Shukriya   Producer: Vibha - Ragini Director: Anupham Sinha Starring: Aftab Shivdasani, Shreya Saran, Anupum Kher Music: Vishal-Shekhar, Himesh Reshammiya, Raju Rao and De Lyrics: Sameer Genre: Drama Recommended Audience: General Film Released on: 08 October 2004 Reviewed by: Shruti Bhasin  - Rating: 3.5 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review Music Review

I heard that this movie was hatke and quite interesting. Who told me that? Sure, the film is a little different from the conventional themes we are used to, but when you look at the overall picture, you are disappointed with the end result. Surprisingly, my local video store had this movie sold out for 2 weeks!!!!!

The movie begins with Karam Jindal (Anupam Kher), in London, who is about to turn 60 in a few days. His wife Sandhya (Rati Agnihotri) and 2 daughters, Anjali and Sanam (Shreya Saran), are preparing a big pomp-and-show for dear papa. Jindal begins to hear voices in his head, but thinks of it as nothing but his blood pressure kicking in.

Meanwhile, his daughter Sanam is infatuated in finding her dream boy (supposedly a magic box has told her that this man is connected to a guitar). Her family thinks she is better suited with childhood friend, Yash, but she only considers him a good friend. Poor Yash!

So, one day, Sanam is supposed to meet Yash, but he cancels. She is about to walk out of a restaurant, when she sees Ricky (Aftab Shivdasani) perform. Its love at first sight for her, and within 2 days for him too.

Getting back to Jindal, the voices continue to come and go, until he is told that his death is near. He is spooked to the core and sets up a meeting with, I suppose, the GOD of DEATH. Jindal pushes the voice to take human form and see how difficult it is to live a life. Thus, Jindal is granted 4 extra days to live his life to the fullest. Due to the challenge, God, takes human form (by coincidence, he kills Ricky and takes over his body). Our girl Sanam is thrilled that Ricky aka Rohan Verma will stay with her family, but Jindal wants his daughter to stay away from him.

So within 4 days, Rohan learns about family, love, revenge, relationships, song and dance, etc. Does he change his mind about letting Jindal live? Will Sanam accept Rohan, if she finds out he is the God of Death?

Inspired by the Hollywood flick, Meet Joe Black (1998), Shukriya seems to be a mockery on God. Let me elaborate. There are scenes in this film, which will make you chuckle, but it is purely unintentional. We have things like Rohan being fascinated by Sanam’s mom touching the tip of his hair, people kissing, putting a car window down, etc.

The movie had the potential to be good, but the screenplay is so weak, you can’t stay glued to the screen. The promos were appealing, due to the above average music, but overall, fails to emote any real emotion.

Out of the performances, Anupum Kher steals the show. Aftab Shivdasani had the potential to showcase his talent, and to an extent doesn’t disappoint. His character is quite complex, and from being a stiff God, to a real human, Aftab suceeds. Shreya Saran has the looks of an actress but still needs some lessons in dialogue delivery. Rati Agnihotri is good as usual. And the boy Yash, is a non-actor, who also needs some help in the acting department.

As for the music, it is picturized beautifully, and wins this movie some extra points. Direction by Sinha is mediocre, because the screenplay is weak. However, the scenes with Jindal and Rohan are worth a mention; these scenes hold your attention.

So, a below average fare. Its up to you if you want to watch it!