This is Indiana Jones and The Temple Of
Dhoom. Creating dhoom in motions of staged frenzy is Himesh Reshammiya without
his trademark cap but with so much hair you wonder if it`s there to tear after
you go through two-and-a-half hours of drama and hysteria in Karzzz.
Our Indiana Jones is Urmila Matondkar reprising Simi Garewal`s villainous
gold-digger`s act with a vengeance. She not only creates dhoom, she also crashes
into a temple of doom (literally) before being declared dead by the script. RIP.
Yup, now we know what the blurbs meant by Vengeance is back.
Many of Urmila`s chic gowns capture her in backless splendour. Whether matching
steps with the rock star or pulling out all stops to mow her reborn lover-boy
(Dino Morea turns into Himesh after the first 15 minutes) down with her zooming
airplane (it was just a car in the original for poor Simi). Urmila is mean and
seductive, in kill-kill measures.
But we don`t see much chemistry off the dance floor between Himeshbhai and sexy
Urmila.
Is anyone really bothered with the telling of the story? And honestly, was the
original Karz anything but a kitschy compendium of montages
motivated by the theme of reincarnation?
If Rishi Kapoor did Monty, Himesh does full Monty. Between the two Montys is a
molehill masquerading as a big pot-boiler.
This reincarnation of the blockbuster on reincarnation is a bit of a
contradiction in terms. On one hand it`s high on production values, generating
what one would call a cinematic adrenaline that takes audiences into the an
exotic embrace. Every stage performance by the rock star is accompanied by a
bevy of international backup dancers(mostly female) who prop up Himesh`s set
pieces and complement his energy level.
On the other hand, the drama is distilled by an absence of inner-drawn energy.
As an actor Himesh has his limitations which come bubbling to the surface in the
long monologues about punar janam, present tense and past mostly
imperfect.
Rishi, where art thou?
To his credit, Himesh takes you beyond the performance. He has a disarming
simplicity bordering on naivete to back up his claims to stardom. The actor is
honest. But he connects with his audience. And the man playing the character is
aware he isn`t trying to achieve an award-winning level in his performance.
Having got that in place, Himesh just has a ball. His enjoyment in the songs and
dances is sometimes contagious, sometime amusing, never dull, never
exasperating.
As for the narrative, it doesn`t seem to believe in an updated progress report.
Like a recalling of a past life Satish Kaushik`s seems frozen in the 1970s. The
contemporised props and locations hardly help wipe out the feeling of watching a
film that belongs to another time zone, far beyond the theme of reincarnation.
The big confrontation sequence where Kamini (Urmila) breaks down and confesses
to having killed Monty the rock star is staged in a sprawling set representing
the outer flank of a mansion.
What lies beyond the exterior? Who cares?
If you treat Karzzz as an ongoing Chitrahaar of Himesh`s
songs strung together by a bristling bead of sweaty players you just might end
up enjoying this kitschy homage to a potboiler that boasted of great songs and a
wonderful central performance.
Himesh Reshammiya aims for the same. No harm in being ambitious.
Set amidst the majestic and breathtaking locales of South Africa, Karzz is a
remake of the 1980 Subhash Ghai hit Karz.
Rockstar Monty (Himesh Reshmiya) is based in Cape Town, South Africa, but is
phenomenally popular all over the world. Mont`s an orphan, but shrewd
businessman oberoi (Raj Babbar) and his wife (Himani Shivpuri) have taken him
under their wing. Not but to exploit Monty`s talents for their own selfish gain.
At party he meets Tina (Shewta Kumar) and it`s love at first sight for both
of them, but Tina has to return to Keniya, Where she lives. During one of his
rehearsals Monty starts playing a tune and suddenly goes into a trance as he
gets intense visual flashes- a mansion, temple, a beautiful girl....Monty falls
down unconscious.
His doctor friend Dayal (Bakhtyr Irani) is worried and gets a psychiatrist to
examine him. They realise that Monty`s flashbacks are triggered whenever he
plays that familiar tune. The psychiatrist advises Monty to take a vacation.
Monty picks Kenya to take a break.... He meets Tina again and their love
blossoms with her uncle Kabira`s (Danny Denzongpa) blessings.
As Monty travels around kenya, he feels a sense of `deja` vu...as if he`s
been here before. Monty sees the same mansion and finds out that it
belonged to Ravi verma, who died in a tragic accident, soon after his wedding.
Driving through a vineyard he hears the same tune that`s been haunting him and
suddenly everything comes back... he was Ravi verma in his previous life and the
beautiful girl was Kamini, the love of his life.... his wife! Even as Monty
grapples with this realisation, he has to confront an even bigger problem -
Kamini, the love of his previous life is Tina`s guardian and he, Monty is engaged
to Tina!
At a party, Monty and princess Kamini, as she`s known now, finally come face
to face. Kamini, although much older than Monty, takes a sudden fancy to him.
Monty, too cannot resist her charms. Thus begins a clandestine affair between
them.....
And thus begins Monty`s journey - to extract revenge for a murder that
happened a lifetime ago... to reunite a family that was separated.... to pay
back Kamini and her evil accomplice Sir Juda(Gulshan Grover)....and to repay the
debt which he owes his mother and sister... in his new life, with his new face,
will Monty be able to extract revenge for his own murder?
BOLLYWOOD 
