Film: Kambakkht Ishq(Comedy)

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani,Amrita Arora

Direction: Sabbir Khan

Duration: 2 hours 24 minutes

Critic's Rating:

At the onset, we wouldlike to clarify that we love low brow. Because low brow can be fun. Because lowbrow can be a great escape. Because low brow can be therapeutic. And becauselow brow can be perfect paisa vasool.

Kambakkht Ishq hits anall-new low in several departments. First, it could easily win the award forthe silliest story-line for sure. Consider this. Kareena, a super-model cumsurgeon operates injured stuntman Akshay Kumar and leaves her heart-shapedwatch, with an hourly alarm that blares `Mangalam-mangalam', in his intestines.She wouldn't care much about it if it didn't jeopardise her career, because sheactually hates Akshay. Reason? He's a stuntman and more importantly, he's a man,and she believes all men are dogs. So this man-hater gets desperate to lureAkshay back into the Operation Theatre and pull out her pendant, only becauseshe wants to hang on to her surgeon-in-stilletos profile. And how does she doit? By seducing him into submission, jabbing an injection and hurriedly cuttinghim up again. For the stuntman too isn't fond of her and all the other`bitches' like her.

So what really works inKambakkht Ishq. Merely the gloss and a valiant effort on the part of AkshayKumar to keep the laughs trickling in, here and there, with his off-beat senseof timing. But when the situations aren't too comic, there isn't much an actorcan do to tickle your funny bone. Kareena, on the other hand, is a completelet-down. Despite her haute-coutured look, her micro minis, her pencil heels,she comes across as a completely unconvincing supermodel cum surgeon. It's alaboured, pouty attempt to accentuate the oomph, when actually the actressdoesn't need to fake it. Remember her effortless and completely natural `Pooh'act in Kabhi Khusi Kabhie Gham? Also, what exactly are Jaaved Jaaffrey andBoman Irani doing in this film? Again, two fine actors who bear the brunt of anunder-written, clumsy role that's neither here nor there. If Jaafrey's a greedyNRI who calls himself a su-er (he loves to sue every American), then Boman is aone-scene doctor who is trapped in a Dostana-like sequence with patient Akshay.Not funny at all.

Surely, it take morethan Jimmy Choo, Prada, Versace and LA to make a film that can tickle andentertain. Million dollar looks and a multi-crore budget can't make up forcharacters and a kahaani.