Pyaasa Review

Half an hour after Pyaasa begins, you ask aloud your nearest co-audience sitting five rows away and six seats to your right, "Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai"?

And no, we are not talking of the other Hindi flick that released on the same day as Pyaasa. Halfway through Pyaasa, you really wish movies like this one have recaps before every scene begins. So that you know what the hell is happening. And if it's not possible to insert such recaps and translations, there should at least be contingency plans like providing ample light in the theater so that bored audiences can do something more productive - like solve a crossword, read a joke book, delete old messages from the SMS mailbox, remove tangles from the hair, etc.

If you thought Pyaasa, with a spooky title and Yukta Mookhey in the lead, is a horror movie, then you've got everything wrong, just like director A Muthu. Pyaasa is not about the audiences thirsting and looking forward to some thanda, but about the undying thirst of two individuals.

Meet Suraj Thakur (Aftab Shivdasani) who wants to earn millions, but like most of us has no plan of action for that. So he is the Pyaasa No. 1, thirsty for money.

Then meet Sheetal Oberoi (Yukta Mookhey), who has the millions but wants real love and, of course, revenge. So she is Pyaasa No. 2, thirsty for love and revenge. Her catchline: Talkkkkk only when asked to talkkkk.

The two thirsty souls bump into each other and have a symbiotic relationship. That is, while Sheetal gives Suraj the money, he gives her love in return. Not his love though. Sheetal is eyeing Suraj's hunky, rich cousin Prem (Syed Zulfi). That Sheetal is using him only as Cupid is clear to Suraj only later in the day.

But Suraj too has a heart. So he too is in love with Sheetal, but once she announces her love for Prem, he decides to focus on earning money instead. When he is bored doing that, he will try and sabotage the love of Sheetal and Prem. Interestingly, Suraj despises Prem right from his childhood because the latter is supersuccessful and better looking. So Suraj's heart burns whenever he sees Sheetal and Prem. The rest of the movie is about Suraj's revenge, Sheetal's revenge against Prem's dad who cheated her dad 16 years ago etc.

Towards the climax, there is a staggering amount of confusion, one totally unwarranted bhangra number and lots of melodrama from Suraj and his parents. Later Sheetal gets to seek revenge, marry Prem and yet not upset Suraj because he is dead and gone. Suraj dies as a Pyaasa in the end, still earning for money and, of course, love. By the way, what happens to pyaasi aatmas?

Aftab should understand that arching his eyebrows is not really the way to express anger. When he is angry, it looks more like he is shedding tears about his non-happening career in Bollywood. There just isn't any logic in Yukta Mookhey choosing Pyaasa as her debut vehicle. Unless, like the protagonist, she too was pyaasa for some quick bucks. She is a disappointment, performance-wise and looks-wise - those bushy eyebrows and chunky stone earrings with blazers! Yuck(ta)!

Music? There were brief interludes of men and women dancing to music as only they could hear. The rest of us would only hear noise in the background, with Yukta and Aftoo or Zulfi in the forefront.

Muthu, who previously directed Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya, can now sit and weep singing Mera Jadoo Chalaa Gaya. There is absolutely no logic in the plot, in any scene or any dialogue. It's totally and irretrievably convoluted.

To use Sprite's line here, Pyaasa is no fizz, no gyaan!