By:
Subhash
K.
Jha,
IndiaFM
Thursday,
October
05,
2006
Cast:
Shiny
Ahuja,
Kangana
Ranau,
Shaad
Randhawa
Woe
lamhe....wow
lamhe!
Bitter
moments,
ecstatic
moments,
gut-wrenching
trauma
and
heart-breaking
ecstacy
...these
are
feelings
that
define
the
moments
between
the
director
and
his
muse
in
this
accomplished
take
on
man
woman
and
guile.
Welcome
to
Mahesh
Bhatt's
world
of
dark
desperate
shadows
where
the
fragile
are
broken
and
the
sensitive
damaged
beyond
repair.
Ripping
chapter
after
chapter
out
of
Parveen
Babi's
lacerated
life,
director
Mohit
Suri
has
created
a
pastiche
of
pain
that
lingers
in
the
mind
.
Love
always
hurts
in
Mahesh
Bhatt's
vision
of
life.
Who
Lamhe
shows
love
at
its
painful
best.
Moving
away
from
the
glitzy
make-believe
world
of
films,
media
and
other
fable-manufacturers
the
director
Aditya
(Shiny
Ahuja)
rescues
the
'trapped'
actress
Sana
(Kangana
Ranaut)
from
a
life
of
dungeon-like
professionalism
.
The
trapped
actresss
and
the
knight
in
a
shining
armour
is
nothing
new
to
Hindi
cinema.
We've
seen
the
pair
in
films
like
Sone
Ki
Chidiya,
Tere
Mere
Sapne
and
Mast.
What
gives
Bhatt's
brackish
fable
that
cutting
edge
is
the
sense
of
reality
as
experienced
from
eyes
that
are
gradually
losing
focus.
The
director-actresss
love
story
is
so
devastatingly
workable
because
of
the
ball-and-socket
impact
created
by
the
two
principal
performers.
It
isn't
easy
to
portray
a
character
who
must
stand
by
a
woman
he
loves
even
if
she's
losing
her
mind.
Shiny
Ahuja
plays
the
director
like
a
therapist
who
can
see
his
heroine's
tortured
soul
through
the
lens
of
his
camera.
He
brings
a
clenched
anguish
to
his
character.
But
it's
Kangana
who
makes
the
story
of
the
tormented
actress
cross
the
borders
of
brilliancy.
Unlike
other
leading
ladies
playing
women
beyond
the
brink
(notably
Smita
Patil
in
Mahesh
Bhatt's
Arth)
Kangana
keeps
a
tight
control
over
overt
articulations
of
expressions,
so
that
when
the
outbursts
happen
they've
a
whiplash
effect
on
the
audience.
A
hugely
expressive
actress
with
a
phemomenal
ability
to
convey
torment
hurt
and
incredulity
through
the
eyes,
Kangana
is
the
first
female
performer
of
Bollywood
since
Smita
and
Shabana
who
isn't
scared
to
strip
her
soul
naked
for
the
camera.
Not
surprisingly
she's
far
more
effective
expressing
the
vulnerable
state
of
her
character's
mind
in
the
privacy
of
her
beloved's
bedroom
rather
than
'playing'
the
superstar
at
filmy
parties
with
her
caddish
boyfriend-cum-secretary
(Shaad
Randhawa)
egging
her
on
to
grin
for
the
cameras.
In
a
way
the
partial
discomfort
in
Kangana's
personality
aids
the
film's
theme.
Showbiz
isn't
for
the
soft
at
heart.
And
this
isn't
a
film
for
those
who
believe
all
love
stories
are
about
roses
.
Often
a
relationship
is
based
on
thorns
rather
than
flowers.
Watch
Shiny
pluck
those
thorns
out
of
Kangana's
soul
as
her
silent
screams
fill
the
soundtrack
with
images
of
unspoken
nightmares.
You
wish
some
of
the
supporting
characters
were
less
stereotypical....the
heroine's
brutish
boyfriend,
the
hero's
jovial
sidekick,
the
actress'
uncaring
mother
and
sundry
fringe
people
don't
add
any
vigour
or
even
a
dash
of
vinegar
to
the
meal.
That
again
is
a
blessing
in
disguise.
We
get
to
see
Kangana's
ability
to
exteriorize
the
demons
within
her
character,
in
a
no-frill
flight
into
panic.