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A bad hangover

Suparn Verma

There are two debuts in Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain: producer Cheetah Yagnesh Shetty (who used to be a fight director) and director Nabhkumar, who used to be Sooraj Barjatya's assistant.

So, we have a man -- whose speciality is fight sequences and stunts -- teaming up with another who has been trained to make family dramas. The result: not very encouraging.

In this movie, Govinda has been cast in the mould of Shah Rukh Khan and Rajesh Khanna -- combined. And to top it, Urmila Matondkar is made to act like the coy Bhagyashree or Sooraj Barjatya's perception of the woman played by Madhuri Dixit.

The effect is jarring.

The story has been told several times. Two households: Muktanand and Parampara. One is full of love, the other steeped in anarchy.

Paresh Rawal, Himani Shivpuri, Johnny Lever, Jack the dog and Govinda live in the house of love. Dimple Kapadia, Jill the she-dog and Urmila stay in the house of anarchy.

Rahul (Govinda) and Radhika (Urmila) fall in love, the two servants of the respective households fall in love, even the two dogs fall in love. Rawal and Shivpuri play two unbelievably goody shoes while Dimple wears a permanent scowl.

So, you can imagine what happens next. To make things a wee bit more complicated, Dimple chooses Nirmal Pandey as Urmila's hubby-to-be. Someone needs to tell Nirmal it's time he got rid of his locks, they tend to look extremely untidy.

The music by Uttam Singh, at times, is reminiscent of Dil To Pagal Hai, but that's about it. The cinematography is okay, the editing patchy.

Director Nabhkumar suffers from a major Barjatya hangover. But while the original can carry off the family drama with aplomb, the apprentice has a long way to go. He needs to develop his own style if he wants to make a mark.

So, should one see the film? Perhaps, you should watch it -- if you are a fan of Bob Christo. The Aussie makes a rare two-minute appearance!