Tell Me O Khuda Review

Esha Deol' s career is in the doldrums. Other than Dhoom, she has not delivered a single hit. Her mommy dearest, Hema Malini, has stepped in and has even bankrolled Tell Me O Khuda. This film is Esha' s one hope of making a career in acting. Though, she has a few other films in her kitty, none of them have her playing the lead character. Tell Me O Khuda is based on Hema Malini' s first unsuccessful directorial venture, Dil Aashna Hai. The film had the late Divya Bharti playing the lead role.

Tanya (Esha Deol) is a successful writer. She gives advice to distraught women all over the country in advice columns. Her life is going great; she has loving parents (Farooq Shaikh) and an equally loving boyfriend (Arjan Bajwa) and the future seems bright. However, it all comes crashing down after she finds out that she was adopted. She aches to find out who her real parents are, especially her father.

Tanya takes off on a journey where she ends up going to Rajasthan, Turkey and then to Goa. She meets three men (Vinod Khanna) (Rishi Kapoor) (Dharamedra) who she thinks might be her biological father, but is disappointed every time. However, she knows one of them is lying to her and actually might be her father. Finally, the truth is revealed and she is united with her father. Also, during the journey she takes on many issues like male chauvinism and female feticide and many more.

Gimmicky and preachy are the two words for Tell Me O Khuda. It is quite baffling as to why Hema Malini has attempted to remake her earlier flop venture. Dil Aashana Hai was disastrous back then. Maybe, she thought the story might be more appealing in these times. Her point could have been understood if weren' t for the fact that this story has been attempted in Hollywood' s Mamma Mia and more recently in That Girl in Yellow Boots. While Mamma Mia was a musical, That Girl in Yellow Boots was a dark thriller. Tell Me O Khuda takes the emotional route and fails miserably.

The story, though may seem nice in conceptual terms, is poorly executed. Not once during the whole course of the film do you feel the angst of the protagonist in her search for her father. The screenplay is where the film begins to fall apart. Even though the film is centered on Esha Deol, her character seems half baked. The parts where she takes social evils fail to invoke any appreciation as they seem farfetched. Also, the way she determines how Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and Dharamendra are not her father will make you wonder if she has heard about something called DNA testing.

Mayur Puri was supposed to be the only director of the film and Hema Malini was to remain the producer. However, midway while shooting the film, Mayur had creative differences with Hema Malini and then she took over from him as director. Therefore, it is unclear that who has shot the major portion of the film, but logic suggests the bulk of the work is done by Hema Malini. Whoever it was has not done that great a job. The narrative is quite patchy and will make the audience lose interest midway. There are some good scenes, but not enough to save the film. She has also failed in getting good performances out of the actors. The three suspected fathers are not given enough screen time and worse treatment is dealt out to Arjan Bajwa. Maybe, Hema Malini should not have taken the reins away from Mayur.

Esha Deol tries hard but fails. She seems to lack that charisma a leading lady should have. Neither does she make up that lack of charisma with acting talent. Arjan Bajwa is reduced to a side note in the film. Shahrukh Khan had the same role in Dil Aashana Hai, and the same had happened to him. However, Shahrukh became the country' s biggest star afterwards; maybe Arjan is hoping the same will happen with him.

Of the three suspected deadbeat dads, only Rishi Kapoor gives a great performance with the small role he has. Vinod Khanna is bearable but Dharampaaji, sadly, has lost it all. The emotional scenes he does will actually make you laugh. The rest of the support cast is okay. It is sad to see two good actors like Farooq Shaikh and Deepti Naval wasted.

The music of the film is nothing to talk about. Two of the tracks are bearable but no other songs that will excite and entertain you. The cinematography is quite good. The scenes in turkey are breathtaking and provide some entertainment for a change. The editing is also fine. The production value of the film is good considering the expensive sets and locations.

Tell Me O Khuda was promoted well, but Shahrukh Khan' s Ra.One has been released on the same day. It will be difficult for this film to get any audience. Looks like Esha Deols re-launch will be unsuccessful.

Rating: *

Verdict: Tell Me O Khuda is the question the audience will ask themselves on why they saw this film. Avoid it if you can.

Reviewed by: Harshal Anand

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