Movie Review: Hu Tu Tu (is the name of an Indian game) (Hindi Film) (1999)

I guess every director in entitled to directing a dud once in a while. This is Gulzar’s dud.

An ambitious woman politician who sleeps with her political mentor to ease her way upwards, a daughter who is antithetical in her ways, political adversaries and games they play and how karma catches up………is what its all about.

Great actors, Tabu and Nana fall flat on a script that tries too hard to please. Almost all aspects of film-making are so ordinary that the overall impact would have been pretty forgettable had it not been for the fact that it’s so painful to watch Tabu deliver a below-par performance

In fact I have a deep suspicion that this movie has been ghost directed by Meghna Gulzar (Gulzar’s daughter and officially the associate screenplay writer)

And even that rarest of rare event occurs: Lata’s voice is so very discordant. Its difficult to make a call whether she has just not caught on to the mood of the song, of whether she was the wrong choice of singer for the face on-screen.

Vishal’s Marathi touches to the songs are superficial if not downright condescending. Having seen his other movie ‘Kaminey’ and its treatment of the Marathi angle, I am more inclined in favour of the latter.

Songs

• The more well-known song being 'Chai Chappa Chai' where both the male and female voices sound discordant when pictured on Sunil Shetty and Tabu.


What could have been a good street-play has been made into a bad movie

Starring

Nana Patekar
Sunil Shetty
Tabu
Suhasini Mulay
Shivaji Satam
Dr.Mohan Agashe
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Raj Zutshi
Gracy Singh (in a extremely insignificant role, in which she dances much better than Tabu)

Playback: Lata, Hariharan, Roopkumar Rathod, Anuradha Paudwal, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Suresh Wadkar, Vinay Mandke
Associate Screenplay Writer: Meghna Gulzar
Audiography: Narinder Singh
Lyrics: Gulzar
Music: Vishal
Cinematography: Manmohan Singh
Produced by Dhirajlal Shah
Written and Directed by Gulzar