Times like these

It's times like these, you learn to live again. Word.

Whoever thought of casting Tanushree Dutta in a lead role should be made to spend some time as a cell mate of inmate # 9818783. While 9818783 mulls over her past life, tries to stop acting dumb because its not cute anymore and thinks hard over what she can do to make the world a better place, she could possibly suggest Mr Sinha that limiting Tanushree's visage to brief appearances a la Hithcki or Signaal would be one step closer to a happier place we live in. No seriously. Watching Tanushree for over 2 hours couldnt be worse than spending time in the joint (with Paris, nonetheless).

Raqeeb is a movie where the leading lady manipulates the men in her life to get what she wants. The plot opens with Remo Mathews (Rahul Khanna) as an asthmatic who runs a large software company (what else) with Siddharth (Sharman Joshi) as his legal advisor and friend. Siddharth is quite the outgoing kind and is always pestering Remo to socialize and make the most of his life. In this quest, he sets Remo up on a date with Sophie (Tanushree Dutta). Few melodramatic filmy moments later, Sophie and Remo are married.

Marital bliss doesnt last too long for Sophie who runs into her ex-lover Sunny (Jimmy Shergill), a struggling actor. Sophie spurs Sunny on to killing Remo assuring him that they would lead a comfortable life ever after. Sophie has plans though. She double crosses Sunny and he lands up in jail. Then on we learn that it is not quite the lady who is manipulative, a greater devil lurks with a bigger plan and a verry filmy motive behind it all. In the battle of good against evil, evil loses once again and you are much too happy to see the closing credits.

To give credit to debutante director Anurag Sinha, the movie manages to hold your interest for the most part, though at times especially in the first half, it gets painfully slow. There are a lot of twists and turns all the way to a much expected ending. Rahul Khanna still needs some effort in the facial expressions department and a lot more in dialogue delivery. Jimmy Shergill looks horrendous in his long locks and doesnt do any justice to his role. Sharman Joshi delivers another stellar performance. Ms Dutta sure could use a stylist; a facemask would be a better alternative in the meantime. Support cast is passable with Vivek Shauq providing some titbits of comic relief.

Overall, not much of a recommendation, but worth watching if you have nothing better to do.

Post Title : Foo Fighters - Times Like These