Hansal Mehta's Woodstock Villa, which launches two new faces in Hindi cinema, Sikander Kher and Neha Uberoi, is not surprisingly, a film which is slightly off the beaten track for both newcomers. They do not play your typical 'hero' or 'heroine' in Mehta's movie, instead playing characters with predominant shades of grey. Sikander fares better in the bargain, having a stronger role with many more nuances to explore, which he does with a fair amount of competence. His build up in the movie is quite like that of a hero of a film, which he is. Just one with a slightly crooked bone in his six foot and some body.
Woodstock Villa is a thriller which comes with the proverbial twist in the tail. Mehta has managed to make a fairly absorbing film, keeping the audience engrossed in his tale of love, lust, deceit and greed. The first part is more absorbing than the second though, with the second half becoming kind of predictable. The only distracting element in the film is when the director forgets his film and suddenly realizes that this is supposed to be the launch vehicle for Sikander and goes about creating all kinds of effects around him, basically ensuring that he gets enough footage. One can't help but recall Neil Nitin Mukesh's debut in another thriller, Johnny Gaddar, where no special attention is given to his character, which is understated and almost colourless, thereby serving the larger purpose of the film itself. Not that all these effects are really needed as Sikander has quite effective screen presence. He does not have your typical hero looks, but instead has a certain wild magnetism which is quite riveting. He dominates the frame and is a fairly decent actor too. He has a certain ease which comes across in his dialogue delivery as well. The other debutant, Neha, however, does not get such a good deal. She has a decent enough screen presence and one is sure to see a lot more of her.
The protagonist of the film, played by Sikander, is a guy who believes in living and loving dangerously. He is without a job, owes money to a don like character played by Gulshan Grover, sleeps with his ex boss's wife, played by Anupama Verma, flirts with his landlord's (Shakti Kapoor) wife, generally having a good time in life. He meets Neha's character at a nightclub and the two get talking. He charms her into dropping him home. Very soon, his landlord and the don start baying for his blood as he owes them money, and has no means to repay them. Just when he is at the end of his tether, the mysterious girl, who he had met at the nightclub comes to him with a proposition. She wants him to kidnap her and ask her husband for ransom, all because she needs to know if her husband loves her more or his money. Even though it seems strange at first, he agrees as she pays him handsomely for it. But things go wrong when the cops follow the husband (Arbaaz Khan), forcing Sikander's character to ditch them and get back to Woodstock Villa, which is where he and the mysterious lady are holed up. But on getting back, he is greeted instead with her dead body. He buries the body on the instructions of a voice on the telephone and makes his way back home, a much disturbed man. His depression even leads him to take up a job in Bangalore and move out of Mumbai. However, at the airport he catches sight of his mysterious lady on television, starring in a music video. He realizes that there is something amiss and that he has probably been used. He changes his plans and decides to get to the bottom of this. Of course, since he is the protagonist of the film, he has the final laugh.
The second half of the film, seeks to unravel the mystery. But it is here that it gets a tad bit predictable. The first half moves fairly well, at a decent pace. Mehta manages to keep the reins in his hands for most of the film and makes a fairly absorbing thriller. The plot is fairly well constructed, but it is not without loopholes, as the director is not able to tie up all the loose ends. Also, there were quite a few angles that he touched upon, but did not subsequently explore sufficiently, for instance, the chemistry between Sikander's character and the mysterious girl. The film's music keeps pace with the events in the plot and has been well picturised. The cinematography is decent. Sikander makes his entry with Mika's 'Sawan Main Lag Gayee Aag', and has been understandably hyped.
Despite a few dark overtones, the film makes for easy viewing. The performances are quite good. Sikander leads the brigade and impresses with his ease and ability to portray a character with so many shades. Neha is just about ok. The veterans Shakti Kapoor and Gulshan Grover impress in their small cameos. Arbaaz Khan, as the husband, is the weak link, as he is limited as an actor. Sachin Khedekar makes a brief appearance as a cop, a role which is not even well defined, which is a sheer waste of talent. Actor Sanjay Dutt is seen in the film briefly, playing himself in a music video. It may well be his last appearance in a White Feather production.
In short, Woodstock Villa works as a thriller. More importantly, it heralds the arrival of another star son, in the form of Sikander, who shows a lot of potential, which will definitely flower under a more competent director, and a more demanding script.