A first time director’s
film is always looked at with interest; more so
today where thanks to the acceptance of an urban
‘multiplex’ cinema culture, filmmakers
can experiment with different ideas and genres
and be fresh and innovative in their treatment.
Reema Kagti’s Honeymoon Travels Pvt.
Ltd. tries hard and had the fortune of being
backed fully by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani,
the makers of Don but ultimately Honeymoon…
fails to make the cut.
Looking at six married couples that leave on
a Chartered Bus for Goa to celebrate their honeymoon,
the script and consequently the film suffers from
having a lack of focus and getting too scattered.
The flow of the film is choppy and with so many
narrative strands, often a track is left behind
for quite some time and then brought in at  some
inopportune time as if suddenly remembering we
haven’t seen this couple for a while. Hence
while the first half still manages to flow relatively
smoothly without much happening as the characters
and their backgrounds are introduced (Some extremely
tacky flashback sequences here), the second half
is where the film starts to derail. Too many issues
have been raised as each track naturally has its
own set of problems and consequently wrapping
them up or leaving them where they are is often
contrived and far from satisfactory (the Karan
Khanna – Vikram Chatwal angle for one).
And the twist to the self consciously cute-cute
Abhay Deol – Minisha Lamba love story just
leaves one gobsmacked!
The film has its share of moments (Kay Kay observing
Abhay romancing Minisha and trying to do the same
with Raima, Raima’s paragliding sequence)
sporadic though they are with some witty lines
thrown in (If you can’t show us a dolphin,at
least show us a pormpret!). The track that
really works well undoubtedly is the Shabana Azmi
– Boman Irani elderly romance of a widow
and widower that has its share of sensitive and
poignant moments. Whether it’s her teaching
him to pronounce Ghalib or the story of their
first meeting as they tell it to a foreigner,
you cannot help but smile along. However the additional
baggage of Boman’s college going daughter
not accepting the marriage is tackily added on
and resolved even more amateurishly. Another comparatively
well thought out story is the Kay Kay Menon –
Raima Sen story of her wanting to be a free spirit
and him being highly strung conservative middle
class man not willing to open up. Sandhya Mridhul
and Vikram Chatwal’s story had fine potential
but…The Dia Mirza – Ranvir Shorey
and Arjun Rampal triangle is the big NO –
NO here. Not one scene of this track works or
for that matter much of the Ameesha Patel –
Karan Khanna tale either barring its twist, setting
up a potentially interesting situation to explore
but then not dealing with it at all. The less
said about the external track of the drug peddler
driver and his nephew and the latter’s love
story with the foreigner the better.
 Coming
to the performances, the ensemble cast pulls it
off quite well. Shabana is restrained and dignified
even if her preachy speech at the end has one
squirming (not at her but just at the hackneyed
writing) and Boman has his moments even if his
English accent and its intonations come off as
more Parsi rather then Christian. Kay Kay Menon
once again shows what a fine actor he is. As the
stuffed shirt, conservative Bengali lad, he is
wonderful and his drug induced dance is a highlight
of the film. Raima Sen, Sandhya Mridul, Abhay
Deol and Minisha Lamba all leave their mark. Karan
Khanna and Vikram Chatwal are just about adequate
while Ameesha is plain irritating.
There is little to recommend on the technical
side barring the production design, Arjun Bhasin’s
costumes and music by Vishal- Shekhar. Sajnaji
Vari Vari is the stand out composition and
has been choreographed and picturized with much
energy. And a special mention must be made of
the Abhay Deol – Minisha Lamba dance Pyaar
ki Yeh Kahaani too. Not so however, the cringe
worthy Ameesha Patel looking for her ‘pearl’
fantasy song. The cinematography is nothing to
write home about largely with flat compositions,
eye level mid to mid close compositions with the
odd long or high or low angle shot thrown in with
some really poor use of the wide angle lens to
cover panoramic shots of Goa.
All in all, disappointing fare.
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