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Star cast: John Abraham, Pakhi.
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What’s Good: John’s acting; the story.
What’s Bad: The slow pace; the music; Pakhi, because she doesn’t look like a heroine of a romantic film.
Verdict: Jhootha Hi Sahi will prove to be a hit – and that’s the biggest jhooth.
Loo break: Several, because the pace is so slow.
Saregama and Cinergy’s Jhootha HiSahi is a love story of Siddharth (John Abraham) and Mishka (Pakhi), both Indians living in London. Although Siddharth is not in any way connected with a helpline for people on the verge of committing suicide, he gets calls from such people as his telephone number has been erroneously given out as one of the helpline numbers. One such person with suicidal tendencies, who calls up Siddharth repeatedly, is Mishka. Mishka’s boyfriend, Kabir (R. Madhavan), has ditched her and so she is heartbroken. She confides in her telephone friend, Siddharth (whom she has named Fidato), and he gets her out of her depression. Siddharth also meets Mishka but he doesn’t tell her that he is the Fidato whom she has been confiding in.
Siddharth and Mishka fall in love – and Mishka thanks Fidato for this. Siddharth’s girlfriend, Krutika (Manasi Scott), revolts at the romance between Siddharth and Mishka but then, gives up. Omar (Raghu Ram), a Pakistani friend of Siddharth, gets close to Krutika even though he used to hate her earlier. Anyway, even as Siddharth and Mishka are enjoying their romance, her jealous ex-boyfriend comes back into her life and forces her to leave Siddharth. Does Mishka settle down in life with Kabir? Or does Siddharth woo her back? Or does she herself return to Siddharth?
There is a parallel track of Aliya (Alishka Varde), who is Omar’s sister. She is being pressurised by Nick (George Young) to marry him but she holds herself back. Why? Does she give in finally?
The film has an unusual love story, written by Pakhi. The first half is very boring as the screenplay (Pakhi) gets repetitive and rather dull. The post-interval portion is slightly better as there is a little more drama then. However, Mishka being so undecisive gets on the audience’s nerves. The climax, too, is hardly exciting as the urgency for the lovers to meet is contrived and created rather than natural.
The jokes between Siddharth and his friends are sometimes too class-appealing. Even the drama holds appeal for the city audience only. Although this is a love story, the romance hardly gladdens the heart. Likewise, emotions are completely missing because of which the audience doesn’t feel the pangs of separation whenSiddharth and Mishka break off. For a love story of the kind the film is, hit music was a pre-requisite but, unfortunately, there is no song which is very hummable. Dialogues (Pakhi) are good.
Probably, the biggest minus point is Pakhi. The character of Mishka, which she plays, is supposed to be cute and endearing but Pakhi doesn’t fit the bill and looks too old for the role.
John Abraham does very well. His sense of timing in comic scenes has improved. Pakhi fails to impress even though her acting is not bad. Raghu Ram does quite well. Alishka Varde is cute. Manasi Scott performs ably. Anahita Nair, as Mishka’s friend, has her moments. Prashant Chawla (as Uday) and Omar Khan (as Amit) are okay. George Young performs fairly well. R. Madhavan leaves a mark in a special appearance. Nandana Sen, also in a special appearance, is alright.
Abbas Tyrewala’s direction is mature but the pace of the drama is just too slow.A.R. Rahman’s music is a sore point. ‘Cry cry’, ‘Maiya yashoda’ and ‘Do nishaaniyan’ are okay. Manoj Lobo’s camerawork and other technical values are of a good standard.
On the whole,Jhootha HiSahi is a high-cost dull fare which will entail huge losses to its investors.
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