Review: Not very tasty

Film: Aamras
Cast: Vega, Ntasha, Maanvi, Anchal, Zarina Wahab
Director: Rupali Guha
Rating: **

Aamras is a formulaic coming-of-age tale of four school friends about to graduate. Each comes from a different background — Jiya (Vega, sincere) is a middle-class Maharashtrian who lives with her mother; Pari (Ntasha, over the top) is the spoilt, rich kid; Rakhi (Maanvi, endearing) is the honest and real Punjabi kudi; Sanya (Aanchal) is the Parsi girl who contributes little besides the bimbo element.

The group is inseparable till boys and misunderstandings rip them apart, only to be reunited by crisis and sacrifice. Aamras is bland. It tends to stay on the comfortable edge of sweet rather than add in a dash of sour.

Though the actors look the part and are even persuasive as misled teenagers, the emotional tug is absent. The story takes an excruciatingly long time to get to a very obvious point.

Technically it looks like a TV serial with low budgets and exaggerated supporting characters. The director offers nothing fresh besides bringing out some spirited performances from her principle actors and blending a woman’s sensitivity with teenage angst.