By:
Taran
Adarsh,
IndiaFM
Friday,
August
31,
2007
Remaking
a
yesteryear
hit
is
considered
an
easy
route
for
winning
plaudits
and
paisa.
With
a
readymade
script
at
your
disposal,
all
you
need
to
do
is
cast
the
right
set
of
actors,
hire
a
director
who's
equally
charged
to
remake
the
film
and
who'd
do
complete
justice
to
the
material,
retain
the
popular
songs
from
the
original
[if
need
be]…
Presto,
the
new
avatar
is
ready
for
public
viewing!
But
the
new
avatar
may
not
necessarily
be
as
effectual
as
the
original.
That
holds
true
for
Victoria
No.
203,
directed
by
Ananth
Narayan
Mahadevan.
It's
a
great
idea
to
remake
a
rollicking
entertainer
like
Victoria
No.
203,
but
the
2007
interpretation
lacks
the
heart
and
soul
of
the
original.
One
of
the
prime
reasons
why
the
original
worked
was
courtesy
the
fun
element,
besides
packing
every
available
ingredient
in
those
2
hours.
The
new
version
starts
off
brilliantly,
but
runs
out
of
breath
after
the
initial
20
minutes.
And
the
graph
only
goes
downhill
thereafter.
To
sum
up,
this
Victoria
is
hardly
a
fun
ride.
Not
all
diamonds
sparkle!
Victoria
No.
203
takes
off
with
a
display
of
diamonds
worth
Rs.
300
crores.
Bobby
[Javed
Jaffrey],
a
rich
industrialist
and
his
moll
Devyani
[Preeti
Jhangiani],
are
smitten
by
the
diamonds.
Bobby
is
willing
to
do
anything
to
acquire
them.
When
the
diamond
owner
denies
his
offer
to
buy
the
diamonds,
his
ego
is
hurt.
He
hires
the
services
of
Ranjit
[Kamal
Sadanah],
who
in
turn
hires
a
burglar,
Tora
[Tora
Khasgir],
to
steal
the
diamonds.
Tora
performs
a
daredevil
heist
and
escapes
with
the
diamonds.
She
has
an
agenda
of
her
own
and
plans
a
double
cross
with
her
brother
Karan
[Rajesh
Khera].
Just
as
she
is
about
to
escape,
Ranjit
stabs
her.
She
escapes
though
and
falls
next
to
Victoria
No.
203
in
which
she
hides
the
diamonds.
The
Victoria
driver
Raman
[Jatin
Sial]
offers
to
take
her
to
the
hospital
and
in
the
process
gets
caught
by
the
police,
who
suspect
him
for
attempted
murder.
Raman's
daughter
Sara
[Soniya
Vinod
Mehra]
is
forced
at
this
stage
to
ride
the
Victoria
in
order
to
earn
money
for
her
father's
trial.
She
is
unaware
that
she
is
riding
around
Mumbai
with
diamonds
worth
Rs.
300
crores
in
her
Victoria.
Jimmy
[Jimmy
Joseph],
an
expert
on
diamonds,
takes
a
ride
on
the
Victoria
and
instantly
falls
in
love
with
Sara.
Raja
[Anupam
Kher]
and
Rana
[Om
Puri]
are
two
small
time
crooks
who
are
released
from
jail.
They
hear
about
the
diamond
heist
and
are
extremely
impressed,
hoping
one
day
they
will
be
able
to
do
something
of
the
sort.
All
the
characters
meet
in
a
climax
and
none
of
them
know
where
the
diamonds
actually
are.
If
you
watch
Victoria
No.
203
with
a
magnifying
glass,
you'd
agree
that
it
packs
every
masala
on
the
shelf.
There's
a
heist,
there're
light
moments
aplenty
[courtesy
Raja
and
Rana],
there's
emotional
bonding
[father
-
daughter],
there's
romance,
a
dash
of
oomph
and
of
course,
thrills.
And
all
this
is
merged
to
create
a
wholesome
entertainer
that
doesn't
bore
you
even
for
a
minute.
But
the
new
version
looks
disjointed.
Sure,
the
script
remains
the
same,
but
the
holding
power
is
clearly
missing.
The
heist
at
the
very
start
is
superb
[reminds
of
SHALIMAR],
but
the
comic
scenes
are
far
from
funny.
You
do
break
into
a
chuckle
at
times,
but
Raja
and
Rana
here
aren't
as
impactful.
The
comedy
falls
flat.
The
romance
too
is
far
from
exciting.
Ditto
for
the
thrills!
Director
Ananth
Narayan
Mahadevan
is
a
talented
storyteller,
but
he's
not
in
his
elements
this
time.
The
music
is
a
mixed
bag.
The
two
tracks
from
the
original
['Do
Bechare'
and
'Thoda
Sa
Thehro']
are
the
only
ones
that
work.
Cinematography
is
eye-catching.
Om
Puri
is
in
form,
but
Anupam
Kher
isn't.
Om
seems
to
be
enjoying
his
part,
while
Anupam
looks
mechanical.
Jimmy
Sheirgill
deserved
more
footage.
He's
okay.
Soniya
Vinod
Mehra
has
a
long
way
to
go
before
she
can
be
called
an
actress.
Javed
Jaffrey
is
competent,
as
always.
Preeti
Jhangiani
is
a
revelation.
She
looks
alluring
and
enacts
her
part
well.
Kamal
Sadanah
does
a
fine
job.
Tora
sizzles.
Rajesh
Khera
and
Jatin
Sial
are
wasted.
On
the
whole,
Victoria
No.
203
doesn't
work.
It's
a
bumpy
journey
for
this
Victoria
at
the
box-office!