BOLLYWOOD

You chance upon a crowded dance in a film as the end credit rolls. Here, director Ken Ghosh opens with a dance and also ends with another. Not a bad way to begin a dance film.

CHANCE PE DANCE gives you a funky, Hollywood feel as the two main characters; Shahid Kapur and Genelia D'Souza are introduced. Its breezy flow, a funky and cool Shahid and 'cute chemistry' between the two add to the bliss. However, Ken is not able to maintain the momentum throughout. What must be said to his credit, however, is that he keeps the feel of the film on beat; soft and mushy. Though the end is predictable, it leaves you with a feel-good message... "Never quit, success is round the corner."

KHOYA KHOYA CHAND, LUCK BY CHANCE and now CHANCE PE DANCE have one thing in common - the Bollywood struggle. It's like watching NEW YORK and then viewing KURBAAN. Mercifully, CHANCE PE DANCE has it fundamentals in place and does not make an ass of its script.

Shahid is a struggler from Delhi who has been making the rounds of auditions in Mumbai for over three years, waiting for that one, elusive break that will propel him to stardom. As usual, there are heartaches all along the way. He is signed on for a huge project and before shooting can begin; he realizes that big money has been pumped in by a corporate house, which want to make their hunt on for a star a national debate. The director (Mohnish Behl), who was so impressed by Shahid, can do nothing in front of the money he has seen. However, if Shahid wants to be the star, he can participate, which he refuses.

He bumps into Genelia D'Souza, a choreographer, at a previous audition and both hit it off. While Mohnish Behl has signed Genelia as a choreographer, for the said project, she opts out and then urges Shahid to participate.

Meanwhile, Shahid has been thrown out of his rented apartment because he has failed to pay his rent, while his friend turned out to be a parasite. He ends up living in his second-hand car and lands a job as a dance teacher in a school, where he incidentally, does all his 'morning duties' as well!

Shahid puts in a sincere and honest performance. Genelia, restrains herself, intently keeping her role under Shahid's shadow. A very mature move. This girl is slowly climbing the popularity charts.

For a dance movie though, the dances could have been more bombastic. Honestly, this is just about OK stuff. Nothing stunning or "WOW". All Ghosh had to do was take a Chance on Dance! He doesn't. Remember Flash Dance and Dirty Dancing? They all worked because of the super chemistry between the lead players and stunning dances. There could have been one, if not two between Shahid and Genelia. Their pairing is perfect.

Everything in this movie happens in the first 10 and the last 15 minutes. Like for instance, Abhay (Uday Chopra) who plays a geek is silently in love with Alisha (Priyanka Chopra) the hottest girl in his University. He even saves her from near death and she does not even know who it was that saved her, nor cares to find out. It had to suit the plot, which had to drag.

Seven years later, Abhay is still in love with Alisha. He has also developed a software that will unite all other softwares. He gets an offer from Varun (Dino Morea) who ends up stealing his software from his laptop while at a coffee shop. This same software is now being launched by Pinnacle in Singapore and Varun is the one who has sold it to them. Geek decides to go to Singapore in search of the thief and ends up being nanny to Alisha's six-year-old daughter. It had to suit the plot, which had to drag.

Yes, Alisha is now married and divorced. Of course, she does not know who Abhay is. All Abhay has to do is tell her about the software because, incidentally Alisha, works at Pinnacle. No, he does not and you kick your leg in disgust. It had to suit the plot, which had to drag.

In between, geek plays nanny to Alisha's daughter, who then fixes the two for a date. Varun, too is chasing Alisha, rather desperately. He comes out looking like a psycho in search of a cheap thrill not some sophisticated marketing executive who is out to make a billion bucks. It had to suit the plot, which had to drag.

Finally, yes finally, geek corners Varun. The marketing dude offers him 50,000 dollars to go back to India, Geek promises to expose him, which he does in the end. Yes, Alisha too realizes that it is Geek that had saved her life, thanks to her daughter's school play, which had a KARZ-like song.

If you ask me, this movie actually repackages Uday Chopra and the dude does a decent job. He stays in character and actually manages to get on your nerves. Priyanka's role has no strength. Her character falls flat in many places but Priyanka the actor stays firm. The credit says, Dino Morea's is a special appearance, while on screen he actually has a parallel role.

The movie tries to focus on whether love depends on looks and Abhay manages to prove his point when he takes Alisha out in the open dressed as a geek.

What really went wrong is that the script had no meat. With just a geek as a character and stolen software as a prop, you don't really care after a point because the director gives Abhay enough opportunities to say what he wants. He does not. How you wish the movie was just 25 minutes long.

There are times you even feel that this movie has a ROADSIDE ROMEO hangover. Incidentally, Jugal Hansraj has directed both.

Lotus, Jasmine, Jigar, Bozo, Bonsai and Shimmer. These are no names of racehorses. These are names of characters in the film DULHA MIL GAYA. With names like these, you can imagine what the film slotted as romance/comedy will be like. It is sad that we end last year with a bang with 3 IDIOTS and then have to begin with something as idiotic as this. I mean, it is not even a movie. The only time it feels like one is when Shah Rukh Khan makes his guest appearance.

Rest of the time you have to grin and bear it. Imagine at the start of the film you are treated to a dialogue like this. Sushmita Sen (Shimmer) asks Jigar, a DJ who is also a friend, if he wants a lift home. Jigar says, "No fine, I'm thanks." The rest of the dialogues pretty much fit in this mould.

In all her roles so far, Sushmita Sen is Sushmita Sen. You don't see any character on screen. You just see the diva that she is. Mercifully, here she plays a top model. It's her attitude that always comes across, never her acting.

The story goes thus. Shimmer is a much sought after model in the West Indies. She has Lotus her chef and Jasmine her 'girl Friday' always at hand. Not to forget Bozo her pup who is involved in every decision making. Fardeen (Bonsai) is a rich Casanova who will never marry. Shimmer is his best friend. He flies down to Punjab because there is a clause in his father's will which says he should marry Samarpreet (Ishita Sharma) and if he fails to do so or divorces within 10 years the entire property worth billions of dollars will go to some fishing company. So Bonsai flies down to Punjab and marries Samarpreet. Next day he is back in Trinidad, alone. A few months later, Samarpreet is on her way to Trinidad to track her missing husband. She gets thrown out of Bonsai's palatial mansion when there is a party going on, is knocked down by a speeding car, wakes up at Shimmer's home and turns into Samara to woo Bonsai back. Meanwhile SRK is waiting for Shimmer to say yes to him. This is the romance in the story. As for the comedy, it began with the first dialogue!

Ishita made her mark two years ago with LOINS OF PUNJAB and followed it up with DIL DOSTI ETC. This time she gets a bigger canvas to show her talent.
If only the makers had consulted Bozo before making this movie!