Kathmandu:

Another old fashioned, soppy and visceral tale of triangular love story that dream merchants in Bollywood has prospered in for almost three decades. Happily, not this count! Barsaat is a triangular love story; with rainfalls unceremoniously interceding between scenes without rhyme and reason to make and break hearts. It’s the story of a love gone sour for reasons more instinctive than cerebral, that modern movie buffs would find hard to stomach. It’s a vintage story shrouded gaudy with repulsive colours. Though, the modern version of insipid old fashioned story makes every attempt to masquerade the uncouth distinctiveness it’s primeval monotones, the indelible hues glare unpleasantly enough. Besides the irrelevance of the story to modern viewers, it’s again an assault to the conception of marriage that’s regarded differently in different societies.

The one sided soppy love between Arav (Bobby) and Kajal (Priyanka) takes a turn when the latter’s caretaker mother lugubriously makes it a point to get the neighbourhood friends married. But, the ambitious young man that Arav is, he has lofty priorities to settle before he himself settles down. Though, he preposterously gets married and sets off for South Africa before even consummating the marriage. Incredibly enough he swiftly makes his way into getting recognised as one of the famous car designers at BMW motors (without an apprentice). Arav who bumps into Anna (Bipasha, who is brought up in South Africa and who also happens to be the granddaughter of the company he works for) is announced engaged at the launch of the new model that Arav has designed. As far as the pace of the story is concerned, everything goes hunky-dory till Arav gets a call from his home in India. The pre-intermission flourishes mostly assaulting the dignity of women and prospers too much on feminine vulnerability.

Granted! Parts of India are still patriarchal but males hardly get away with impunity for all the disgrace he visits on his woman. And for most of the part the bad screenplay projects the protagonist as the hapless victim of parental dictates, who under the circumstances should have been forced to stand trail. Rediculously, he gets away with impunity. Arav chucks his wife and demands a divorce for the American Bred juicy lass Bipasha, not so much for love than for entirely cerebral reasons (which only becomes obvious only much later). You ask for the reasons? Well, it’s because, the unceremonious rain flashes exactly at the moment to with a revelation. Too much of melodrama! And as if it were not enough, we also have the patiwarta nari who complacently takes it upon her all the torment with stoic dignity. And imagine! The mahan nari dosen’t even flinch to adorn her husband’s new bride with her own bridal ornaments. Indeed, one gets no better example of a magnanimous Hindu nari. Besides, we can’t also help without mentioning the jaunty numbers and the breathtaking sequences with the ever so skimpily clad Bipasha, who alone suffices to hook audiences glued to their seats to eternity. But for the rest, even the morose and maudlin Priyanka is unable to shroud the defects so inherent throughout the movie.