Filhaal

Meghna Gulzar?s debut Filhaal is the story of two friends and their emotional journey through all the ups and downs both face in their lives.

Rewa (Tabu) and Siya (Sushmita Sen) are childhood best friends, who grow up doing everything together. Rewa loves Dhruv (Sanjay Suri), while Saahil (Palash Sen) is in love with Siya, but she harbours other dreams and marriage is the last thing on the ambitious photographer?s mind. Rewa gets married to Dhruv and shifts to Mumbai, leaving behind Siya and her family in Delhi. She has always wanted to settle down, have kids and raise a family, so she is absolutely content in her new role of a housewife. But there is a problem. She is unable to conceive a child and this causes her a lot of worry. After visiting numerous astrologers and doctors, finally she gets pregnant after a year of marriage, but her happiness is short lived. Just when both Dhruv and she are all set to be parents, she suffers a major blow when she miscarries. Her world crashes even more when the doctor informs her that she can never become a mother as she has a weak uterus. Rewa goes into depression and is inconsolable. Siya comes to look after her in Mumbai, but is unable to get her out of her misery. One day, the doctor tells them that many new scientific methods of conceiving a child are possible and that they should consider artificial insemination. Seeing Rewa?s state, Siya decides to become the surrogate mother and grow her baby in her womb. After a great deal of hesitation, Dhruv agrees and Siya becomes pregnant with their baby.

Saahil is shocked when he hears of this but Siya is sure of her decision. But unfortunately for her, trouble starts brewing when her best friend Rewa for whom she has made such a big sacrifice starts getting insecure of her. Soon, many complications arise between them, which make them unhappy. Siya is miserable as both, her lover and best friend go against her. But all that changes when she is rushed to hospital to deliver the child. Both Rewa and Saahil accept the reality and rush by her side as she goes through her complicated delivery. Finally, all ends well and Rewa gets her child while Siya gets back to Saahil.

Overall, though Filhaal has a very interesting storyline, the film fails to hold you. The main drawback is the slow pace of the movie. Adding to the misery is Anu Malik?s boring music, which is a complete letdown. Another major drawback is the lack of big heroes. And what?s worse, both Sushmita and Tabu look bad in most parts of the film (bad make-up, hideous outfits). Other technical aspects are average. Some of the dialogues in the film make you cringe (especially the one where the doctor describes the womb as a bartan and the semen and ovary as the saag and saalan, which will cook inside!!!).

Performance wise Sushmita steals the show from under Tabu?s nose. She is spontaneous, bubbly and a complete natural. Also, her role is far better than Tabu?s. Tabu is competent as usual. Sanjay Suri is a pleasant surprise and does his part well. But as for Palash Sen, he needs to get back to singing, as he is just not cut out for films. He looks terribly haggard, overacts and is a complete no-no. Filhaal could have been a much better film, had Meghna handled it with more maturity and sensitivity. Unfortunately, it looks more like a family-planning documentary than a Hindi feature film. Sadly, she?s failed to impress with this poor debut that is sure to be a loser at the B O. Filhaal, she needs a crash course in filmmaking!