all as it belongs to a tribe of songs she has become a master at rendering. It's high time this singer was presented with some kind of a musical challenge. The music album of Aa Dekhe Zara begins on a promising note with the number 'Gazab', before it goes kind of downhill with numbers like 'Rock The Party and 'Power' following suit. However, it picks up with the seductive 'Mohabbat Aapse' and concludes well with the remixed version of RD Burman's 'Aa Dekhe Zara.' The album proves to be an interesting one with at least three potentially chartbusting tracks. The effort by Pritam and Dasgupta comes through with both managing to come up with some catchy numbers.

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