WOH LAMHE has been in the news from the very first moment it was announced as Mahesh Bhatt had said right from the day the movie was launched that it was an factual account about his relationship with Parveen Babi which makes WOH LAMHE all the more interesting. Is the movie actually based on facts? Are all the events that took place in the movie REAL? Or has Bhatt merged fact with fiction? Well what happened between Bhatt and Babi was indeed behind closed doors, and despite rumour mills working overtime at that time, no doubt Mahesh Bhatt was one of the few people that was really clos to Parveen hence the audience have to take it on face-value that what he is presenting here actually took place. However I have no doubts in believing that this is only PART of the story, and Bhatt has infact merged fact with fiction when making the movie and NOT the entire movie is a “true story” as such. Vikram Bhatt recently made similar claims with ANKAHEE where he said the movie was based on the Sushmita Sen story with Esha Deol enacting Sushmitas role. However once the movie released one again had high doubts as to whether this movie was actually fact? Or whether Bhatt had exaggerated the story and added the whole “Vikram Bhatt tells a story close to his heart” for mere publicity purposes? But unlike ANKAHEE where the gimmick was quiet obvious(although the movie was great), WOH LAMHE comes across as a genuine attempt to give insight into the life of Parveen Babi...what really happened? Who really knows..
The movie starts with a famous movie actress Sana Azim(Kangna Ranaut) who has slit her wrists and has been admitted into hospital. The news reaches Aditya(Shiney Ahuja) an aspiring film maker who was involved with Sana. He had been desprately searching for her after she disappeared three years ago to only surface now.
Aditya waits outside the ICU ward to see Sana and in that meantime goes into a flashback 3 years ago when he first met Sana. Aditya was a struggling director who wanted to work with Sana, but Aditya saw in Sana was a someone who was a doll who merely walked, talked and lived at other peoples instructions-compared to how the world sees her Aditya saw Sana in a completely different light. Sanas boyfriend(Shaad Randhawa) is a over-protective, cheating user who constantly abuses Sana mentally and physically. Sana breaks free from him after she finds him cheating and decides to work in Adityas “art” film. Love starts to blossom between the two and to add to that their movie becomes a huge success…however something wasn’t right.
A girl called Rani(Masumi Makhija) had been troubling Sana at various hours of the night...scaring her….telling her that people are after her…that her life is in danger..which makes Sana all the more paranoid. Who is Rani? And why is she troubling Sana? The answers aren’t quiet what they seem to be.
As a writer this is one of the finest stories Mahesh Bhatt has written in a long time, and a lot would have to do with the fact that the story is very close to his heart. After GANGSTER I had said that this is Bhatt going back to his old-school storytelling and WOH LAMHE follows in the similar path as it’s a movie that relies heavily on 1) Story 2) Performance and is devoid of any unnecessary “glamsham” or “masala” as such. All the sequences in the movie have been well thought out and Bhatt has purposely avoided clichés, and given the entire movie a realistic feel. In terms of a screenplay Pearl Sahi does a fantastic job. The sequence of events in the first half are simply terrific. The tempo does slow right down in the second half, however that works in the movie favour to an extent as the movie allows time to slowly grow on the viewer. My biggest fault with the screenplay was that no explanation was given as to where Sana went for 3 years when she disappeared? Some insight into that would’ve definetly not made the movie feel so rushed at the end.
As a director Mohit Suri constantly surprises me film after film. I liked his debut film ZEHER where he oozed confidence and showed he is able to ably tell a story with a firm grasp over the medium. Granted his story wasn’t original but what surprised me was that ZEHER was better than the original OUT OF TIME. Just as I’d thought another Xerox director had entered the Bhatt camp Suri hit back with KALYUG-a hard hitting saga of the porn industry-this time handling a rather complex subject matter, avoiding any sleaze but leaving a hammerstrong impact with smooth storytelling-whats more is that the story was original. With WOH LAMHE he surprises yet again directing a slow-moving, involving tragic love story with heart and soul with the right amount of patience, understanding and maturity needed. From the very first frame he is in complete control of his story and he keeps the movie chugging at a fine pace, slowly sucking the viewer in. By the time the second half came around I was so involved in the story the pace didn’t matter to me much at all. The amount of nuance he showed for such a young director has surprised me yet again and I say without any hitches that Mohit Suri is the best thing to happen to the Bhatt clan in a LONG time as far as directors go.
Scenes like Kangnas first meeting with Shiney at the party, the spine tingling rape scene that follows the party, the scene at the hospital where Shiney talks to Kanganas mum, or ALL of the scenes where Kangna keeps seeing Masumi-specially the one at her birthday which is simply haunting.
The movie features two triumphant performances which are simply outstanding.
Shiney Ahuja after a superb debut in HAZARON KHWAISHEIN AISI and a knockout performance in GANGSTER(I will ignore his 2 second appearance in FANAA) delivers yet another performance that cements the fact that this boy is no “one trick wonder” and is no doubt EXTREMELY talented. Handling a complex role with complete efficiency Shiny is confident and exudes screen presence. His delivery is fantastic and he excels in the dramatic scenes. I did find that his facial expressions could’ve been better in some scenes, however given that Shiny has barely had 5 releases, he is no doubt one of the most promising newcomers in Bollywood today and I whole heartedly look forward to his forthcoming movie METRO.
Kangna Ranaut…well what can I say about this girl. I just LOVED her performance in GANGSTER which was just brilliant in my humble opinion, and in WOH LAMHE she outdoes her self with a performance that is absolutely mesmerising and jolts the viewer. The girl is very lucky to be given 2 completely authorbacked roles for her first two films and she plays them with absolute flourish and confidence throughout. I find it hard to believe that this is only Kangnas second performance…she is simply astounding from her body language to her delivery to her facial expressions. Kangna also possesses a rare combination of talent and looks-I find her sexy..infact VERY sexy! There is something very mysterious about her…and be it her curly locks, her seductive eyes, her sexy voice or her svelte figure..Kangna is a knockout in every sense of the word. If I were to make Top 5 favourite Female performances of the year list Kangnas performance in both GANGSTER and WOH LAMHE would rank in there..WHOA! Just witness the scenes where she keeps seeing “her friend”. I seriously hope this girl isn’t typecasted into these kind of roles and experiments with a variety of roles as she is no doubt supremely talented.
Shaad Randhawa who makes his debut is OK. I found his delivery rather bland at times, and not entirely convincing in a negative role, however with improvement he might do well in negative/supporting roles.
The rest of the supporting cast are all aptly cast in their parts and play their roles well. A special mention to Masumi who starred in MAQBOOL who is very effective in her part.
Pritams music as we all know isn’t original as I don’t know how much credit I can give to him, however the tunes are extremely catchy and placed well in the movie. Bhatt films on the whole nearly always compromise of some amazing music and WOH LAMHE is no difference. CHAL CHALE, KYA MUJHE PYAAR HAI and the haunting BIN TERE are all just magnificent.
Technically the film too is good. The direction of photography is well done and the movie has been given the right ambience in its colours throughout. The movie is a drama with no room for SFX, action sequences etc and given that the technical aspects of the movie are spot on.
All up WOH LAMHE will definetly not be everyones cup of tea, however it’s a movie that simply cannot be missed. Ultimately a superbly directed film with some brilliant performances and above all a story which refuses to leave the viewer long after the credits have rolled….
Final Rating: * * * *
