Tujhe Meri KasamCast:-
Ritesh Deshmukh, Ginni, Shakti Kapoor, Asrani, Satish Shah, Vijayendra Ghatge, Jaspal Bhatti
Story:-
Ushakiron Movies' Tujhe Meri Kasam is a love story with a difference. Two childhood friends - a girl and a boy - grow up as neighbours and best buddies. Their families are also close to each other. Studying in college, their friendship is unparalleled. Once, the girl goes to Bangalore for a week. During this time, the boy misses her so much that he realises that his friendship has blossomed into love for her. Scared to reveal his feelings to her for fear of losing a good and true friend forever, he never broaches on the topic.
Then one day, another college boy proposes to the girl who then asks her best friend for his advice in the matter. Still unable to muster courage to tell her of his feelings, he lets her accept the other boy's proposal for marriage. When the two are about to be married, the realisation that she would have to leave her childhood friend to settle in America sinks in.
She develops cold feet and wants to call off the marriage. Quite innocently, she asks her childhood friend why he had never proposed to her so that they would never have had to separate. That does it - the boy, in a rush of emotions, makes it amply clear that he was madly in love with her but had refrained from telling her lest he lose her friendship.The girl insists that she get married to her childhood friend but the latter explains to her that it was now too late. In the end, of course, true love triumphs.
The film comes across as a whiff of fresh air with cute jokes and funny incidents galore in the first half. The second half also has its share of light moments but it has drama too. It is here that the racy entertainer takes a dip. The emotions in the second half don't come across as pronouncedly as they should've to draw tears from the audience's eyes. Had there been three or four scenes to tug at the heart-strings, the drama would have been an altogether different thing. In short, the viewer's heart doesn't cry for the lovers - and no love story can make an indelible mark unless the drama prompts the audience to almost pray that the lovers unite.
Although the light scenes are thoroughly enjoyable, there's a limit to the extent to which the entertainment can be stretched. After a point of time in the second half, the viewer gets the impression that if the characters can't help themselves, why should he (viewer) feel for them? The boy remaining silent even while the girl he loves is about to get married to another guy is not what a Hindi film viewer wants of his hero. He should have been shown to be either emotionally miserable or revolting against her decision. But he almost appears to have resigned himself to fate. Hindi film heroes chart out their own fates, they don't accept destiny so easily! This weak point notwithstanding, the film does have quite a few plusses too.Remake of the Telugu blockbuster Nuvve Kaavali, the film also has ordinary music to weigh down its chances.
Ritesh Deshmukh makes a confident debut as the hero. He is very good with poker-faced comedy and underplays his character of a subdued lover, to advantage. A natural actor, the boy could do with a little restraint in his over-enthusiastic dancing. Debutante Genelia D'Souza is natural to the core. She impresses in emotional scenes (thanks also to the dubbing) and is good in light scenes too. She needs to improve in dancing. Shreya, as the second heroine, is wonderful. Her falling down again and again is a funny-cum-emotional punch.
Raja does a restrained job and looks cute. Vrajesh Hirjee is superb. Supriya Pilgaonkar is absolutely first-rate in a comic role. Unfortunately, however, her appeal would be limited to Maharashtra. Satish Shah is excellent. Shakti Kapoor is also very good. Tiku Talsania evokes laughter at several places. Sushma Seth is brilliant! Asrani leaves a mark. Jaspal Bhatti is quite good. Supriya Karnik and Anooradha Patel get minimal scope. Vijayendra Ghatge makes his presence felt in the single sequence he appears in. Anil Dhawan, Sheela Sharma and the rest lend good support.Neeraj Vora's dialogues deserve special mention. His writing gives the impression that the man is a truly keen observer of human behaviour. A lot of the comedy is thanks to his excellent dialogues.
K. Vijaya Bhaskar's direction is good but his treatment of emotional scenes leaves something to be desired. He has extracted excellent performances from out of his cast. The film holds more appeal for the youth. Viju Sha's music is good but the absence of a hit track is sorely felt. The title song, 'Balle balle' and 'Azaadi' are melodious. Song picturisations should have been far better, considering that the film stars new faces. Camerawork is fairly good. The typical screeching effect in background music (when some character's leg is pulled) is a master stroke and enhances the comic effect.
On the whole, Tujhe Meri Kasam entertains but does not come across as a wholesome entertainer. Comedy-heavy, it lacks in emotional and musical value. The film definitely has merits to pick up by mouth publicity, mainly in cities, but its start is so slow that even the pick-up may not ultimately help it much. Business in Bombay and Maharashtra will be far better than the rest of the country.
