Rating: 1.5/5

Director: Afzal Khan

Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala, Ajay Devgan, Kader Khan, Reema Lagoo

At the beginning of the film, director producer Afzal Khan has thanked his father, Sanjay Dutt and his late father, Salman Khan, Raj Sippy, Veeru and Ajay Devgan. He should always also thank the 11 people who were brave enough to sit through this show. I would like to thank my mobile phone and all the people who I spoke to, to get away from this long-drawn torture! Also, Jaane Tu… was playing in the other audi, so the songs and dialogue that I could overhear provided me great relief and made me smile!

Mehbooba is an ordinary love triangle that culminates in one of them sacrificing himself to pay for his 'sins' and get away from the exquisite pain of love. Relocating to another country would have been a more convenient option. On a serious note, it opens with the Ajay Devgan's Karan crooning the title track in the sunflower (not mustard) fields of Budapest while a girl, whose face we cannot see, keeps him captivated. The paintings of this girl adorn the walls of his mansion in Budapest. The girl (Manisha Koirala) turns out to be his lawyer, Shahid's (Kader Khan) niece, who has changed her name from Varsha to Payal, to get away from her painful past. Payal refuses Karan's true love initially because a certain playboy Shravan Dhariwal (Sanjay Dutt) has broken her heart and how! He has also been the cause of her father's heart attack. Ultimately, she realizes Karan's love is the davaai for her dil ka dard and agrees to marry him. They come to India, where Karan Dhariwal is a prince with a palace in Rajasthan and his badde bhaiyya is pining for Varsha, realizing her worth after she left him.

Obviously, the story has nothing new. Surprisingly, there are a few things about the movie that I liked. I couldn't help but gush over the excellent production design by Shabina Afzal Khan. The locales of Budapest are breathtakingly stunning and pristine. New York and Rajasthan are well presented too. Ashok Mehta's cinematography is first rate.

Of course this movie is dated because Kader Khan and Reema Lagoo and Asrani are not seen in movies lately and the lyricist (Anand Bakshi, RIP) is no more. Between the making and the release of the film, Manisha Koirala bid adieu to Bollywood and put on weight, Sanjay Dutt became Mumnnabhai and went to jail and Ajay Devgan created an intense persona for himself. But I must say, Manisha looks very pretty and slim and Sanjay Dutt shows some of his boyish Rocky charm in his dashing playboy avatar. Ajay Devgan looks better now. As far as performances are concerned, all three are consistent and the camaraderie between the bhaiyyas is good. I think the actors look older towards the end of the film. The music by ismail Darbar is terribly typical and jarring. Sanober Kabir appears in an unnecessary item number called Babuji. Frankly I prefer the Yaana Gupta one.

Mehbooba is regressive, tedious and drags on for so long that you run out before the end credits start rolling like a prisoner who has just been freed.