Film: Ekk Deewana Tha Cast: Prateik, Amy Jackson.

Director: Gautham V Menon

Johnson Thomas

Gautham ( Rehna Hai tere dil Mein) Menons remake of his own Tamil/ Telugu hit 'Vinaya thandi Varu vaya'is a totally confused and entirely passionless, appropriated romance. The film has a good looking couple as its protagonists- both Prateik and Amy Jackson look good together but that is nearly never enough for a film that aims to appropriate the success of the career making Kamal Hassan- Rati Agnihotri monster hit, 'Ek Duje Ke Liye.'Their central plots are similar but the narratives are diametrically different.

Balu Mahendras film had an assured narrative , superb performances and a passionate emotionality that captured the hearts of the young lovers of those times. Gautham V Menons film, 'Ekk Deewana Tha'is shoddy, unsure, lacks energy and is entirely lacklustre.

He may have scored hits in Tamil and Telugu but in Hindi , success seems to elude him. His understanding of the language also appears suspect. The dialogues appear confused, the characterisations border on the ridiculous and the much taunted music and lyrics( A Rahman and Javed Akhtar both harmoniously below average) don't carry much weight either. Tne only good things about the film are its cinematography and locales. But even that seems to be a bit too indulgent to keepthe interest going. The Kerala backwaters setting is undoubtedly enchanting but the Menons clueless narrative tends to overuse the locales to the extent that the entire film appears like a tourist brochure for Gods own country , than a crocheted valentine.

Scene construction appears to be Menons worst suite. The film opens to a church wedding with Jessie( Amy Jackson) as the Malayali Nasrani bride all set to marry a NRI from the US, Roy Thomas , while Sachin( Prateik) seated in the pews with his famous cinematographer friend, a much older Amay ( Manu Rishi), wonders why he had to fall in love with her? Straight away we are transferred to the past- Bethel House , Juhu where the malayali Nasrani family, the owners , live on first storey while the Maharashtrian Brahmin family live as tenants on the ground floor. We see Sachin sighting the luscious nymph Jessie while on her way to work and cupid strikes deep and sure. Sachin is sohaplessly in love that he literally stalks Jessie. Then the narrative jumps straight into song and dance that lasts for nearly fifteen odd minutes. We never get to know Jessies feeling s for him because the dialogues are more interested in parrying than being straight forward.

There wasn't much of a story to begin with so the narrative takes recourse in creating a whole lot of confusion.

Jessie meets Sachin , talks to him and even kisses him but never declares her love for him. Whenever asked by Sachin( not us for sure) she replies that they are unsuitable because of their disparate cultures , religions and backgrounds.

The lead performances are insipid and devoid of energy. Prateik needs to go to acting school and brush up on the basics before he can embark on yet another lead role in a mainstream film. Amy Jackson looks like a cross between Amala and Dipanita Sharma, her delicate features and coy mannerisms appear eyepleasing at best. Manu Rishi does a good turn but even the character he plays appears half- cooked. The peripheral roles of the parents and relatives though well cast and performed don't make much of an impact because of the distinct lack of consistency in the narrative. The script fails majorly because every scenario and dialogue appears to be a literal translation of the original. So the good points of the original may have gotten lost in the translation.

This is a distinctly tedious film and only those with a strong constitution should venture in!