Remake Nostalgia Minus Logic!

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It's nostalgia revisited and what's worse, remade... sans logic. It was in1992 that Hema Malini turned director for the first time with Dil Aashna Hai, a story about a young girl who discovers that she is an adopted child and sets off on a journey with a supportive boyfriend to search for her real mother.

Now, almost more than two decades later, Malini decides to use the same formula-albeit with a minor twist. This time, the young girl embarks on an adventure to trace her biological father, taking her on a cross-country journey where she comes in touch with three different men, one of whom might be her father. However, what the product lacks is logic and what it has in surplus is the kind of scenes usually seen in Manmohan Desai's '70s flicks.

Tania Kapoor (Esha Deol), an author is the much-loved daughter of retired Colonel Kapoor (Farooq Shaikh) and Shikha (Deepti Naval) who discovers by accident that she is an adopted child and roping in her boyfriend Jai (Arjan Bajwa) and best buddy Kuki (Chandan Roy Sanyal), Tania sets off to Rajasthan to trace her father following a clue derived from hospital files. In Rajasthan, she comes across Abhay Singh (Vinod Khanna) a typical Rajput from a royal family who is firm but fair. The royal family however desires a male heir and Tania decides to win the heart of Abhay Singh through a camel race and convince him that daughters are as good as sons.

Having completed this mission and discovering that she is not the daughter of Abhay Singh, Tania then sets off to Istanbul on the basis of another clue which leads her to the house of Altaf Zardari (Rishi Kapoor), whose wife Zainab (Meltem Cumbul) is living in a world of her own after undergoing the trauma of losing her infant to a hospital fire. Tania believes that she has met her mother after all (Tania was born in the same hospital at the time of the fire) and starts about treating her using amateur techniques, which surprisingly work. However, Altaf confesses subsequently that he had used Tania to cure his wife and that their child is dead and buried indeed.

Her heart broken again, Tania then drags off her two hapless male companions off to Goa where the final clue lies-in the form of Anthony Costello (Dharmendra), a Godfather-ish gangster with a heart of gold. Hema Malini also puts in a cameo as the mother of Tania, who had put up the daughter for adoption after Anthony, the father of the girl was sent to prison for his criminal activities.

In a highly predictable climax, the daughter is united with her father Anthony after a fight sequence involving rival gangsters in which the other two gents Abhay and Altaf also step in to lend their support. Like all fairy tales, the princess marries the prince at the end of the movie, with her doting father(s) smiling benignly in the background.

The first thing one does after stepping out of the movie hall is shake his/her head in dismay at Esha Deol. Not only does she lack the requisite acting skills, she has also lost the fresh-faced innocent aura she had so superbly displayed in Yuva. Esha as Tania looks quite jaded in comparison. Arjan Bajwa is a mere prop with a wooden face and the only saving grace among the young batch of actors is Chandan Roy Sanyal as Kuki, the happy-go-lucky friend of the couple. Johnny Lever hams as the municipal worker who reluctantly helps Tania with clues.

But what makes the viewing pleasant is the triumvirate of Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra, the three good-looking actors of yesteryear Bollywood who still possess that amazing aura and powerful screen presence. Rishi Kapoor is charming, as always, Vinod Khanna as the Rajput leader is indeed regal and Dharam is…well…garam. At an age when he should be doting on his grandkids, Dharmendra bashes up his enemies with a believable righteousness and vigour.

However, the film is quite poor when it comes to logic logic. In today's scenario when a DNA test is enough to prove or disprove paternity, why would Tania try out everything but the test to find out who her father is remains a mystery till the very end.

Moreover, Tania tends to behave as if exploring the locales is a first priority to finding her father- The group makes a road trip to Rajasthan from Mumbai and from Mumbai to Goa when they could have easily taken a flight and reached their destination faster if Tania was so eager to find her real father.

Moreover, the traumatised Zainab, who has been suffering from pyrophobia (fear of fire) since the hospital fire 24 years ago, gets cured within minutes when Tania lights the fireplace and mouths a few dialogues.

Watch this fare only if you crave for yesteryear magic on the big screen.