Enjoy your Holiday with Mixed Doubles

HOLIDAY

Starring: Onjalee Nair, Dino Morea

Director: Pooja Bhatt

In her second outing as director, Pooja Bhatt is on holiday.

She sends off her creative genes for some R&R and resorts instead to that Vikram Bhatt-Sanjay Gupta style of DVD directing.

Her new film Holiday which opened Friday, is an unapologetic rip-off of Dirty Dancing.

The story, the screenplay, even the dance moves are the same.

A meek, insecure young girl, on vacation with her family to a beach resort, falls for a dance instructor who teaches her not only some cool moves, but also that she's wonderful just the way she is, warts and all.

Be thankful for it, or curse her for it, but point is Pooja Bhatt stays completely faithful to her source material, barely digressing from the plot of the original film.

Let's also not forget that almost 20 years have passed since Dirty Dancing, and the same story today does seem a little outdated.

Truth be told, Holiday suffers largely because the actor chosen to play the protagonist of the story has neither screen presence nor natural charm.

On one level, Holiday is also a Cinderella story. The story of a young girl's transformation.

But newcomer Onjalee Nair is a wrong choice from the word go.

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Now some people are meant to grow up and become doctors, engineers, actors, musicians.

As harsh as it may sound, Onjalee Nair wasn't meant to become an actress, and that is evident in every frame of this film.

Another weakness is the film's unimpressive music.

Now a film about dance just won't work if the music isn't outstanding. And Ranjit Barot's score is anything but outstanding.

Apart from a hummable tune here and there, there's really nothing remarkable about the soundtrack.

In fact, the big climatic dance number is just about okay and that too, only because it's modelled entirely on the Dirty Dancing set piece -- Had The Time of My Life.

The film's biggest strength, however, is unarguably leading man Dino Morea who surprises you with what is unquestionably his best performance yet.

Dino dances like a dream and he inhabits his character completely.

In the end, Holiday is just about average fare.

As far as direction is concerned, Pooja Bhatt knows the craft.

Now all we want is to see her getting around to filming an original story.

And now, something that's not meant for the weak-hearted. As an aside, let me tell you that the recurring image I'm left with days after I've watched Holiday is one careless scene in the film that should have been chopped off at the editing table, but one that somehow made it into the final film.

A disturbing shot of Onjolee Nair crying inconsolably, tears streaming down her face, her nose leaking like a tap.

A shot that ends up with her inadvertently consuming her own snot. I'm still not sure if that's amusing or disgusting.

Then that's two out of five for Holiday and an image that I doubt will leave you anytime soon.

Rating: (Average)

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MIXED DOUBLES

Starring: Ranvir Shorey, Konkana Sen Sharma,

Director: Rajat Kapoor

Also at the multiplexes this week is actor-director Rajat Kapoor's new film Mixed Doubles.

Now this one's a Hinglish film about a young couple -- played by Ranvir Shorey and Konkona Sen Sharma -- who discover 10 years after their marriage, that the spice has gone out of their relationship.

The husband becomes obsessed with the idea of partner-swapping and insists to his wife that it's the best possible way to bring the spark back into their bedroom.

She's not so sure, but agrees to go check it out eventually, because she loves him immensely and because she realises that his heart is set on it.

Now depending on which way you look at it, Mixed Doubles is either a romantic comedy, or then a dark look at urban marriages.

It's no sex film, no sleaze pic, it's not even really a film about wife-swapping.

It's actually a close examination of complex relationships.

The film starts off quite well, as it takes us through the lives of this couple and finds humour in seemingly boring, everyday situations.

Fantastic dialogue by Anurag Kashyap makes the film almost instantly relatable.

But what irks you really is the elaborate and long-played-out pre-climax.

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Without giving away too much, let's just say that the director spends too much time setting the stage for what you expect will be a fire-cracker of an ending.

But what he delivers in the end is a whimper.

Once again, depending on which way you interpret it, the film ends either on a predictable, boring note, or then on a bold, brave note.

The best thing about Mixed Doubles are the remarkable performances delivered by the lead pair.

Konkona Sen Sharma is enigmatic and engaging without any of the starry trappings -- she makes even housework look so interesting.

But really it's Ranvir Shorey who's the star of the show. He's understated and spontaneous and he practically steals every scene that he's in.

He has that every-man quality about him which makes it easy for you to empathise with his plight even though the things his character wants are ridiculous, to say the least.

As for the film itself, Mixed Doubles throws up an interesting premise, no doubt, but it fumbles along the way and doesn't entirely achieve what it set out to do.

But watch it nevertheless, because it's a film that will set you thinking. It's a film that you want to talk about, it's a film that will provoke debate.

And really, how many films today are able to do that? So that's two out of five for director Rajat Kapoor's Mixed Doubles, quirky yes, but fabulous not quite.

Rating: (Average)