Musafir Review

The trouble with Bollywooders is that they try doing things differently. Fortunately, Musafir takes the tried and tested path of a typical masala potboiler that we have come to associate the industry with. And, it does an extraordinary job of it.

Whatever we might say, we are all suckers for the song-and-dance routine, and the larger-than-life characters that our movies portray. Musafir works on these aspects and appeals to our primitive brain.

Lucky (Anil Kapoor) is, paradoxically, down on his luck. His girlfriend, Lara (Koena Mitra), runs away with money that was not his, but not before re-enacting the ooooh-so-hot Liv Tyler car wash scene from One Night At Mc Cool's. Really, after a performance like that, Lucky did not have a reason to complain - except that the money was Billa's (Sanjay Dutt).

There are underworld dons, and then there are those like Billa. He is the biggest of 'em all. You don't take panga with him and expect to get away with it. Lucky knows that, so he takes up the one chance that Billa gives him to save himself - to deliver drugs and bring back the money.

From here on, the action shifts to Goa. In comes Sam (Sameera Reddy) to add oodles of oomph to take over from where Koena Mitra left off. And Lucky, being one of those guys who goes after anything in a skirt, falls head over heels over her. Can't blame the man. Fighting temptation for a skirt is one thing, but how do you fight off someone who refuses to wear even that over her underpants?

Anyway, Lucky makes Billa's deal. Only, he decides to get into deeper crap by losing the money again. Well, the first time he lost it, Sameera Reddy came into his life in place of Koena Mitra. May be this time around it will be Sharon Stone? Unfortunately, something else altogether happens.

Not very different from a gangster movie, is it? So what makes Musafir stand out? Well, for starters, all songs in it are item numbers - beautifully choreographed ones with foot-tapping music, actually. The dialogues are crisp, the editing slick, and the script powerful. But, most of all, it is the casting. You just cannot go wrong with a star cast like this one has.