Subhash Ghai seems to have lost it—Yaadein is the kind of movies which make youwonder whether he had given the director's chair to some second or third gradeassistant while he concentrated on marketing its bits and pieces. The manner in whichhe's allowed the film to become an ad platform is not funny at all—Jackie Shroffis a father trying to be friends with three motherless nri-type daughters. But the mediumhe chooses to show his emotions is Coca Cola—right from the moments spent with hislate wife, supposed to be intimate and personal, to the time when he faces an emotionalcrisis over his daughters, he produces a can, or a key-ring of the ubiquitous drink. HeroHrithik Roshan follows suit—apart from Coke, he uses Pass Pass mouth-freshener whileexpressing love for his beloved, Kareena Kapoor, Shroff's uppity daughter whosuddenly discovers she loves Roshan in Malaysia during a cycle race competition sponsoredby, you guessed it right, Hero cycles. Even ad films boast of a better script, or style,than what is shown here—they try to interweave their product in the theme, takingcare not to overdo the publicity bit. Subhash Ghai, in contrast, exhibits Coke as alifeless prop; worse, he fails to build any sort of credible situation for its utility.This is sheer bad publicity—Ghai has ruined a chance to actually lure big brands tocinema. He should have taken a leaf out of movies like What Women Want, whichpublicised Nike without seeming to do so.
As a film, Yaadein has nothing to offer—the 'story' rehashesthe nri formula, without even bothering to go into the rigours of building the characteror the plot. Films like DDLJ and KKHH at least had good locations andcostumes—Yaadein's locations never come to life, and the costumes aregaudy and hilarious. Kareena wears a misplaced lungi over shorts in one scene whileHrithik ties a comical shirt over a round collared T-shirt in another. The most incrediblepart, however, is the way scenes are framed—it is like you are watching a C-gradefilm where the only intention is to place the camera in front of the actors, withoutproper lighting or sense of composition. Certain shots appear as if they are pasted froman outside source, especially the ones showing a crocodile 'chasing' Kareena.What's happening at Mukta Arts?
Except for the lead song, Anu Malik's music is a washout. Even the actors arewasted—Jackie Shroff's 'best' performance is probably his worst, whileboth Kareena and Hrithik seem more like victims of misdirection. Yaadein's brutalfailure, in a way, also reflects the splintering of the '90s nri mush, where theyplayed around with vague concepts without paying heed to the narrative. Since storytellingis right back in the reckoning, Yaadein's fate will give sleepless nights to otherbig banners waiting in the queue with their time-worn love stories.
