Note : The edited version of this review appears at Planet Bollywood.
Rating : Below average (2.3/5)
Genre : Romance / Thriller
Year : 2007
Running time : 2 hours
Producer : Mehr Jessia-Rampal, Suresh Savlani
Director : Vivek Aggarwal
Cast : Arjun Rampal, Vipasha, Chunky Pandey, Kirron Kher, Boman Irani, Sonali Kulkarni
Music : Vishal-Shekhar
I SEE YOU (ICU) : I wish I hadn’t !
Broad-shouldered Arjun Rampal might be able to carry many things, but the one thing he cannot carry is a film. On his own that is. In teeny-weeny, non-lead roles (like the one in Don) he might be able to get by, but as the main hero, he helps the film careen headlong into disaster. Add to this, a completely non-stirring debutante for a heroine, and a story as flaky as pastry crust, and you have one atrocious movie.
Quite possibly the producer, Rampal’s beautiful, super-model wife Mehr Jessia has not seen any of his earlier attempts at acting, else she’d have realized that for all his looks the man cannot act to save his life (or his film). I cannot credit them for the film’s story either since it is inspired from the Hollywood film “Just like heaven” starring Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon. However, for all my beating around the bush, my problem from the film stems not from the “lifted” story-line, or the non-dramatic powers of the lead pair . The problem is in it’s under-developed characters and languid pace, which made me nod off to sleep a couple of times.
The film centers around Raj (Rampal) who is the anchor of the British TV show “British Raj” (me, I don’t like that pun). Raj is a modern day Casanova, suddenly afflicted by super-natural powers and the ability to see and hear a ghostly spirit. An almost ghostly spirit that is, since the apparition is actually a girl Shivani (Vipasha) in a coma in a hospital, and her spirit seems to linger between this world and the next. Apparently the only person who can see and hear her is Raj , which gives rise to a series of trying-hard-to-be-comedic (and not succeeding) scenes with Raj and his friend (Pandey) who thinks Raj has gone nuts.
Anyway, now that Shivani has found her knight-in-shining-armor, she needs his help in communicating with her mother (Kher). Also, things are not what they seem, since someone is conspiring to kill Shivani (her comatose body actually) and Raj must unearth that secret, or see the apparition he now loves, disappear forever . . .
Put baldly, this is an Idiot Plot. To quote Ebert – “The Idiot Plot is a term devised for bad movies where the problems could be cleared up with a few words, if everyone in the plot were not an idiot “. This does not mean that films based on Idiot Plots do not succeed. They do. But this one doesn’t. The reasons are numerous – the main ones being the lack of chemistry (between the lead pair), lack of romantic/sappy moments (do remember that the story builds only because the pair fall in love), and the lack of projected goodness/bonhomie that would cause us to sympathize with such unlikely protagonists. Raj and Shivani meet and then for no reason (that I could see) they fall in love. Where, oh where, is the charm, the feeling, the attraction that’d make one sigh with satisfaction ?
The acting as I’ve already said is disastrous. I’m not sure how Chunky Pandey manages to come by any roles at all – doesn’t anyone else see his lack of talent ? Vipasha is an absolute wash-out – she might do better in second-tier heroine’s sister type of roles. She wears the same dress the whole film – first time producers apparently unaware that hit films generally have their heroines changing costumes at the drop of a hat. Rampal does a couple of songs which, like his acting, have no impact at all. Other reasonable actors like Boman Irani and Sonali Kulkarni have such small roles that even their valiant attempts can’t do much. The only saving grace of the film is Kirron Kher as Shivani’s mom – she seems to be her usual, ebullient self even in the role of a sorrowing mother.
The music of this film is, I’d say, far better than the film itself. “Subah subah” has a new, fresh sound, and “Kehna hai jo” is quite foot-tappingly catchy. Sunidhi Chauhan’s “Sach Hui” is melodious; something I could listen to again and again. “Haalo haalo” is a fusion of lots of sounds, and might serve as a dance-floor number.
The director does a decent job, for a first film, although he doesn’t hold the directorial reins tight enough. For a who-dun-it, the film flags very quickly – and for the attention-challenged viewer of today’s cinema this is a big no-no. Some of the shots are picturesquely composed but that doesn’t save this film. ICU, a first from the Rampal production house, is more of a multiplex film – I cannot see it released for the masses or even making a big splash outside India since it doesn’t have the glamour or the oomph it should have had to succeed.
To sum up, this is an insipid film and not worth your time or your money.
