Valentine's Night Review

'Baap re, yeh kya tha' - This is what you end up exclaiming once 'Valentine's Night' (to one's relief) comes to an end. Now this is the kind of film where one really feels that all it resulted in was criminal wastage of everyone's time, energy and money. Shoddy to the core and really boasting of any redeeming factor whatsoever, 'Valentine's Night' is the kind of film that are challenged to even arrive 'straight-to-DVD' in other parts of the world. In that sense it is nothing miraculous that the film still managed to see a theatrical release first.

Not that I expected anything at all from this film where Payal Rohatgi as the only known name. Now that isn't something overtly worried me but when even Payal didn't speak about the film (despite this being a rare outing for her in a very long time), I was more or less convinced that it would be futile to look for any entertainment here. However sometimes there are films belonging to this style and genre that bring on unintentional humour. Sadly, that doesn't happen either in 'Valentine's Night' which just doesn't rise at all, hence meeting with a disastrous fate.

The film has social networking at the core of it with Facebook as the 'main character', as the makers Kirshan and Badal would have love to put. So while there is Payal as a pivotal element with four other youngsters (all newcomers) joining her for a trip after planning it all out online, it is a complete 'khichdi' that is made out of the situation. Though each of them has a common sorrow point - a broken heart - audience is given a hint that there would be some fun in store when they come together.

However results here aren't any better than the Sushmita Sen disaster 'Karma Confessions and Holi' as boredom soon takes over. You also know that a film is going horribly wrong when even Rakhi Sawant's terrible item number fails to gain your attention either. Add to that some dose of crime, sleaze, murder and suspense and you know that it is a C movie in the offering by the makers here.

No wonder, what you see is a film that is on par with last year's torrid outing called 'Chitkabrey' that was all about confessions but set in a closed room. Here the director duo at least has some mercy on audience and takes them outdoors. However poor shot taking, location handling and jerky narrative means that one just prays this Valentine's night ends sooner than later. Pun intended.

Rating: *