This movie is an ambitious daring film for its time. Although the whole story and dialog is reminiscent with a theatrical (broadway like) play where costumes, symbolic acts, and singing dialogs reveal the story. It must have been extremely hard to orchestrate into a film, and unfortunately with little success. The nice thing about this film is that symbolism is well crafted and touch upon relevant issues in every country but mostly India. I started noticing the symbolism in simple things attributed in the movie which shows the director's appeal for an intellectual audience. Another nice thing is that the film makes use of Shah Rukh Khan's exuberant energy in a satisfying manner. The acting was well for the genre of the film, but very theatrical like and at times you feel the un comfortable switch between screen and theater actors which makes it hard to move through scenes. The songs are bad but its inevitable when many critical story and thematic words are being used. Deepa Sahi is not the perfect choice to pair with Shah Rukh. She constantly looks like his mother rather than his love interest. She can't carry the character at all and over-does it many times. Their pairing in the two movies they did together must have been of the worst i have ever seen for Shah Rukh.. and i have seen them all. But i guess she is the director's favorite (or upper hand) and i can't think of another actress for the film, but i know any younger, more Indian girl would have been better. Many actors in this movie are recognizable as supporting role actors, so this film must have been a break in their struggling period. This is a somewhat black comedy but it is not a comedy. Its an over dramatized to fantastical measures to fit the critical issues it is addressing. Overall, it is worth a watch if you like Shah Rukh Khan, symbolic films, or a brief encounter with India's struggle for life is an artistic way.
