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Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Urmila Matondkar
Director: Satish Kaushik
**
There's a scene in Karzzzz where Kamini (Urmila Matondkar) refuses to believe that Monty (Himesh) is actually her late husband, Ravi Varma, born again. Monty tells her that he knows things about her that only Ravi Varma knew. "Tum subah bina brush kiye bed tea peeti ho," he says and she looks at him, stunned. He goes on "Agar tum dus baje tak breakfast nahi karti, toh tumhe acidity ho jaati hai!" She can't take it anymore. She knows it then. She knows it's him.
Yes. As hoardings, newspaper ads and television channels have been screaming at us, Monty is back. Also back are situations, characters and dialogues best left alone in the 80s. How long has it been since we saw the hero's mother scream at an idol of God, "Yeh dekhne se pehle tumhari chhaati phat kaise nahi gayi" or "Tu mujhe chhod ke nahi jaa sakta". Shiraz Ahmed gets credit for screenplay and dialogue, so we know who to blame. He, obviously, couldn't claim story credit. Karzzzz is the remake of Subhash Ghai's 1980 film, Karz, which itself was a rehash of The Reincarnation of Peter Proud. But let's not go there now.
This film is similar to Ghai's musical hit, starring Rishi Kapoor, in more ways than one. For starters, it sticks to the formula. There are enough songs, characters and twists shoved in to take your mind off the real story. Some mindless tracks from the original, like that of the villain, Sir Judah (Gulshan Grover) who is mute and interacts with his cronies by tapping on tables have been retained. Here he has a funny-looking Terminator-like arm. It's among those many moments you can't help chuckle at.
There's also Danny, reprising the role of Kabeera enacted by Pran in the original. But the best of the lot is businessman, Oberoi. Those who have seen the original would remember Pinchoo Kapoor play Monty's hard-ass boss. Here Raj Babbar enacts the role as a loud Sardar who keeps screaming "I am the star maker!" He returns in the end to do a Jackie Chan-like stunt. It's hilarious!
Urmila is the only one who comes anywhere close to Simi Garewal's portrayal of Kamini, and does well in a negative role. Shweta Kumar, who plays Monty's love interest Tina, needs to seriously rethink her choice to be an actor. But Karzzzz, in the end, is all about Himesh.
Cap gone, artificial hair woven, nostrils flaring, cleavage showing, Himesh is, well, in his own league. Let's just put it like this: The man tries his level best, and you need to give it to him. In fact, the film seems to be made only to showcase errr... his skills. In the role of Monty, Himesh is sincere. But more than anything, it's the sheer audacity of the man that you can't help but be stunned at.
Frankly, Karzzzz is entertaining in parts. May be not the way the makers intended it to be, but still. Hollywood has their franchise of Scary Movies, that spoofs their popular films. This one could easily be one of them. Sadly, Karzzzz takes itself too seriously.Himesh fans, of course, can't miss this one for anything else in the world.
