Humraaz (Secret)
Director(s): Abbas- Mustan
Music: Himesh Reshammiya: Lyrics: Sudhakar
Year: 2002
Running Time: 2 hours, 53 minutes
I was flying high somewhere over the Pacific
and the little red light started blinking – telling me I didn’t have much
time left. There wasn’t far to go, but I knew in my heart that I wasn’t
going to make it. I kept mentally trying to push it faster – a little further
– but it was pointless. Time had run out. So my portable DVD player goes
blank on me with about four minutes left in Humraaz – leaving me feeling
tense and frustrated that I would have to wait till I reached my destination
before I could find out how it all ends. An hour into the film, I certainly
hadn’t expected to be in this state but that was before the plot took an
unexpected screeching turn into territory that Hitchcock used to lovingly
tread – deceit and murder.
For much of the first half of the film, it has
all the accoutrements of a typical Bollywood romance – a potentially conflicting
triangle between a beautiful woman and two competing males – one an aspiring
poor musician and the other wealthy beyond most of our dreams (you could
fit much of Central Park into his mansion), but then it delivers a sneaky
rabbit punch to our soft complacent middle. It turns delightfully dark
and desperate with more spite and malice than a rash of poison ivy and
has more twisted turns than the back streets of Cairo. Though parts of
it are clearly influenced by a few American films, it’s Bollywood characteristics
somehow both enhance and act as a contrast against these influences and
make the film seem better than it perhaps really is. It is so far one of
the few – perhaps only? – Bollywood films that I have intentionally viewed
even knowing that I didn’t really care for any of the three main stars
– but word of mouth on the film was excellent and so I dug in and am glad
I did so. Without giving very much of the plot away, here are a few sketchy
details.
Akshaye Khanna runs a small flashy dance troupe
that he has high ambitions for. His cute tweety bird girlfriend, Amisha
Patel, dreams of the day when they will make it big and their opportunity
may have arrived when multimillionaire Bobby Deol hires them to be the
entertainers on his vacation cruise ship. Soon thereafter he spots Amisha
through his two-way mirror adjusting her dress and ripping off her torn
stockings. His hormones zap into instant ultra-drive and he begins a plan
of attack on her affections with a cruise ship and crew at his disposal.
Though Amisha seems to care for Akshaye, she appears
to be wilting under Deol's constant attention – though whether it’s his
charms or his assets is difficult to discern. Akshaye seems to witness
all this from a studied distance, but doesn’t seem too concerned, as he
apparently trusts his little sweetie. That’s about as far as I will go
with this – but rest assured the real plot is just beginning and no one
is quite what they appear – beneath the surface anyone can sometimes go
beyond the point of no return – and these three characters are soon caught
in a spiralling destructive descent that will rip open their lives.
All three give good performances – Amisha’s soft
buttery big blue innocent eyed features give no indication of the hardness
below, Deol straightforward and socially awkward is well-drawn – but it
is Akshaye who really delivers here. This along with his excellent job
in Dil Chatha Hai has redeemed him in my eyes after his mushy characterization
and Brownie infatuation in Taal. He seems to have gained a harder edge
to both his looks and to his acting that makes him much more interesting
to watch. Here he dominates the proceedings with an assured hooded cobra
like performance – always looking for an opening. His only weakness as
an actor here is that as the supposed lead dancer in his troupe he isn’t
really all that good a dancer, but they hide this with some ensemble choreography
and steps that are not particularly complicated. Amisha still looks almost
too young to me for her romantic roles – one feels she needs the occasional
burping – but her slightly askew facial structure is appealing and her
slim figure is like a well-tuned string instrument. She is also beautifully
attired in this film and looks quite glamorous throughout.
The musical numbers did not really grab me on
the first go through but upon further listening they are quite tuneful
if not completely memorable. The set pieces around them though are lively,
colourful and well filmed with excellent production values. Two of the
numbers are part of the stage act and contain a few great images such as
Amisha rising from the fire or being encased in a block of ice.
My rating for this film: 7.5
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