Andaaz (2003)

"Andaaz" remains one of the forgettable movies of the recent past, owing to its poor story and its delivery. A love triangle combined with the story of family and faith could have been obviously presented better had the script or characters been worked out better. Here the story and narration don't look much interesting and performances are yet a major let down. Akshay Kumar had done many such average and forgettable movies in the time which won't be a major debacle in his filmography. Among two heroines, Lara Dutt looks a bit good in her latter role; whereas Priyanka Chopra in her first film gets unnoticed owing to a very weak and half cooked role. Overall it's a very routine film from Raj Kanwar, who has given better films like "Humko Deewane Kar Gaye" or "Judaai." Rating: 1 star out of 4

The acting is fine and I guess the plot is OK. However, we've seen it all before. Guy meets girl and falls in love with her, he then loses her and is chased by another girl. He chooses her but later discards her just like that for the first girl when she comes back to him. How many times have we seen this? Many, many times! I personally feel frustrated with this plot line as well. However, the additions to this basic plot make it an OK film. Akshay Kumar once again shows how he can play a vast array of roles very well. Both the actresses do an OK job as well. So go ahead and watch it if you have not much else to do, but there is better out there.

Raj Malholtra (Akshaye Kumar) and Tom Boy Kajal (Lara Dutta in her debut role) are childhood buddies, they practically grew up with each other and are quite affectionate towards each other. They slowly become of age, and Kajal (though still very much a Tomboy) believes that Raj will ask for her hand in marriage, but instead he decides to concentrate of his flying lessons as he hopes to become a high flying pilot someday. He goes to aviation school and pretty much puts his friendship with Kajal on the back burner only to return and find out that some other man has already befriended her and asked for her hand in marriage. Raj attends the wedding then goes abroad where he meets Jiya (Priyanka Chopra also in her debut role) a man eating temptress he finds very hard to shake off. He doesn't want to have anything to do with Jiya because he isn't completely over Kajal. Sooner than later, he returns home to India to find Kajal in mourning as her husband passed away in an air-crash. Raj tries to console her but things are dampened when Jiya follows him to India and reveals herself as the younger sister of Kajal's deceased husband. There's really no big deal about this movie, except for the fact that it marks to career debuts of both former beauty Queens Lara Dutta (Miss Universe 2000) and Priyanka Chopra (Miss World & Miss India 2000). Some of the songs are nice and decently choreographed but that's about it.

What can I say about Andaaz?Why is the world such a small place in bollywood movies? One should pass a law on coincidental occurrences in bollywood movies, and maybe them will they take notice of the real world going on's.Akshay acting has really matured from the time he joined bollywood, with the most dramatic turn change since Dhadkan, with his acting in andaaz being very good. Lara and Priyanka are, well. typical beauty queens trying to act. To be honest they have potential, especially Lara, but I guess we will have to wait and see if she becomes another Ash or Namrita!Positive points about the movie, apart from Akshay, are the songs which are really good, as are their picturisations. Story wise, it is the typical same old story recycled for the modern genre, with new faces and more skin. I think that the producers are hoping for the less-is-more theory, i.e. less clothes means more box-office receipts. But seriously, we need to get new and fresh screenwriters into the industry to bring in line with the demands of the new generation.