I was going do another "Let's talk about ...!" post about my favourite underdog Akshaye Khanna, but then I got to thinking how little Akshaye movies I've actually seen and how few of them I've really appreciated, even though I often consider him a favourite. It's truly a puzzle; the man is picky but picks crappy roles.
So instead I will talk about one of the Akshaye films I found worth mentioning. Doli saja ke rahkna I knew I had to see mainly for its jodi: the North-Indian actress Jyothika/Jothika debuts here before she moves to the Tamil cinema (and whose work there I adore), and of course, Akshaye showing off his puppy eyes.
So the story's old as time itself; they meet, fall in love, we get a couple of fun songs and then things generally go to hell because Jothika has three brothers who oppose the match. Oh and naturally Akshaye's rich parents aren't too fond of the less wealthy girl he's mad about, either.It starts out a fairly cute romantic movie, but the dramaticness of the latter half simply drags the whole thing down. I also found myself disappointed with Jothika; the girl is full of life and energy in her Tamil roles, even when her characters aren't all that. But in here she's a subdued figure, dull to be frank and almost annoying in her lack of expressiveness. However, this was her debut performance. I forgive.
Even if on the whole the film is nowhere near spectacular and might even fall short of 'okay', there are highlights, too. The A R Rahman soundtrack is one of my favourites of his, and I find myself revisiting the song picturization "Boli sajni.." where Jothika reads a book and envisions herself and Akshaye as its characters. Akshaye does a lovely job and even with Jothika's lack of just about everything, the chemistry is good.
But it just sucks that it's such a rare movie where I don't have to continue "good Akshaye role" with "but kind of a sucky movie". And this is just one of those; I would not recommend it to you unless your name is Beth (in other words, have a profound affection towards Akshaye Khanna) or you have a girlcrush on Jothika.
Do give the soundtrack a spin, though.
