Ishk Actually is one of the drabbest films I’ve seen all year, writes Sukanya Verma.Every film, even the silliest ones, need to begin with the promise of either intent or content. But to drift on and on and on (and on), ceaselessly, stubbornly, is bewildering beyond words.
Ishk Actually begins with a guy (Rajeev Khandelwal) standing at the brink of a mountain top spewing some romantic gyaan followed by a woman (Neha Ahuja) wincing at anyone, who bothers to wish her on her birthday.
The haughty lady immediately slips into flashback mode with a mushy song against scenic views serenaded by a second guy (Rayo Bakhirta). Soon enough, she bumps into the first guy with whom she apparently enjoyed a one-night stand making things awkward and secretive.
And that’s the beginning of a series of convoluted flashbacks, which jump from Mumbai to Thailand to Goa to Ooty leaving the viewer completely lost and confounded. It takes some more scalp scratching before we learn that Guy A is her fiancé and Guy B is their wedding planner (even if all his scenes are spent on a bar stool).
Who will she pick is what I pay 140 bucks to find out.
Only Anish Khanna’s utterly warped, affected direction isn’t going for the rom-com treatment. He chooses to render every scene with needless mystery and a stilted ambiance of lifeless, postured passion aiming for credibility by playing against a rip-off of Yumeji’s theme (In the Mood for Love) resulting in unintended comedy every few minutes.
Pretty visuals and
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