Rajeev Masand – movies that matter : from bollywood, hollywood and everywhere else

October 26, 2011

Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Purbi Joshi, Sonal Sehgal, Rajesh Khattar

Director: Swapna Waghmare Joshi

The irony of Himesh Reshammiya’s new film Damadamm doesn’t lie in the fact that two attractive women are in love with him here, but that he plays a marketing maverick at a film distribution company, credited with turning one movie after another into box-office hits.

The story of this film, although much of it is set at his workplace, has little to do with that improbable job role. At its core, this film has a surprisingly sincere premise – a man is confused about his feelings for his ex-girlfriend, a nagging over-possessive shrew, when he sees her in a new light after dumping her for a kind co-worker.

Alas, the script paints the ex as such a caricature in the film’s early scenes that his sudden rose-tinted view of her later strikes a false note. Also the trigger that leads him to discover her good side – a well-meaning real-estate agent bearing shocking news – comes off as too contrived and convenient.

But there’s an inherent sensitivity and grace in the manner this relationship unfolds in their common workplace…the pain of going through a break-up with someone you have to see at work every day, watching an ex move on to another partner in front of your eyes, accepting that your relationship is over and being happy for the person you once loved. These scenes are treated delicately, and performed competently particularly by the female protagonists, played by Purbi Joshi and Sonal Sehgal.

If the film still doesn’t hold, it’s because it’s underlined by an uneasy comic tone that’s working at cross purposes here. In one tasteless comic sequence, our hero rubs his ex-girlfriend’s face in the fact that he has a new lover now. It also doesn’t help that Himesh Reshammiya offers an affected performance as the conflicted lover. He has an awkward body language, and his character is written so wishy-washy that it’s hard to muster up much sympathy for his situation. Himesh Reshammiya’s music remains his stronger skill.

I’m going with a generous two out of five for director Swapna Waghmare Joshi’s Damadamm. What could’ve been a sweet, simple love story turns into a confused film that never justifies its spirited title.

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)