Awful Movie Spree continues..Tum Mile and Kurbaan...

After watching three bad movies on my last stay here in Mumbai, spanning Acid Factory, Surrogates and Blue, my awful movie spree continued with Tum Mile and Kurbaan. Tum Mile was absolutely pathetic, while Kurbaan at least gave me some return for my money.

Trapped in the deluge of 26 July, 2005, carefully navigating around half-submerged vehicles and dodging death on the flooded streets of Mumbai, Tum Mile is intended as an emotional drama about how a life-changing event makes Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan realise that they've always loved each other.

The problem is there's not enough drama in the screenplay to begin with. The first half of Tum Mile is spent setting up the relationship between Emraan and Soha, who play Akshay and Sanjana, a struggling artist and a successful journalist in Cape Town. Over the course of an hour we watch as they meet, fall in love, squabble, and ultimately part ways. Post-intermission, the action shifts to Mumbai where the couple is reunited years after calling off their relationship. With a convoluted story, poor photography and special effects, and uninspired leads, Tum Mile put a hummable show.

The other flick ‘Kurbaan’, noticeably, is set on the same plot of ‘NewYork’. However, it has been a more compelling and convincing version. With a credible performances from its leads and a comprehensive screenplay, the plot holes in the film are overlooked.

Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) teaches at the university and falls in love with colleague Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan). The duo marries and shifts to New York City. There Avantika becomes witness to some terrorist operations in her neighbourhood headed by a Muslim fundamentalist (Om Puri). Soon she realizes that she is a pawn to a huge conspiracy. She secretly seeks help from a television reporter Riyaaz (Vivek Oberoi) who attempts to infiltrate the terrorist outfit to foil their big plan.

The flaw with Kurbaan, however, is that it can't decide if it wants to be a serious film addressing a burning issue, or a commercial potboiler set against the backdrop of terrorism. Kurbaan starts as a love story, swiftly changes identity to a social film and keeps the viewer engaged throughout with its thriller treatment. Sensibly the romance is kept short and succinct without losing out on the chemistry of the characters. Once the terrorist activity comes to forefront, the love story is given a backseat as the story intends to highlight and discuss serious issues related to global terrorism.

Amidst all this, Kurbaan is a one-time watch, which you can’t remember later, but can’t regret either.