Anubhav - An Actor's Tale

We all have been waiting for the multiplex-producers row to be over, so that we could indulge into some Friday box-office again. Anubhav is one of the first (after the ‘jhagda’) to be released and we have waited expectantly. Has a somewhat not so balanced star cast – Sanjay Suri, Gul Panag, Sudha Chandra, Raj Zutshi, Anoop Menon, a new director - Rajiv Nath, but off late low budget good story, classic performances have been impressive, so this gave me hope.

Anubhav (Sanjay Suri), Antara (Shruti Seth) and Aadi (Anoop Menon) are just out of the Bombay theater academy and are nurturing dreams to make it big in the Hindi Film and Television Industry. They seek mystical guidance from their theatre coach Ibrahim Vakil (Jackie Shroff) and get on track to road to fame. During his struggling days, Anubhav comes across Meera (Gul Panag) who very excitedly announces that she is his fan. Meera comes from an affluent family and Anubhav is a struggler. Though Anubhav loves her, but is not sure to go ahead because of his financial status. Despite the uncertainty they fall in love, elope and get married at a jet speed pace.

The plot thickens when they are married and Meera has delivered a girl child. As fate would have it, the infant is diagnosed with a complicated brain ailment. The doctor (Mita Vashist) suggests that the baby may die if not operated. Operation is very expensive and Anubhav doesn’t know how to arrange the money. His buddy Aadi is also near broke as the film he has been directing is shelved. Doctor comes to the rescue and advices to meet her friend (Raj Zutshi) - a pimp by profession. He promises Anubhav of the money but asks him to work for him and please wealthy, bored women for money.

The story line is very predictable, just that here a man becomes victim of the worldly problems instead of the “abla-naari”. Anubhav is on his business when one day he comes to know that one of his clients has left behind a fortune for him before dying. He wants to quit when the pimp asks him to service a last customer. As Anubhav enters the room, he is shocked.

Movie’s screen play is lackluster. Director Rajiv Nath is disappointing in navigating the story. We have seen all this before and we don’t want to see the same old stereotyped movie again. For their part, the actors do what they can, but with material this uninspiring, they would be better off pooling their salaries to buy a more interesting screenplay.

moviGEMS for Anubhav

Direction **

Screenplay *

Performances **

Overall *1/2