DASTAK

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The Beauty and the Beast IT IS PERHAPS A SIGN OF THE beauty-crazed times that Bollywood has produced a multi-crore- rupee extravaganza in which former Miss Universe and current national icon, Sushmita Sen, spends three long hours playing herself. Mahesh Bhatt's Dastak the latest in a long line of obsessed-lover thrillers (this year alone, there have been three remakes of the Hollywood tale about a psycho husband, Sleeping with the Enemy) is a compelling, if logically loose drama of a beauty queen stalked by a deranged fan. The script, written by director Vikram Bhatt and "doctored" by veteran writer Sachin Bhaumick, skillfully weaves fact and fiction to create a bloody tale of love gone mad.

Dastak begins with a sullen-eyed young man, Sharad Sule (newcomer Sharad Kapoor), watching Sen win the coveted crown in 1994. Two years later, when Sen is at the peak of her career, her near and dear ones start dropping like flies. Enter Inspector Rohit Malhotra, a hard-smoking, gritty talking alpha male played by newcomer, Mukul Dev. Not surprisingly, in the course of protecting Sen, Malhotra falls in love with her a la Hollywood's Bodyguard. But Sule manages to dupe the police and kidnaps his object of desire. Meanwhile, Malhotra is in desperate pursuit. The film ends with a high-action boat chase and Sule coIlapsing as all Hindi movie villains do into a bloody heap.



Dastak is uneven but it works. For a Mahesh Bhatt creation, the film is surprisingly well-crafted. The slick editing and ominous background score build up a palpable tension. What is missing is Bhatt's still-intact insight into human emotions so evident even in his lesser dramas such as Naajayaz. Dastak works as a plastic thriller or, as a Mumbai man might say, "a good time-pass".

What holds the film together are the performances. Though Dev overacts in a few dramatic scenes, his good looks and easy manner give him a persuasive screen presence. But it is Kapoor, in the negative but more provocative role, who walks away with the honours. Menacing yet vulnerable, insane yet attractive, he improves on the umpteen nasty-boy performances seen so far.


Of course, the crucial question is: Can Sen act? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. Her long, lean body thrusts awkwardly in the dance numbers. She fumbles comically in the sentimental, teary-eyed moments. But in the second half, largely shorn of her hyper make-up and outfits, Sen displays a touching vulnerability, She manages, in an otherwise synthetic film, to move. Clearly, Dastak's biggest achievement is that it manages high-voltage glamour with newcomers. In an industry sagging under star salaries and superstar tantrums, that is welcome news.

BY: ANUPAMA CHOPRA - INDIA TODAY



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