Kismat Konnection   Producer: TIPS Director: Aziz Mirza Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Juhi Chawla, Om Puri, Vishal Malhotra Music: Pritam Lyrics: Shabbir Ahmed and Sayeed Quadri Genre: Romantic Recommended Audience: Parental Guidance Approximate Running Time: 2 hrs. 30 min. Film Released on: 18 July 2008 Reviewed by: Joxily John  - Rating: 4.5 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review Music Review

Raj Malhotra (Shahid) is the kind of guy for whom nothing seems to be going right. Inspite of being a brilliant student, he has been struggling to establish himself as an architect. However a fortune teller claims that Raj will have better days ahead, that is, if he gets his good luck charm.

And that good luck charm comes in the form of Priya (Vidya Balan) who he runs into on several occasions unexpectedly. But it seems whenever this lady is around, things work in Raj’s favor.

So Raj decides to believe in this good luck theory, and befriends Priya with one prime motive – success in life. And Raj is certain that her good luck will work on his ambitious project- the upcoming mall construction. However what the mall threatens is the existence of the very community center that Priya also caringly looks after.

This makes Raj take a path of lies and deception, in order to keep Priya in close proximity though he is well aware that he is building up his dreams by destroying hers. But a good luck charm is a good luck charm, right?

So all the karmic hocus pocus talk about the good luck charm is just another excuse to fill up the gaps of yet another boy meets gal love story. But this connection does not exactly get going…and the fuse in this connection is certainly the lack of a fresh screenplay.

What the makers have cooked up here is something totally bland and unsavory. And from master chef Mirza saab who gave us sweet charmers like Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, and Yes Boss, we expected a meal more fitting. But this stale leftover is a classic example of how they took an interesting premise of fate and destiny etc and then took it to destination nowhere.

The film is filled with clichés abound- right up to a subplot with Priya and her two timing boyfriend. So we realize that besides character names of Raj and Priya, Mirza also brought along the lack of novelty that he displayed back then with Chalte Chalte.

One thing is sure…we have a typical SRK script here. Shahid Kapoor’s Raj Malhotra is the typical SRK brand that ruled the Indian romantic genre in the last decade - the unlucky hero who sails along cheerfully, as he watches his love in the arms of another. And it does not help Shahid Kapoor much either, because his SRK likeliness only thrusts home the point further. But Shahid Kapoor has done considerably well, although this is not one as refined as his Jab We Met work.

Once again Vidya Balan finds herself in charge of an old age home and entrusts her dreams into the hands of a man who comes with his bag full of lies. Yes, the Lage Raho Munnabhai track is revisited here too. But with that infectious smile and a gorgeous face like that, we tend to forget all those gaping glitches in the screenplay. However her costumes fail her yet again and keeps reminding us how badly she needs to keep her weight under check. We do not wish to see her heading the Manisha Koirala way, do we?

Things would have been better if the chemistry between Shahid and Vidya was explored. It has been Vidya’s biggest plus factor that she brings in a certain chemistry with any of her male leads. However what ruins it here is when you realize that the lead pair of the movie is Shahid and Vishal Malhotra. Their buddy act just was too hammy a bonding to come off practical or even likeable.

Om Puri appears bored as ever as the business partner, Juhi Chawla is wasted in a special gypsy fortune teller get up, while Boman Irani is thrown in for a special appearance to continue from where he left off with the recent LOVE STORY 2050. Surprising that it is Himani Shivpuri who leaves a mark in her short cameo.

The music of the movie had been one of the biggest plus factors, and that was also the saving grace. Like I mentioned earlier, if Vidya has this magic of making pairings work onscreen, Shahid has this gift of making song picturisations look spellbounding. So we shall end up glued whenever Shahid breaks into a song generated by the Pritam factory. So even if we have an odd marriage song where the already set characters break into some unlikely hip hop, we are still not complaining.

With its weak screenplay, the film just seemed longer and much more uninteresting as the clock ticks on. And it is shocking that this one is written by Sanjay Chell. Surely a disappointment considering Chell’s rather good array of work. The only redeeming factor is that they have not ruined it as much either. It is just the lack of freshness and a creative approach that severely hampers this one. So, without getting into much ‘electrifying’ puns, I will put it straight – this connection fails to create any sparks, which also means Shahid-Vidya is no replacement for the charming pair of SRK-Juhi either.