Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega Review

For a movie that comes laden with the likes of Sonali Bendre, Saif Ali Khan and Fardeen Khan, with a guy who made Shool in the director's chair, with producers like Nitin Manmohan and Ram Gopal Verma and finally, a title like Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, this one sure knows how to raise expectations and then crush them. The fact that Johnny Lever gets about as much screen time as the three heros (?) of the movie will tell you more about it than a thousand words. For those interested in the rest, let me try and recreate for you the rather forgettable experience of watching Love Ke Liye...

The tale begins with a playful voice-over by Paresh Rawal (which irritates you until you realize whose voice it is), which takes you through the ironies or being a Mumbaiwallah (quite pointlessly, I might add). You are then introduced to Sapna (Sonali Bendre), the spoilt daughter of a rich businessman Rajiv Chopra who seems to have endless pockets filled with the stuff that makes the world goes round (and I mean money, not love!).

Sapna meets Prakash (Saif Ali Khan) in an exhibition of her own paintings, and he very quickly and cleverly manages to make her his wife. This does not sit very well with daddy dearest, who takes time off his busy schedule to make life very unpleasant for dear son-in-law. Prakash, whose ambiguous characterization throughout the film makes you wonder if you should hate him or sympathize with him, for some reason decides he wants to build a website, and is need of some money.

Meanwhile, in another corner of none other than Mumbai (though a number of scenes in the movie looked suspiciously as if they had been shot in our very own Hyderabad), Rahul Kapoor (Fardeen Khan) and Harry (Aftab Shivadasani) are trying hard to make ends meet and are in dire need of some moolah so their world can go round. When Dakshina Murty, their landlord, threatens to get his daughter Anjali (Twinkle Khanna) married, Rahul panics. Why? He loves Anjali, what else? Murty gives Rahul a month to get himself a job, or else...

Our three heroes have to meet, don't they? Well, Fate conveniently intervenes. Rahul and Harry decide to rob a rich guy so they can bribe their way into a job. The rich guy, of course, is none other than Prakash, who takes the idea that one must find opportunity in every problem rather seriously. The three then put their heads together and some serious analysis takes place, the result of which sees a plan to kidnap Sapna, demand ransom and share the loot. Bright, aren't they?

Kidnapping Sapna turns out to be rather difficult, especially since she squirts tomato sauce on their faces and uses a fly-squatter to squat them. But our heroes do the needy, and their plan is in operation. And at this point, the writer decides to twist the otherwise straight tale, and boy! Are those twists or what!

This simple story could have been simply well-told, but sadly that is not to be. Interspersed with this tale is that of Aslam Bhai (Johnny Lever), a small time crook with stars in his eyes and illusions of becoming another Hrithik Roshan. The references to Bollywood are done in bad taste, and the name-dropping gets disgusting at times (especially when there's talk of Fardeen Khan and his previous film Jungle - it simply does not make sense to mix the two so-called realities, and takes away from the credibility of the movie). Johnny's constant interruptions are supposed to be funny, but become a source of irritation.

The movie does not deliver what its title promises. "Kuch Bhi" here is a reluctant kidnapping for money. Greater acts of love have been done with much less ado. The story ends happily, of course, with everyone getting his or her wishes fulfilled. If wishes were horses...

Love Ke... can be mildly funny at times, and some of the scenes remind you of that work of art "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron". But this one is miles away in terms of style, quality and sheer "laughability". Except the title song, all others are forgettable, the performances just about passable (everyone needs to share screen time with everyone else, which means you see very less of the protagonists and too much of Lever). Twinkle Khanna has absolutely nothing to do. She might as well been a doll in the movie. Sonali Bendre is wasted.

Love Ke Liye... is an average movie, watchable if you have the time and the inclination for such things.