Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam Review {1/5} & Review Rating
K.C. Bokadia's HUM TUMHARE HAIN SANAM, directed by K.S. Adiyaman, is a remake of the director's Tamil hit THOTTA CHINUNGI.
Devnarayan (Alok Nath) takes responsibility of Gopal (Shah Rukh Khan) and Nita (Suman Ranganathan), the children of his deceased friend. Devnarayan gets so involved in their upbringing that he starts neglecting his daughter, Laxmi (Aroona Irani), and her two kids, Radha (Madhuri Dixit) and Prashant (Atul Agnihotri). Upset by her father's attitude, Laxmi walks out of the house and decides to raise her two kids with sheer hard work and dedication. Unable to cope with Laxmi's indifference towards him, Devnarayan falls ill and is hospitalised. When Laxmi learns of his illness, she rushes to the hospital to meet her ailing father, but meets with a car accident on the way.
Devnarayan takes the responsibility of bringing up Radha and Prashant as well. Knowing that Gopal loves Radha since childhood, Devnarayan gets them married. Radha's childhood friend Suraj (Salman Khan) is very close to her and keeps calling her for all his problems, which bothers and upsets Gopal a great deal. Things reach such a stage that Gopal decides to divorce Radha and even throws her out of the house. Does Radha find solace in Suraj's eyes or does she re-unite with Gopal?
HUM TUMHARE HAIN SANAM has a sparkling star cast, but it suffers on two counts -- One, the storyline is as old as the hills. Similar Hindi films have been witnessed earlier; Two, Adiyaman's storytelling and treatment looks outdated as well. What adds to its woes is the uneven and lethargic pace the story moves ahead. Moreover, everytime the viewer expects something to happen, either the pace drops or nothing happens at all. For instance, the interval point raises the expectations of a dramatic second half, but the post-interval portions are bland as well. Adiyaman should've worked doubly hard on the characterisation of Shah Rukh Khan, mainly because it's his suspicious nature that proves the turning point in the film. Sadly, there's no effort or a single scene that depicts Shah Rukh's suspicious nature and what prompts him to behave that way.
On the script level, there are glaring loopholes as well. Some instances
* Why does Salman conceal the identity of his beloved (Aishwarya) throughout? Why doesn't he confide in Madhuri whom he trusts so much?
* And on what grounds does SRK doubt his wife's (Madhuri) intentions?
* Also, there was just no need to show Aishwarya as a blind person towards the end.
Directorially, Adiyaman's shot execution gives an impression that you're watching a flick of the 1980s. The film lacks the finesse one associates with a big-budget entertainer with a dynamic star cast. Also, the delay in the making tells at several places. The film, besides looking dated, deals with a regressive theme and worsens it with cliched dialogues. The second half is way too lengthy and needs to be trimmed at several places. Musically, the film boasts of an impressive number of music composers, but barring the title song, none of the songs enhance the proceedings. Also, the picturisation of a couple of songs seems like yesteryears.
Cinematography is just about okay. Madhuri Dixit tries to infuse life, but fails. The director has neither given her decent lines nor scenes that could have brought forth her immense talent. Also, her looks are inconsistent throughout. Shah Rukh Khan does well in a handful of sequences, but the preaching bit about the relationship between a husband and wife gets on the nerves after a point. Salman Khan goes through his part mechanically. His hairline betrays him all the while. Aishwarya Rai�s role and performance are insignificant. Atul Agnihotri does not impress. Suman Ranganathan has nothing to do. Laxmikant Berde is so-so.
On the whole, HUM TUMHARE HAIN SANAM fails to live up to the expectations. Below average.
