Aaj Ka Ravan Review

For all those who think that being a movie critic is a cushy and cool lifestyle, we've got news. How cool do you find sitting through songs with lyrics like 'Khidki Khuli Ho, Ya Ho Bandh, Hamara Pyar Khabi Hoga Na Kam' (it doesn't matter if the window is open or shut, our love will never get less)? Or in scenes where the earth trembles (really no kidding) when the hero walks? Or walking out of theaters with a headache that makes you badly yearn for an aspirin and a bed?

The reason that these appalling movies are still made, and with such incessant regularity, is truly mystifying. The only sound reason could be that somewhere out in the hinterland, there is some small minority that enjoys such ridiculous stuff. Mithun was a great actor (emphasising on 'was'), but he has now become the epitome of hopeless movies. We have nothing personal against this star of the yester, yester years, it is just that his movies of the past few years have been intolerable. The humor is crass, the dialogues are shocking, the storyline is always the same, the lyrics are pathetic, and Mithunda's acting skills are still stuck in the trend of the early eighties.

For all those who are interested (out of sheer curiosity) in knowing the story, here goes - a illegal arms dealer controls all nefarious activity somewhere in India, and all those who try to stop him are killed brutally (the depiction of this brutality is more comical than the intended comedy in the movie). The only person who has the brawn and brain to stop him is none other than auto mechanic Shankar (Mithun).

Let us give you brief insight about the amazing (more like sorry) capabilities of our hero. When he walks the earth quakes, and his one-liners send shudders down the spine of the wrongdoers. It is nonsense like this that numbs your brain, and after the first few scenes, you just sit through the flick like a zombie and wait for it to finish, and that too if you are an unfortunate movie critic who has no choice.

The movie finally ends after 2 ½ hours of utter nonsense, with good triumphing over evil. As for the rest of the cast, the ladies are all bimbos, and the rest just wander in and out of the script aimlessly. Direction is non-existent, and the music is terrible. Only eternally optimistic Mithun fans will end up watching this movie.