Review : Mast

This is a story featuring Bollywood magic, with some surreal fairy-tale like moments. You know that feeling when you float between reality and imagination ? This film captures the essence of it. A feel-good entertainer with a happy ending, this is a watch worth your while.Kittu (Aftab Shivdasani) is a college-going student obsessed with Bollywood actress Mallika (Urmila). His absolute devotion to her, and hence total neglect of his education causes the usual confrontation with the angry father (Tahil). A typical Hindi film hero, Kittu walks out of his home with dreams of going to Bombay to meet the woman of his dreams. He takes up a job in a pizza parlor, right across from Mallika’s home, in the hope of delivering pizza to her residence and thereby getting a glimpse of the woman herself. A melodious ditty or two later, Mallika orders pizza. So not only does he meet her, but also learns that she is a worried, harrased young woman driven to sadness, because of her villanous Mama (Govind Namdeo).

True to character, our good-hearted hero sees no path except delivering her from the claws of the evil Mama. Does he succeed in his endeavors ? …

The latter half of the film assumes fairy-tale-ish characteristics, as the handsome “prince” tries to rescue the “damsel in distress” without any visible means of doing it. However, both Urmila and Aftab lend youthful exhuberance to their roles, adding the spark. Dalip Tahil, Smita Jaykar (Kittu’s mom) and Govind Namdeo essay their roles well. Antara Mali makes her debut as Kittu’s good friend, and performs adequately. One of the big plus points of this movie, besides slick direction and good acting, is the excellent music. Sandeep Chowta composes music to go with the mood, with peppy numbers (“Ruki ruki”, “Mein Mast”), and remixed oldies (Pucho na yaar kya hua).

So, keep the popcorn handy, and enjoy !