Mashooka Review

There was a phase in the 90s when movies from the TIME production house used to be followed with great interest amongst the lovers of 'masala' movies. Most of their movies used to be actioners and raked in 'moolah' at the box office. After a longish lull, TIME presents 'Mashooka' that is produced and directed by Afzal Ahmed. Aditya Bal makes his debut as a hero and looks each bit a 'desi' hunk while Meghna Naidu and popular model Vidya Malavade (Inteha) are the sirens opposite him. Sajid Wajid and Jalees Sherwani handle the music department.

In the recent times, love triangles have always been a easy pick for the movie makers in Bollywood, especially so when obsessive love forms one of the angles. Post 'Darr' and 'Anjaam', there have been dozens of movie made around the theme of an antagonist getting obsessed with a person, knowing very well that he/she is out of bounds. Most recent examples of such movies have been 'Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya', 'Aitraaz' and 'Fareb', both of which have a lady getting obsessive for a much married man. 'Mashooka' too follows the same route, albeit as a thriller, where the lady in question is Sanjana [Meghna Naidu] who sees herself getting obsessed with Vicki [debutant Aditya Bal].

Vicki and Monika [Vidya Malavade] were in love with each other before drifting apart. Vicki is single and alone and this is where Sanjana enters his life. She is a sweet bubbly girl who genuinely falls in love with him. One thing lead to another and they get involved in a steamy one night stand.

While Vicki realizes soon that this wasn't fair, Sanjana sees this as a first step towards their living together happily ever after. The situation could have been controlled but that doesn't happen as Monika returns back to Vicki's life. Vicki has a path to choose and he chooses the one that leads one towards Monica.

This is where the drama in the movie kick starts. On one side Vicki and Monica are content with each other while on the other Sanjana gets a feeling of being spurned. neglected and ignored. The only purpose of her life now is to create havoc in the couple's life and gain her love back. Even if this means turning towards crime!

What happens next? Does Vicki go back to Sanjana to avoid any harm to him and Monica? Does Sanjana realize that she has more to do in life then chasing a dream? Does Monica survive the assault on her love life?

In an attempt at narrating an intense story of love, passion and obsession, director Afzal Khan does well at places but can't help the script and execution falling into cliches at number of places. Still, there are a few moments in the script that are spine chilling and manage to keep the interest alive to an extent.

Meghna's portrayal of a psychologically disturbed woman appears deja vu at number of places. Also, the movie relies mainly on sex'n'violence. The execution too is of the manner that would relegate mainly to the target audiences of front benchers, what with number of scenes and songs laced with sex.

Meghna Naidu shows improvement over her 'Hawas' act and takes a step forward. She is required to display various shades in this heroine centric role and does reasoanbly well. Vidya Malavade is convincing but she would need a much better project with good packaging to make her presence felt. Aditya Bal is okay for a starter and a little more polishing should set him up for better roles. His looks and physique are of a kind that would make him fit for action roles.

Movies by TIME in the past were pioneers in introducing eye pleasing cinematography and high quality action sequences. The movie just sticks to the same period, as in the 90s, in both the areas. Music by Sajid Wajid is one of the positives as inspite of being again belonging to the 90s [when Anu Malik was a regul