Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha Movie Review: Breezy Songs, Stunning Picturesque Locations In Suneel Darshan’s Film

Starring Shiv Darshan,Natasha Fernandez, Upen Patel

Directed by Suneel Darshan

This is a film for the diehard romantics who still believe love lasts for many lifetimes.  Quite the other end of the spectrum from Imtiaz Ali’s Jab Harry Met Sejal where Ms Sharma is heard discussing the legal ramifications  of  random “intercourse” with  Shah Rukh Khan.

Suneel Darshan’s chaste love birds played by his son Shiv and newcomer Natasha Fernandez, are strictly old-school. Shiv shows some growth as an actor .He plays Deodhar, a mysterious figure who moves around as a  spirit in the picturesque locales of England,who wooes the pretty girl Natasha with Nadeem’s song which spill put in atorrent  of effusion.

It’s  good to see a Bollywood film paying heed to the tradition of protagonists singing songs  on screen. There is plenty of lip-sync singing in this film. Remarkably the director uses the same playback singers for the girl and boy throughout, thereby extracting a homogeneity from the romance. The lead  pair knows its moves through the ornate lyrics. Amarjeet Singh’s  cinematography captures the mountain peaks and coniferous splendor with captivating single-mindednesss , often focusing more on the picture-postcard idyllic backdrop than the characters.

And that is fine. The film is shot in enormously scenic locations of England where the hills , lakes and castles provide an  imposing backdrop to the drama that unfolds at the forefront.

The dialogues with which Shiv courts his ladylove are done in high-flown Urdu which create a rather telling contrast with the English locations.

Suneel Darshan who in the past—long ago—gave us successes like Jaanwar and Ek Rishta, spins a fatally oldfashioned love triangle . While Deodhar(Shiv Darshan) and Natasha(Fernandez) share intimate moments in barns and on galloping horses  sharing 32 smooches(I stopped counting after 30) , Upen Patel goes around trying to be the good Other Man who doesn’t mind if his fiancée sneaks off for  a tryst with tall, dark-tempered stranger  and a tumble in the hay  with a  man she  has just met.

Something doesn’t feel right about Patel’s presence. And we soon unravel the mystery of Patel’s nebulous presence. His voice is dubbed by filmmaker Vikram Bhatt who has in the past dubbed for the leading man in several  films that he has directed.

What’s he doing dubbing for an ‘actor’ who  has been around for decade and should be speaking his own lines? There are deeper mysteries to solve in this mystery-romance .Who is trying to kill the heroine, amodernday princess who floats around in a semi-stuporous haze in search of that elusive thing we call love.

You are most welcome to  join her.