Bollywood special with imported bombshell

The film begins well enough. You have a charming but unscrupulous hero who earns his moolah mainly by wedding young women looking for a green card. The scene is of course, Vegas. Then you have the illegal Spanish immigrant, once again, out for the money, but is fairly plain about her intentions. Both of them are in relationships for what they can get out of it to make their lives easy.

So you have a casino, it’s wealthy, ruthless owner(Kabir Bedi in a wasted role), his son(affianced to the hyped Barbara Mori) and daughter(played by Kangana whom Hrithik pretends to love for the lucre). Then there is a bit of the past where Hrithik has had a wedding with Barbara to help her get a green card and him the cash.

All very well. Stage is set for some interesting encounters and plenty of chemistry you think, when this whole bunch meet at the beach house of Kabir and family for the engagement of son to Barbara. There is much exchange of looks and pursing of lips and the premise for an illicit tryst is set between the lead pair. And then… I think I missed the kite. And so does the director.

Where earlier Natasha(Mori) was a delicious gold digger, the second half shows her soppy and giving up her earlier ambitions for ‘love’! So too with J(Hrithik). Then what? Well… there is nothing you can do when the first half of the storyline cannot even connect with the second. The lead pair show no justification for their change of heart. There are plenty of hide and seek thrilling chase scenes; many many scenes of romance(yawn) with significant exchange of looks and the poster lead pair posing against glorious backdrops. And then… some more story, where there is no Kabir Bedi or Kangana, but only the official villain weekly gnashing his teeth and chasing the lead pair to the end.

Someone has had fun writing the first half, while another writer went wild with the second – that’s the way the script seems.

Makes you feel sorry for poor Hrithik who has made the effort to look gorgeous and act some part - someone please tell Barbara that showing teeth and tongue between teeth cannot constitute acting.

Meanwhile, there is enough craft in this beautifully well-shot movie to make you think what could have been done with this story had they stuck their necks out to make a proper movie and not a Bollywood love story special with an imported bombshell.