Main Aisa Hi Hoon   Producer: Pammi Baweja Director: Harry Baweja Starring: Ajay Devgan, Sushmita Sen, & Esha Deol Music: Himesh Reshamiya Lyrics: Sameer Genre: Drama Recommended Audience: General Film Released on: 06 May 2005 Reviewed by: Shruti Bhasin  - Rating: 5.0 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review Music Review

What happens when you take a good Hollywood film, I Am Sam and try to remake it? The answer is simple, a mediocre version: Main Aisa Hi Hoon. Well, it has some enlightening moments that touch the heartstrings, but its just too long and melodramatic for no reason.

So the story begins with a hippy/free-spirit drug addict named Maya (Esha Deol) who gets stuck in a small town with no money. A man named Indraneel Thakur aka Neel (Ajay Devgan) brings her to his home to stay with him and his sister Ritu (played nicely by Lilette Dubey). Neel has the mind of a 7-year old so he doesn’t do much except open and close up a coffee shop and hang out with his other autistic friends. Maya falls for his simplicity and boom, she’s pregnant. Yes, her feelings were genuine, but after giving birth to a baby girl, she decides to leave everyone she learned to love in the small town, for reasons unknown.

About 7 years later, Gungun (Baby Rucha) and Neel are living a happy life of daughter and father. The little girl cares so much about her father that she purposely begins to stop learning in order to not know more than Neel. One day, this family is hit with a lawsuit. Maya’s father (Anupam Kher) wants custody of his grandchild.

The towns people work hard to enlist a shrewd lawyer Neeti (Sushmita Sen) to fight the case. After many attempts, Neel does something to convince her and also shows her how to be a good mother. All said and done, there is a long court case, many songs, and an ending that may or may not be obvious.

So did Devgan pull off a Sean Penn or even a Hritik Roshan (Koi Mil Gaya)? Sadly, no. This might be one of his better releases of the year, but its no way one of his best. At times, he does go over the top. Esha Deol is not bad, however, anyone could’ve played Maya. Sushmita Sen keeps improving with every film and adds depth to her character. The supporting characters do what they have to. On the music front, Himesh Reshamiya and Sameer come up with some nice songs, but the film could do without so many to make it go faster. “Deewanapan” is the pick of the lot.

Overall, Harry Baweja disappoints with this attempt and should go back to the drawing board. For viewers, watch for Sushmita’s performance and if a die-hard fan of Devgan, if not, you could ignore the film and stick to the original version.