Review: Fast forward to the end

Director: Zaigham Ali Sayed

Cast: Akshay Kapoor, Bhavna Pani, Rehan Khan, Vinod Khanna

Rating: *1/2

A dance film should be uplifting and entertaining, buoyed by a great soundtrack. The acting and story do not matter as long as the moves, choreography and set pieces blow you away. Fast Forward is out of step on all counts. The story and acting are amateur, weak and one-dimensional, but the biggest disappointment is the dance.

The dancers are depicted as being down-and-out losers or rebels without a cause who are supposedly driven by passion for dance -- a feeling that is never translated to the audience. Two teams are in a stand-off at an underground dance den called the 'Cave' (where do such places exist in India?). The boys find their way into fights, heartbreak, debt, into the trap of dons and deceivers, and finally into fortune and fame.

The script and characters are juvenile and their motivations too convenient. One of the two leads Rishi, played by Rehan Khan, dances well but grimaces and punches his way to the final dance competition making him so dislikeable that you wonder why anyone would root for him at all. Further, the women look too old for the boys they romance.

Though some of the choreography is commendable, overall it is all too boogie-woogie on the big screen and makes you want to fast forward to the end.