Review: 'Dangerous Ishhq' is a fancy dress competition in 3D

Film: Dangerous Ishhq
Director: Vikram Bhatt
Cast: Karisma Kapoor, Rajneesh Duggal, Jimmy Shergill, Divya Dutta
Rating: *

Dangerous (adj) dan·ger·ous   [deyn-jer-uhs, deynj-ruhs] 1. Full of danger  or risk; causing danger;  perilous; risky; hazardous; unsafe. 2. Able or likely to cause physical injury

Given the title, it is natural to assume that this is a memoir of a cougar’s risqué affair, considering Bhatt’s reputation precedes him. Of course, the trailers made it very clear that this was a case of ‘Punar Janam’. Ok cool.

Bollywood has tackled this past life business in the past, very many times. And some films like Karz, manage to weave past life in to make a super entertaining plot even. What new thing was Bhatt going to do? More importantly, madame Kapoor chose this film as a comeback vehicle and claimed it was the most challenging role of her life. There had to be something in the film. How wrong I was!

There is Sanjana (Kapoor) who is engaged to rich boy Rohan (Duggal). Rich boy gets kidnapped by masked goons and Sanjana gets a bump on the head. She starts imagining things. Of course, the surgeon best friend must take her to ‘a doctor of a different kind’. The said psychiatrist decides to put her under and allow her to explore her past life where she was Geeta in the partition era and Duggal was Iqbal. Our cougar is empowered with past-life evidence and gets down to the business of aiding the search for her fiance with ACP Singh. And more revisiting the past lives happens. We see Salma and Paro, both much like Geeta, come close to marrying Duggal and lose him. Kapoor’s most challenging role looks like a fancy dress competition in 3D.

Except for their garb, nothing changes in terms of performance for either Kapoor or Duggal -- same shit, different era.

Going by the cameos in the film, one starts to think of Dangerous Ishhq as a ‘remember I was an actor too’ hall of fame. Gracy Singh swirls and twirls and manages to look insane, genuinely. Arya Babbar aces the general angry expression he has been practicing since his debut in the forgettable Ab Ke Baras. Ravi Kissen should get a nomination for the best actor in a comical role as he plays a letch with the voice that will beat Sunny paaji.

Dangerous Ishhq takes mediocrity to a whole new level.

It is nothing but a love triangle that goes round in circles for 500 years. The film probably is a modern day memorial to the wannabe-masala-ended up-corny films of the late 80s and early 90s, but trust me, it is likely that those will entertain you far more than this one. And if you decide to watch it despite this review, be warned, it will haunt you through your future lives.