The Film: Humraaz
Starring: Akshaye Khanna, Bobby Deol, and Amisha Patel
Producer: Records & Tapes Pvt. Ltd
Director: -Mustan
Music: Reshammiya
Lyrics: Shara
Score: * * *

Last week we spotted producer of this film Ratan Jain in mood for celebrations outside a theatre, which was screening Kya Dil Ne Kaha. The confident man was perhaps in happy mood that his movie was a much better product than the much-hyped film.

Humraaz comes as a surprise of the year - the movie thrills and is one of the best-released movies of this year. No cheesy story, same plot and age-old romance. This movie is like fresh air with a Hollywood story and the desi "filmy" touch to it.

Karan (Akshay Khanna) is the leader of an upcoming musical dance troupe. He and Priya (Amisha Patel) are the lead performers of the troupe and very much in love with each other.

The troupe has tough competition from another group headed by Jojo. Both the teams have to audition to get the contract to perform on the Star Cruise. Jojo does cheating and manages to get the contract but angry Karan goes to his house where they have heated arguments and Jojo is killed which everyone thinks is an accident.

Meanwhile Karan's troupe gets a contract to perform on a cruise ship owned by millionaire Raj Singhania (Bobby Deol). The cruise ship sails for Malaysia. Raj meets Priya on the cruise and is magnetically drawn to this lovely girl. He does not know that Priya and Karan are in love.

Raj falls for Priya and she too is totally swept off her feet. After all, one of the richest and most eligible bachelors of the country is wooing her in lavish style. All the while, Karan is unaware of the relationship that is blossoming between Priya and Raj. As the cruise comes to an end, the besotted Raj proposes to Priya and she too, readily agrees to marry him. Now begins a treacherous triangular love story, which is full of surprising twist and turns - both emotional and violent.

Before the interval it is revealed that both Karan and Priya have made a plan to make big money once Priya gets married to Raj Singhania. They even plan to get Priya divorced within one month! Watch for the rest of the plot as there will be yet another twist in the story!

The first half of the movie is interesting basically shot on the lavish Star Cruise. All this makes the look very colorful and very rich. The 2nd half is full of surprises but has a very filmy touch to it and stretched a bit too far as things become too predictable. The music of the film is yet another positve point -- no wonder they sold more than 78 lakh copies within two weeks of the release of the film.

The duo directors Abbas-Mustan have given hits like Khiladi, Baazigar, Ajnabee and this is yet another feather in their cap. They have done a good job except for the fight scenes, which looks too ancient.

The background score is mostly Gregorian chants borrowed from various sample CDs - so in that way Aadesh Shrivastava has not done anything original.

Few scenes are badly done like when Karan kills his friend in a gym and one cannot understand how he manages to get the body from a gym and throws in a gutter without being noticed.

Also, the scene of the answering machine is stupid. A message recorded on the answering machine is only heard when the climax scene comes!

We would love to know the web cam that Singhania's are shown using. Never seen such clarity!

On the acting front all the three of them excel. Amisha looks gorgeous and luckily there are no crying scenes for her, which makes you laugh! Akshaye looks cute in that wig while Booby too looks like a tycoon and gives good performance in this flick. It is interesting to see these three stars playing the game and all of them having gray shades.

We highly recommend this film.