Trisha pairs with Prateik Babbar after Akshay

Trisha pairs with Prateik Babbar after Akshay

Another South Indian screen-queen Trisha Krishnan is all set to invade Bollywood. And this Tamilian follows the trend of making her debut with a leading man far older than her. After the 43-year old Akshay Kumar, 27-year old Trisha’s co-star is going to be the 24-year old Prateik Babbar.

Buzz up!Says Trisha, “The second Hindi film is a love story with just me and the guy in central roles. It’s a subject that can’t go wrong. I’ve already done the Tamil version of this film Vinaaithandi Varuvaya. Now the same director Gautham Menon is remaking it into Hindi with Prateik Babbar and me. I think we should be kick-starting it in August. I am excited because unlike Khatta Meetha where I don’t have a central part this one has a central role for me”.

Trisha sounds wiser than her years when she says, “It was important for me to line up a second Hindi film before the first was released.” Trisha actually confesses that she had her lines in Hindi dubbed in her first film. When you tell her that Akshay Kumar said she spoke Hindi well Trisha laughs it off. “Did he say that? I must thank him. The truth is, I was a bit nervous about doing my own lines in Hindi. I’ve done so many Telugu films. But I don’t know the language at all. I know the grammar in Hindi but I can barely manage to speak it”.

(‘To aapki Hindi achchi hai?’ I ask. ‘Han Achchi hoon (sic.)’, she replies).

Trisha continues, “In Chennai no one speaks in Hindi. I was a little worried about my Hindi since my character in Khatta Meetha is from a fluent Hindi-speaking belt. So both Priyan and I decided that I wouldn’t dub my own lines. But it’s not a problem. I know I’ll soon master it. It’s simpler than the South Indian languages”.

Trisha is a 27-year veteran of Tamil and Telugu films. “I was so busy doing Tamil and Telugu films that I didn’t get time to consider Hindi films although offers did come. Also I wanted to do something that would give me a wide audience. I chose Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar. It can’t get any massier than that. Their combination always works”.

Trisha is candid enough to admit she doesn’t have that much to do in Khatta Meetha. “It isn’t a heroine-centric role. But I felt it would give me visibility. Look, I may be known in the South. But in Bollywood no one knows me, not yet. I just wanted to be seen. When I started in the South I did smaller parts with big heroes. That always worked for me. One needs to be a part of hit films especially at the start.”

Priyadarshan is Trisha’s Christopher Columbus. “He launched me in the South seven years ago. Now he’s launching me in Hindi in Khatta Meetha. He had promised he’d launch me in the right vehicle. In five minutes I knew I wanted to do Khatta Meetha. First, I want to make sure I establish myself in Hindi before I do more experimental roles. This is the trend I followed in the South as well.”

On working with Akshay she says, “In the Khatta Meetha unit Akshay was the only person I didn’t know. And he wasn’t just my co-star he was also my producer. He was really sweet. Priyan and Akshay are by now like family to one another. They made sure I was comfortable. This was one of the most professional units I’ve worked with.”

She’s pretty cool about the age difference. After all she’s currently a Tamil film in Europe where her co-star is the 55-plus Kamal Haasan. Speaking excitedly from Europe Trishna says “I’ve been away from home for almost forty days. Though I’ve my mom with me I do miss home. But the shooting with Kamal Sir and Maddy is great fun.”

Trisha is ready to settle down in Mumbai. “It would depend on the offers. I’ve always had relatives in Mumbai. I’ve also done a lot of ads in Mumbai. Though my family won’t move out of Chennai, I am hardly in one city anyway.”

Khatta Meetha Review by Taran Adarsh

Khatta Meetha Review by Taran Adarsh

When Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar join hands, you expect the cineplex to reverberate with laughter. Let's not forget, the team has regaled us with some terrific entertainers in the past. Naturally then, you expect KHATTA MEETHA to take the legacy forward.

Unfortunately, KHATTA MEETHA is noise [the actors scream a lot in this movie], more noise [the great promotion] and only noise, while the content takes a complete backseat. Although KHATTA MEETHA shouldn't be compared to this combo's earlier works, since this one's a satire, I have to add that this is their weakest film to date.

The first question I asked myself once the movie got over was, what's the story? Okay, okay, neither did Priyadarshan's last few films had a story to tell, but when you attempt a satire, when one talks of the hardships faced by the common man, when one talks of corruption in society, there HAS to be a story in place. That goes without saying!

KHATTA MEETHA raises a finger at the corruption in government establishments, but what it tries to say, or expose, has been witnessed over and over again. In fact, it's the writing -- sorry, the absence of it -- that makes matters worse. The beginning is good, the middle falters and the end is exasperating.

Final word? This one's far from being meetha. It's a khatta experience!

Struggling road construction contractor Sachin Tichkule [Akshay Kumar] is doomed. There is no chance that his dreams will ever come true, simply because he has no money to bribe. To make matters worse, the new Municipal Commissioner turns out to be his ex girl friend [Trisha], who now hates him.

The film reveals the extent of corruption and bribery rampant in the system and the ingenious means you have to adopt if you want to survive in today's times.

KHATTA MEETHA attempts to say a lot many things in those 2.40 hours. Oh yes, its running time is a problem, more so because the narrative lacks the power to keep you hooked to the proceedings. Okay, coming back to what I wanted to say, KHATTA MEETHA is more of a collage of isolated incidents encompassed in those 2.40 hours. The collapse of the bridge, the consequent murder of Tinnu Anand, the constant bickering in the house, the tu-tu-main-main between Akshay and Trisha, the sister's track, the corrupt netas and government babus, the payment issue of workers... several sequences are a repeat of what's you watched barely minutes ago or an hour ago.

While the romantic track is the weakest link [half-baked; the songs are forced down your throats, without valid situations whatsoever], the flashback portions, depicting Akshay Kumar as a college student [!!!], is just hard to digest. Even the end is worn out and doesn't give the feel of contentment that one expects at the conclusion of a film.

Priyadarshan's handling of the comic sequences is noteworthy, especially in the first half of the film. The repair-and-paint sequence at Asrani's mansion is sure to bring the house down. Ditto for the conversation that Asrani has with multiple people, in person and also on phone. Also, the road roller sequence is a laugh-riot and prior to that Johny Lever's sequence of repairing the road roller is truly funny. But a few isolated sequences aren't enough. The veteran storyteller ought to know the importance of a watertight screenplay by now.

Cinematographer V. Manikandan's lens captures the exteriors with flourish. Pritam's music is easy on the ears and at least two songs are extremely popular as well, but the placement of songs in the narrative acts as a roadblock. Dialogues are funny at times, especially the one-liners.

Akshay Kumar plays the common man with gusto. He looks his part and more importantly, not once do you feel that he's repeating himself. However, he goes over the top in a few sequences. Trisha carries the Plain Jane look well, but fails as an actress. The fiery attitude, so vital when you're enacting the role of the Municipal Commissioner, is missing. Rajpal Yadav is in terrific form yet again. What a splendid actor!

Urvashi Sharma is awkward. Makrand Deshpande is wasted. Tinnu Anand is hardly there. Even Aroona Irani is sidelined. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is first-rate. Asrani is excellent. Manoj Joshi screams so much. Ditto for Neeraj Vora. Milind Gunaji is okay. The actor playing the role of Urvashi's husband does a good job.

On the whole, KHATTA MEETHA is a major letdown from the accomplished director. It's not a full-blown comedy. It's not a full-scale satire either. Hugely disappointing!

Khatta Meetha Movie Review

Khatta Meetha Movie Review

Real characters and real stories are in. And the next two weeks will indicate how the audience react to entertainers that borrow from real life. The pre-release reports of KHATTA MEETHA is super-hot, with the distributors acquiring the films for excellent prices. In fact, if the films succeed [one genuinely hopes, they do!], it will pave way for films that the common man can relate to.

Talking of KHATTA MEETHA, the Akshay-Priyadarshan combo has mostly collaborated on non-stop laughathons, but their new outing together, KHATTA MEETHA, has an interesting premise and is laced with straight-out-of-life situations. "I am glad the promos are radiating the right signals," Akshay tells. Similarly, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI isn't the usual story that we've watched over and over again. Reportedly, both Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi have delivered powerful performances in this film, which is decorated with real-life incidents.