Director: Pankaj Parashar
*ing : Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini, Akshaye Khanna, Anjala Zaveri,Shazia Malik, Danny
Denzongpa, Satish Shah and a guest appearance by Amrish Puri
Music : Anu Malik
Reviewed by: Ali Ikram
ali@indolink.com
Rating : 
(out of 
)
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce Bollywood's newest star
and actor to you: Akshaye Khanna. Putra of Mr. Vinod Khanna, this kid has a lot going for
him. He is a good looker, has impressive acting skills, and is an agile dancer and
fighter. Mark my words, he is certainly going to be famous in the near future. Well enough
about the actor, let us talk about the film.
Himalay Putra is a film made by Pappa Khanna to introduce his Putra, and boy is there a lot of the Bachcha in the film: Too much if you ask me. Akshaye dominates almost every frame, and though you are impressed by his talent, it gets boring seeing him on the screen all the time.
The story is sort of novel, but pretty lame. Hema and Vinod love each other but she is rich and her father, Amrish Puri, does not approve. Vinod goes to make Rs.20 lakhs on a bet with Amrish to let Hema maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Amrish makes plans for his daughter's wedding. Vinod returns with the money(Where this police officer gets it, who knows?), but leaves disheartened upon reading the marriage card of his beloved. Then, Hema discovers she is pregnant with Vinod's child and Amrish dies of a heart attack. So Hema goes to her family's apple orchards and raises son Akshaye there. Are you still following? This all happens within the first fifteen minutes.
Akshaye grows up to be an energetic and lively young man, but if there is one thing he yearns for, it is to meet his real father and confront him about leaving his mom. (Don't ask about it... too complicated.) Our hero falls in love with the Juhi-like Anjala Zaveri, helps his drug-addicted 'friend cum obsessed lover' Shazia Malik, finds his father and rids the farm of Danny's drug smuggling.
As I said earlier, the film is watchable for factors other than the story. It is the newcomer's launch vehicle and it his charisma which is entertaining. (Akshaye has the potential to become abetter actor and star than his father, but only time will tell.) The comedy sequences are also extremely entertaining (and a little reminiscent of director Parashar's mind blowing earlier film 'Chaalbaaz'.)
Acting by the other principals is adequate, except Danny who seems to be reprising his Bakhtawar role from 1991's Amitabh starrer 'Hum'. European-bread, Anjala Zaveri looks pretty and is also a potential future star, only at times she tends to imitate Juhi Chawla's mannerisms. (She even looks a bit like Juhi, though definitely not as beautiful.)
Pankaj Parashar has redeemed himself somewhat for the fiasco that was 'Rajkumar' but he must get better scripts in the future. Comedy seems to be his forte and that is probably what he should stick to.
The songs by Anu Malik, and dances by Ahmed Khan and Saroj Khan, are also really good. Of all of them, I love the danceless "Kaga Sab Tan Khaiyo" most, and was surprised to see it pictured on Hema, Akshaye and Vinod in a very Yash Chopra-ish dinner sequence.
A note to the film's cinematographer, who repetitively used some stylized yet obtrusive camera angles. Buddy, it started off as cute and interesting, but by the end of the film I could hardly look at the screen because you almost gave me a headache. Stop trying to show off!!!
Overall, Himalay Putra is a recommendable product; pretty good but by no means a classic, as were the first films of Aamir and Salman Khan. It would benefit from some trimming of Akshaye's footage, and a better script.
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