I like Anil Kapoor, he's really a great actor and just such a wholesome personality. He always gives me positive vibes of someone who'd be perfectly cordial and nice to his surroundings. But man, casting him in the role of a street fighter is really an insult to him, even more than it is to the audience who's expected to buy this weird casting choice. But I wish this was the problem with the film. Rishtey is like a volcanic soap opera, it is highly melodramatic, forced, unrealistic, and just really whiny all through. Heavy violins keep playing through the crucial emotional scenes, while the actors are required to utter some really absurd dialogues and that too, in such theatrical intonations.
The film has some nice music, but most of it is actually unoriginal, with songs copied from different, mostly popular Arabic songs. "Har Taraf", which is beautiful and beautifully sung by Shaan and Mahalkshmi Iyer, is one such example. Asha Bhosle gives a perfect rendition (better than the original Arabic song, obviously - no offense but it's Asha Bhosle after all) of a number called "Dilbar" which didn't even make it to the film. Sunidhi Chauhan soulfully performs "Yeh Dil" (also performed by the great Udit Narayan), perhaps my favourite number in this copied soundtrack. I have no doubt the good soundtrack makes many viewers experience the film differently.
As mentioned above, the actors are forced to act out some embarrassing situations. Anil Kapoor tried his best in a role he is clearly miscast for. Karisma Kapoor's charismatic presence is undeniable, but sometimes I can't believe she really thinks some of the things she does are any good. Some badly written scenes are made even worse by her high-strung overacting. She is better than that (see Fiza, Zubeidaa, Shakti for evidence). Amrish Puri is the typical villain, and he is always good even in roles which strain credulity. Now the boy is cute and smart but acting-wise not very good, partly because of bad writing and direction, and partly because he's probably not good enough.
The saving grace in this film is obviously Shilpa Shetty who is almost unaffected by the bad writing in a wonderful comic performance as the illiterate, sultry but innocent fisherwoman. First, obviously her sensual physical appearance makes her awfully attractive and just a delight to look at in this regard; then her accent and crude delivery seem spot on for the part she plays. But above all, she brings soul and a sort of layering to her portrayal of selfless love and by the end it is her character you end up feeling for. In many ways she reminded me of a young Sridevi. Shetty is by far the main redeeming quality of an otherwise poor, poor film.
