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Hat Trick
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'Hat Trick' -Worth a Watch

By N K Deoshi
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

Milan Luthria’s movie ‘Hat Trick’ doesn’t bowl you over. But it does provide an entertaining and interesting blend of comedy and emotional moments.

It is Milan’s style to tell stories in which the leading characters are compelled by their circumstances to do soul searching within. So happens in ‘Hat Trick’ too.

The

movie’s title ‘Hat Trick’ doesn’t directly relate to the game of cricket, which, anyway, stays in the background throughout the film. The title rather refers to three parallel stories in the movie and the characters in them. The three stories don’t intersect (except for one small instance). But there is a common theme running through them. There is something dysfunctional about leading characters in each story. And each character has to look within and change himself or herself to put things into right perspective. This is the essence of the story of ‘Hat Trick’.

Story 1: Dr. Satyajit (Nana Patekar) doesn’t bring any emotion into his profession. If a patient has no chance to survive, Dr. Satyajit doesn’t mind telling him straightaway that he is on his deathbed. At home, he talks only to the point with his wife and his son. No needless talk and no unnecessary emotions: that is how Satyajit has been as a doctor and as a husband.

But one day a patient named David Abraham (Danny Denzongpa) comes to his hospital. David is a former cricketer and he is absolutely obsessed with the game. Even though his ailment could be fatal, David is always lively and joyous. And he has one desire, to watch the ongoing cricket world cup.

Cricket, according to Dr. Satyajit is a disease that has afflicted the whole country.

This is a story about how David brings about a change in Satyajit’s life.

Story 2: Hemu Patel (Paresh Rawal) works as a janitor at an airport in England, but he has told his friends that he is in the immigration department. He has a loving wife and a disrespectful daughter. Hemu has been away from his home in Gujarat for many years and his only aim now is to get a UK citizenship.

Even though he is a fan of Indian cricket team, Hemu downplays his patriotism and supports England instead just because he wants UK citizenship. The turn of events make him realize that he has been living in a bubble world, trying to be someone who he is not.

Story 3: Sarabjit or Saby (Kunal Kapoor) and Kashmira (Rimi Sen) seem made for each other. They get married and on their very first night together Kashmira finds her husband glued to the TV, watching the cricket match. Tired of Saby’s unending fascination for cricket, and for Mahendra Singh Dhoni in particular, Kashmira decides to make her husband jealous. She falls head over heels in love with Dhoni and this makes Saby very jealous. Things come to the extent of a possible divorce between the two.

These three stories run parallel in the movie and the characters in them go through a multitude of emotions before finally making corrections within themselves.

Although ‘Hat Trick’ offers nothing stellar and nothing exceptional, the movie keeps you bound to your chair because of its simple approach to complex characters and because of performances by the star cast.

Nana Patekar is simply brilliant as the terse, uptight, unsmiling, rude and non-sentimental doctor. Nana’s performance is the most outstanding in the film. Paresh Rawal comes second with his portrayal of a man desperate for UK citizenship. Paresh brings a nice contradiction of meek submissiveness and rashness in his Hemu Patel.

Kunal Kapoor performs competently while Rimi Sen looks hot and delivers a fine performance. Danny brings a natural charm to his character.

Milan Luthria doesn’t try to offer anything path-breaking in ‘Hat Trick’. His idea is to give simple, light-hearted entertainment with a few emotion-stirring moments. The film’s music is strictly okay. The dialogues are good.

On the whole, ‘Hat Trick’ is eminently watchable.

Rating: ***

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