Film: Ru Ba Ru

Banner :Percept Picture Company

Producer: Shaliendra Singh

Director: Arjun Bali

Cast :Randeep Hooda, Shahana Goswami, Rati Agnihotri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Jayant Kriplani and others

Rating :1.5/5

With DVD-remakes thriving in Bollywood Factory, here is one another product that takes it one step backward. This one too bites the dust when it comes to engaging cinema.

Rubaru, is a well-meaning film. It attempts to expound deeply impacting philosophies and simple truths about life are great because of their very simplicity. But the ideals remain booked in well-meaning intentions and what translates on celluloid is drama that is more lukewarm than heart-warming.

Rubaru, a remake of the 2005 Jeniffer Love Hewitt’s film If Only, is all about life giving you a second chance and inevitability of fate. Nikhil, an ad-agency head, is in a live-in relationship that has love eaten away at the edges by time. One day he dreams the death of his girlfriend and in the morning when he wakes up events start happening eerily in a similar fashion. Spurned by the maxim that no one can outdo fate, he goes about making the most of the present before giving over to fate and its plans for him.

The film is of lovers but also of relationships. It is about how time and destiny are the biggest rulers in contrast to whom we are helpless and even foolish beings, frantically planning a life as though no death existed. A theme quite resonating in today’s troubled times full of uncertainty.

But this theme is limited to its two-line concept. A complete disregard of layers, dependent themes and finer detailing leaves this tale cold despite a spirited performance by Shahana Goswami, the lead actress.

The film speaks of a compact screenplay but the narrative wavers in introduction too much and takes time in unfolding. The events leading upto the dream and the climax are at best unimaginative and execution lacks a shine as well. Cliches of champagne-on-the-beach and flowers et al make the romance duller affecting the impact of the climax as well. The film speaks to a modern milieu with set-ups of urban lifestyles but unfortunately they appear more like card-board cut-outs at best alienating its most-intended audience.

While the film is wholly based in Bangkok which gives it a slightly more unused look the cinematography is consistently short focussed even though shots are well-light. The lag that the screenplay creates inadvertently is taken care of by editing which manages to keep the film to the point. It blends in the music within the story, at times succeeding to do it smoothly, at times not.

The film revolves around the lead pair Randeep Hooda and Shahana Goswami who play the lovers Nikhil and Tara. While Shahana lights up the screen with her exuberant smile, realistic acting she also manages to douse all the fire by a gruff voice which also does not compliment her character who loves to sing and is supposed to be good. It is Randeep who hogs the limelight post-interval but a lacklustre performance with an incredibly low screen presence and bad diction are all that he manages to serve up.

Although an interesting concept, the film weaves events that are too mundane for the inherent drama to take effect. Not only does the writing then lack a punch, the direction too lets it down. Apart from a few feel-good moments and some realistic ones, like the quibbles between the lovers, not many moments strike a chord.