Movie Review – Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha by Suhel Johar

Watching Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha Is A Mind Numbing Experience.

There have been countless instances of filmmakers/actors who have launched their own child in their films. Many films out of these were well-made and even the star-kid turned out to be very talented. On the other hand, there have been star-kids that turned out to be miserable in their launch pads, mostly produced or directed by daddy dearest. Many of them don’t see the writing on the wall and keep on making films with their son in lead in successive films. Suneel Darshan goes the similar path and re-launches his son Shiv Darshan in Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha after the disastrous Karle Pyar Karle (2014). You must have seen several bizarre films in the past but this goes way beyond your imagination! What does one say about a film that does nothing at all to you, that doesn’t even give you a headache to register its painful presence?

With the exception of debutante Natasha Fernandez, all the major names in the credits are of men making a comeback: producer-director Suneel Darshan, lead actor Shiv Darshan, Upen Patel and music composer Nadeem Saifi, the man who, with creative partner Shravan, held sway over the Bollywood music scene in the 1990s.

The story of Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha goes like this; Natasha (Natasha Fernandez) is all set to get married to her best friend Sunny (Upen Patel). She wishes to get married in the family’s ancestral mansion, which recently got free of legal complications. The mansion at one point saw a shocking tragedy happen with Natasha’s maternal grandmother. The moment Natasha sets foot in the palatial home, she feels as if she’s been here before. At the mansion stable, she comes across the caretaker Dev (Shiv Darshan). His mysterious persona and his ‘shayaris’ attract her instantly. He makes her believe they are lovers who were separated in their previous birth. She falls in love with him which saddens Sunny since he loves Natasha deeply and their marriage was just a month away. Confusion abounds as the film progresses and the resultant complications throw all three into an emotional vortex that goes back and forth between the tense and the intense without making any sense.

You’ve guessed it, it isn’t a pretty spectacle. Ungainly ghosts from the past ride on the shoulders of the Haseena and the Deewana. But the ghost element is treated in a juvenile way.

It isn’t any surprise that Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha does not have anything new to offer? Bizarre is the only word that comes in mind when asked to describe this film in one word. All the major developments in the plot defy logic and common sense. In our world, when something strange or predictable happens around us, our first instinct is to ask ‘How did that happen.’ Well, that’s not the case in the world in which the film is set. The robotic acting all around only makes matters worse.

There’s a twist at the interval point that does catch viewers unawares but soon enough, the stupidity takes over that again takes the film down. The narrative gets even stranger as the film passes. This tests patience, despite the fact that the film is just 105 minutes long. Another twist is unveiled in the climax and it’s shockingly pathetic. How it got passed by the makers is astonishing.

The film is shoved in the direction of loads of mumbo-jumbo about unrequited love, treachery and a wandering spirit determined to claim what was found and lost in a previous birth.

The white cops in this movie speak fluent Hindi, however the Indian hijackers still struggle to speak ‘pounds’ (in their ransom call, they say “usse zinda dekhna chaahte ho toh 1 million ponds leke aao”).

Suneel Darshan, the director of the film, also to be blamed for the story (confusing and senseless) and script (with additional screenplay by Akash Deep), had a dignified purpose to relaunch his son in this movie. However that does not transform into a tale worth enduring or a movie worth suffering. In spite of its crisp runtime of 105 minutes, the film appears like a million-hours-long. Suneel Darshan’s direction is at his worst. He was never the best of directors but still he has given some decent masala films.

The dialogues by Kushal Ved Bakshi and Uddeept Dutt Gaur are horrible and raise unintentional laughs throughout the film. Cinematography by Amarjeet Singh is decent. Editing by Archit D Rastogi is okay considering the material he had to work on. Nadeem’s music is beautiful and melodious in a film that surely did not deserve it.

Performance wise, Shiv Darshan can’t act and this was proved with his debut film itself, Karle Pyar Karle. Even here, he’s unable to perform despite trying very hard. His expressions are weird in scenes where he’s supposed to cry. Often, when actors mouth ‘shayaris’, they are lapped up but the exact opposite happens when Shiv does it and he mouths too many of them. Newcomer Natasha Fernandez is decent. She has potential but goes overboard in this and fails to infuse any freshness with her presence. Natasha Fernandez is clearly in need of brushing up her emoting skills and dialogue delivery before she has another go at a substantial screen role. Upen Patel does better than the two but even he’s let down by a hackneyed script. Lalit Mohan Tiwari, Soni Kaur, Krishan Tandon, Sam Mahajan, Dimppy Ramdayal, Jon Abraham,  Alex Macaulay and Rumi Khan form the unimpressive supporting cast of the film.

On the whole, Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha is one of the worst films you will see in your life that does not deserve your time and money.