Himesh Reshammiya starrer, The
Xposé, clearly aims at being the frontbencher’s film in which Mahesh Bhatt
meets Madhur Bhandarkar. And yes, it entertains with scandals and unapologetic
sensationalism.
There is ‘murder’. There is
more than one ‘heroine’. The film claims to be based on real events. Of course,
these are random and heresay. There is no pretention of a storyline that does
not match Himesh Reshammiya’s self-image of a hero who takes centrescreen. And then,
there is the major draw that has the young cheering in the theatre. Namely, Yo Yo
Honey Singh.It does not matter that he never attempts to act. The song ‘Ice-cream
khaungi…”, though not that great, is already a chartbuster. Set in the
Bollywood of the 60’s,the glamour, the costumes, vintage cars, large studio sets,
make a grand though tacky sight. It is certainly not ‘The Great Gatsby’ in its
styling. In fact, the dialogues are more from the 80s. But then, the audience
does not care. Every punch pulls a loud laugh.
As if, all of the above is
not enough, the makers pull no strings at getting the eyeballs. They make the
newcomer lead, Zara (Sonali Raut) wear a wet white saree, show just about
enough of titillating skin (after all, the film is called Xposé) and do a
‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram”. Of course, she is no Zeenat Aman and the maker is no
Raj Kapoor.Yet, it works. The actress actually makes all her clothes dropping
and bitchy talking, quite an interesting watch without coming across as B
grade.
So does the dimunitive,
slight Himesh bhai in long thick jackets, walking slow motion with his back to
the camera, right till the last shot. After all, he is Ravi Kumar, the cop
turned Southern star with a killer attitude. Modeled after yesteryear’s Raj ‘Jaani’
Kumar, he shoots off dialogue after dialogue that cater to the front gallery.
Whistles and claps are guaranteed here.
More so because Ravi Kumar
makes it clear in one scene that he does not have to be a hero. He is the superhero.
Indeed he is. In real life, he runs into a burning film set and saves the rival
film’s heroine, Chandni (Zoya Afroz). While doing so, all he has to do is lift
a tiny palm just to stop a huge burning structure from falling on her. In fact,
he can even take his time to exchange that ‘love at first sight’ look with the
adoring damsel he has just rescued. Sunil Dutt and Nargis during the shoot of
Mother India, would never have guessed it was this easy.
Ravi Kumar stars opposite the
slutty Zara in his upcoming film. The virginal Chandni stars in the rival film,
Rina Mera Naam.Black marketing (Irrfan in a short and forgettable appearance)
and other manipulations by rival filmmaker causes Ravi Kumar’s film, directed
by Subba Prasad (Ananath
Mahadevan, director) to flop. On the night of a party following an awards
night, Zara is found dead. She is said to have jumped from a top floor, drunk.
The film, which begins at this point, goes into a long flashback and comes to
the murder only towards the end. The case gets solved in quick and easy scenes.
Wish it had worked out like this with the real case of young actress, Divya
Bharti which still remains a mystery.
Himesh Reshammiya has lost 20
kgs but is on his way to gain the much needed popularity and stardom after Xposé.
For this super achievement, he needs to thank his dialogue writer, Bunty
Rathore.
On this Indian election
results day, we have an unlikely Bollywood winner. Please smile, Himesh Bhai.
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