A promising film kept under wraps for a wee bit longer can spoil the curiosity surrounding it. That's exactly the problem with Bhupendra Gupta's `Unns' that boasts of some sincere performances but with such ridiculously low publicity and a release in merely two theatres in Mumbai tells the story about this film which boasts of a story at least (an aberration in most films these days).
Ria (Rituparna Sengupta) is married to Rahul (Sanjay Kapoor) whom she respects but doesn't love while richie rich Rishi (Sudhanshu) in spite of being her first choice couldn't marry her. Temperamental Ria decides to part ways with an emotionally vulnerable Rahul to pursue her first love. She invents a weird way of getting separated by getting on his nerves. Once she decides to part ways with Rahul, a courtroom battle ensues where she is helped by her friend Namrata's (Juhi Babbar) boyfriend Sameer (Aman Verma, a lawyer). Well, one can do strange things when in love, so there's no point in finding reasons and justifications whether the characters of the film are correct in their approach or not.
It's clear that a film that started off enthusiastically lost steam midway while shooting due to budgetary constraints or whatever. There are continuity problems and Sudhanshu Pande looks as if he has landed from some other planet for his zapped expressions didn't do justice to a role that was central to the film. Maybe producer director Bhupendra Gupta should refrain from producing his own films. For he seems to have a good creative command over the cinematic idiom but seems to have been bogged down by the stress that comes along with the logistics involved in filmmaking. A prime example being choice of music director Sujeet Shetty who couldn't do anything in a film that is billed as a musical.
`Unns' boasts of some decent performances. Best amongst them all being that by Bengali actress Rituparno Sengupta who surprises with her dominant intensity and a grip over the emotional content that her character involves. She made a good beginning with `Main Meri Patni Aur Woh'(At least it had a much bigger release) but with `Unns' she needs to set her priorities right if she wants a bigger role playing in Bollywood. Raj Babbar and Nadira Babbar'd daughter Juhi Babbar seems to have had a good training ground in mother's `Ekjute' Theatre Company for she handles her part with a deft ease and maturity. Sanjay Kapoor should concentrate on turning a producer or accept his fate as a character artiste as he is past his prime.
Finally, even if I tell you that you can check out `Unns' for it is the best out of the three films that have released this week, there's a remote chance of you finding a theatre playing it. The better thing to do would be hang on for a week to witness some `Dhoom Again' rather than sweating it to watch an average film that is raised to a certain level only due to a few good performances.
Unns: An unseen love story (True for there's hardly any theatre where it is showing)
Star Rating: **
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