De Taali movie rating and review

De Taali (2008) Movie Rating and Review :

Rating :

Acting – 4/10
Direction – 2/10
Screenplay – 2/10
Music – 2/10
Technique – 3/10

Review :

Nothing to clap for

Destiny. Some films have the D-word stamped all over them. Mughal-e-Azam, Pather Panchali, Pakeezah…they took ages to get made but when they finally found their way to the theatres, you could figure out where all those years had gone.

You have the same feeling when you watch Eshwar Niwas’s De Taali. You can fathom the number of years that have gone into the making. But for very different reasons. There is no continuity in the characters, in their intent, in their desire, in just about everything they do. Even in their weight - Ayesha is super-skinny in one scene and all bloated up in the next.De Taali is wannabe Dil Chahta Hai in the first half and proverbial quadrangle in the second. It’s about three friends Abhi (Aftab), Paglu (Ritesh) and Amu (Ayesha) whose sweet little world in the Bangkok tree house is rocked when Kartika (Rimii) takes a fancy for Abhi. Yes, you guessed right – Amu discovers her love for Abhi and Paglu discovers his affection for Amu. How the forth line in the rectangle – between Paglu and Kartika – is drawn is perhaps the only amusing bit in the 150-minute snore saga.

Riteish is the only redeeming feature of De Taali. While he desists from his customary Marathi mutter, he is the only genuinely funny guy around. Also, he is the only actor who stays in character and that’s really a big bonus in such a film.

Take Aftab’s Abhi. He professes love to Ayesha in one scene, accepts Rimii back in the next and then goes back to Ayesha again. What is the cause? No clue.

Ayesha contorts her face at different angles of joy and pain. She is given no lines to deliver, just a garden hose to wet her full-sleeved sweat shirt. What is the cause? No clue.

Showing a lot more skin and getting a lot more to do is Rimii. But you don’t know what to make of her character. She seduced her college professor, trapped her classmate, ran away on her honeymoon night, is after Aftab’s money but ends up having wafers watching movies sitting with Riteish! The entire film is that bizarre.

Also, for a film which has a song popping up every two minutes like an Internet window, the gana-bajana just had to be better. Barring the title track, it’s a disinterested Vishal-Shekhar score (they probably did it between reality shows).

There is a scene in De Taali, when a kidnapped Rimii Sen is tortured — they call it the fifth degree — by being shown Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (Niwas debuted with the RGV-produced Shool!). Sadly, De Taali doesn’t even deserve that distinction.

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