Pyaar Kiya to Darna Kya
Director: Sohail Khan
Music: Jatin Lalit, Himesh Reshamiya, Sajid
Wajid
Year: 1998
Running Time: 162 minutes
If you look with some persistence, there
are moments of charm hidden here among the wreckage of a poorly constructed
and edited film that drags itself like a one legged dog to the finish line.
But not many. Almost everything but Kajol’s performance feels awkward, uninspired
and out of synch with reality. In particular, Salman Khan plays his role
like a spinning top that won’t wind down. If anyone out there were really
as irritating as his character, he would have been banished to another part
of the planet long ago. In what no doubt was an attempt to be charming and
boyish, Salman makes it impossible to believe that anyone could possibly
be attracted to him. Put this guy on Ritalin. This total lack of chemistry
between the two rather defeats the purpose of the film.
Kajol lives off in the countryside with her Thakur uncle (Dharmendra) and
her brother (Arbaaz Khan – actually the younger brother of Salman in real
life – as is the director). Her protective brother swats off Kajol’s suitors
like annoying buzzing mosquitoes, but to such an obsessive extent that one
has to wonder if there is something more than just brotherly love going on
here. The fact that he seems completely oblivious to the flirtatious hints
thrown at him with the subtlety of a right hook by the lovely Anjala Zhaveri
only reinforces this perception. If so though, it is all kept as subtext.
Kajol convinces him to let her go off to college in Bombay where she soon
runs into the brick wall charms of Salman. To get her attention, he steals
her purse and has her chase him through the school, but instead of having
him arrested for trying to impersonate a juvenile at his age, she falls in
love with him. Salman is the school star athlete and when he is not baring
his chest he hangs out with a group of friends that would be the “losers”
in any American film – the gay guy, the fat guy, the tomboy girl and the
nerd – but amazingly in this film they are the “cool” group. Big brother
shows up to check on “Baby” and upon seeing this state of affairs drags her
back home. Salman follows her back in an attempt to win the respect of her
brother and various tedious plot points ensue.
The music isn’t too bad but it is accompanied by choreography that is lackluster
and uninteresting. The first number, Oh Jaane Jana, appears to be primarily
an excuse to get Salman out of his shirt and strutting his ego. The best
song among the bunch is Teri Jawani – with a near religious fervor it is
danced to by Anjala as a mating call to Arbaaz (unfortunately the dvd transfer
is very murky during this scene). The final number Odhie Chunariya is a nice
ballad with a catchy refrain.
Kajol does what she can with this material and her co-star to keep this sinking
boat afloat as best she can, but Salman’s antics keep puncturing holes in
it. The film has a fair amount of action – the brother beating up everyone
in sight and a sub-plot about some neighbors trying to steal their land –
but with sound effects out of a video game it is difficult to take
it seriously.
As a note, I should mention that this film
did quite well at the box office and that both Kajol and Anjala were nominated
for ZeeTV Cine Awards.
My rating for this film: 4.5