Unlike Anurag Bose’s previous film, his Tumsa Nahin Dekha is replete with clichés and predictable turns in the story.
Take for instance, the character of Jia (Dia). She is not a club dancer out of her own choice. She comes from a poor background and has to fend for herself and her mentally retarded brother. So the all-sacrificing sister takes to dancing, singing and wearing skimpy clothes in a nightclub.
Or
take Emraan Hashmi’s character Daksh. He is an impulsive ‘bottle-hitter’ who comes from a well-doing family. He falls for poor Jia. But a day comes when he has to make a choice between love and money. And the solution he comes up with is simple– marry the money and keep love as mistress.
One thing that works in favor of the story is the selection of Dia Mirza to play the role of a club dancer. The pretty faced damsel with a rather neat onscreen image only arouses pity in the minds of viewers with her ‘dirty act’ of a striptease dancer. Emraan Hashmi stands in equal stead to her with his perpetually drunk act.
Another strongpoint of the movie is its ‘easy on the ears’ music (by Nadeem Shravan) and the proper placement of songs in the narrative.
Marginal characters in the movie have been quite poorly treated. Anupam Kher is relegated to a hospital bed for a good part of his role. Sharat Saxena (who plays Pooja Bharti’s father) irritates with his unsuccessful attempts at comedy. Surekha Sikri’s character of an aristocratic, ‘hukkah-smoking’ grandmother with an incredible flair for foul language is partly entertaining and partly distasteful.
In a nutshell, Tumsa Nahin Dekha has its share of weak and strong points. Frontbenchers craving fro Dia’s steamy act will not be disappointed, but those expecting a good story and a cinematic treat will be letdown.
