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Family affair

Suparn Verma

Almost all the hype surrounding Dillagi is over Sunny Deol turning director. Of course, he acts in it as well, with chhota bhaiyya Bobby in tow.

The film would have been 'fresh' had the elder Deol not acted in the recently-released Pyar Koi Khel Nahin. Both films revolve around the same subject: a rich, mature, responsible elder brother (Sunny -- in both films ) running the family business, a spoilt, brattish, irresponsible younger brother (Bobby in Dillagi, Apurva Agnihotri in Pyar Koi...) fall in love with the same girl (Urmila Matondkar and Mahima Chaudhary respectively).

The drama that ensues is given a twist in both. In case you missed out on the earlier one, no problem. Here is what happens in Dillagi.

As a child, Ranvir (Sunny) promises his dying mother that he will fulfill his younger brother Rajvir aka Rocky's (Bobby) every wish. Sunny grows up and builds a five-star hotel, named Kiran Intercontinental, after his mother. Dara Singh is their dad while Zohra Sehgal plays the grandmom. Harish Patel, a distant live-in relative, provides the comic relief.

Shalini (Urmila) makes an entry during the third song in the film and is infatuated with Bobby. Sunny spots her in the rain, at a traffic signal and is besotted by her. Bobby fancies Urmila, the latter mistakes it for love. Sunny sees Urmila again at a wedding he had been dragged to by granny. That night he announces he is in love. Dear old grandmom gets the details and fixes a meeting with the girl's parents.

The parents (Reema and Kulbhushan Kharbanda) discover she has been sneaking out at nights to prance around with Bobby. Nothing doing, say the parents, forcing her to meet Sunny. The sexy siren complies, and the two are sent away so that they get to know each other.

Urmila tells Sunny she can't marry him because she loves this other fellow who loves her a lot and that they are going to tie the knot soon. Heart broken, Sunny steps back.

Urmila asks Bobby to meet her folks, so that they can set the ball rolling for marriage. Bobby, however, is not interested. He is having too good a time -- with girls falling all over him -- to settle down to matrimony.

Now it's Urmila's turn to be heart-broken. She starts believing that love is not for her and vows not to get married. But Sunny woos and wins her over while Bobby realises he does love her...it's time for drama. Have you seen and heard all this before? Bet you did! There's nothing in this one that your conditioned mind won't be able to fathom.

On the positive side, the production values are excellent. The camera work and editing are crisp, the dialogues zany; the climax, though, is excruciatingly long and contrived, making you wish for it to end. The songs are hummable and well picturised.

Once again, Sunny plays the strong and silent type, like a reliable old hand. Urmila adds the right dose of glamour which is punctuated only by her pouts. Bobby, however, is the surprise package -- he gives this character his best shot and comes up trumps. The Deols have an easy camaraderie in front of the camera which certainly helps the film.

In his interviews, Sunny has repeatedly been asked why he became a director and how it felt. The judgment day is here now.

Our verdict? He does a competent job, making the film simple and pleasant. However, what lets him down is a contrived and cliched storyline.

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