No one's clapping for De Taali

No one's clapping for De Taali

Movie De Taali Director E Niwas Producer Ravi Walia Cast Aftab Shivdasani, Ritesh Deshmukh, Ayesha Takia, Rimi Sen

If you've watched the promos of De Taali, you'd expect a film with tremendous youth power. You'd expect gags, gimmicks and lots of fun. But the film is anything but this. On the contrary, it's a slow-paced love story, which depicts one of the actors as a modern-day Devdas who hits the bottle when his girlfriend walks out on him. There's a kahani mein twist as well, the kidnapping episode, but you don't feel giving a taali to that too. There is the other disappointing factor. Two songs from the film have been heavily promoted, the title track and Maari Teetri which might compel you to buy the ticket. The title track comes when the movie concludes (during the end credits), while the other song is just not there. Most importantly, De Taali gets it wrong on the script level. Loosely inspired by popular TV drama Dawson's Creek, the material lacks the power to keep you hooked. Sure, De Taali has a few engaging and enjoyable moments, but it's akin to an oasis in a desert. In one word, disappointing! Paglu (Riteish Deshmukh), Amu (Ayesha Takia] and Abhi (Aftab Shivdasaani) are buddies. Amu is the girl amongst the two guys, though Paglu and Abhi don't treat her like one. Paglu is the one who makes her realize about her feelings for Abhi. Life, however, takes a serious turn when Abhi falls in love with Kartika aka Anjali (Rimi Sen). De Taali starts off quite well and the bonding between the three friends is well established in the initial parts. Everything's fine till Rimi Sen is kidnapped at the interval point. But things go downhill in the second hour. The entire kidnap drama, the Saurabh Shukla track, the dejected lovers (Mukul Dev, Pawan Malhotra, Sanjay Narvekar) reaching the wedding venue and the family surfacing from oblivion, everything looks ludicrous. By the time you reach the finale, the viewer is already bored and has lost all interest in the enterprise. E Niwas doesn't get in right this time. He knows the job well, but if you've noticed his last few outings as well as De Taali, you'd agree that he needs to concentrate on the script than making the frames look alluring. Vishal-Shekhar's music is a mixed bag. Barring the above-mentioned two numbers, the rest of the songs lack fizz. Riteish is lovable and his range is finally being tapped by film-makers. Aftab lends his part to the required class. Ayesha Takia is getting better with every film and Rimi Sen spices up the otherwise bland scenario with her performance as a gold digger. Anupam Kher is wasted. Ditto for Pawan Malhotra and Mukul Dev. On the whole, De Taali is a poor show. It's an apt case of the promos looking great and not the film.