Amisha Patel Takes Ill

MUMBAI : Her lazy lamhe act was the flavor of the season a few months back.

Radio Movie Review

Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Shehnaz Treasurywalla, Sonal Sehgal

Direction: Ishan Trivedi

He has, not one, but two emotionally attached women, fawning all over him at the same time. The three of them shop and dine together. One’s the wife, who’s just divorced him, but reminisces, “Vivaan, I miss your sense of humour.”

Vivaan’s a jock; on radio, that is. Slouched from the shoulders, slight tummy, hair cropped, with a long sideburn, he whispers in a slightly croaky voice; walks with a certain swagger, and moves his arms across to make his point.

Himesh Reshammiya is the perfect face for Radio, the film (of course).

He has, what he himself calls, “fultue attitood”. Dudes from across Mumbai want his take on love: “Hey Vivaan, what’s the meaning of true love, man?” His old love-interest is a choreographer who’s devastated because her favourite star praised another dance-director on Page 3. He attends to her late in the night.

His other tight-squeeze seduces him over a call-in show. Their relationship becomes stuff of chart-busting reality radio. But he is off relationships, you see. As they say on online social networks: “It’s complicated.”

The title track sounds inspired from the ethnic-electronica Deep Forest, and the sorts. He uploads songs on the Internet, plays around with crazy consoles. His girlfriend is an addict on Facebook; we’re not sure if they’re “buddies buddies, or **** buddies!” The lighting in the rooms is slick. The script is coolly chapterised. You can see the hero vastly expanding his fan-base beyond Bhandup.

Only once in a while, the dialogue writer misses a beat, or reveals his true self. The actor suddenly goes, “Chirkoot,” (no reference to some networking site) or, “Bahut danger ladki hai!”

Himesh, the icon of NRI Gujarat, started out as the maestro of auto-rickshaw music across the country. Suits at T Series had rightly thought then that if movies were a medium to sell music, why not make a star out of a hit music composer. He would compose tracks only for films he starred in. The songs could punctuate his robotics. Music stations would play his videos. Few watch films anyway.

Himesh has done two movies already. This laugh-riot is his third. There are a few more to come, I hear. Together, the anthology will make the hero the ‘Joginder’ of our times. He gives everyman a leading man’s dream; never mind the film.

When nothing works, the hero’s ex-wife finally tells him, “Vivaan, you sing really well.” Hmmm…