Qasam Se Qasam Se

Director: Ashfaq Makrani
Cast: Azim Rizvi, Faith, Rakhi Sawant and Satish Kaushik

When young blood makes its first mark on the big screen you expect certain freshness from the film. Band Baaja Baaraat was one such film that managed to leave a fantastic impact thanks mainly to its fresh new faces. But with Qasam Se Qasam Se a young team with director Ashfaq Makrani, writers Nazim Rizvi, Ravi and Dr Mozzam Azam and the debuting actors Azim Rizvi and Faith manage to give you a film that would’ve perhaps appeared clichéd even in the ’70s.

Back in the ’0s it was staple fare in movies to have the hero enter his college on a bike. Sadly the 20-something Azim Rizvi, who would’ve been a toddler back then, makes that exact same entry in a 2012 film. That the film is stuck in a time capsule is further proved by scenes where college students make lewd gestures at their teacher played by Rakhi Sawant. That’s not all, you have a 50-something man (played by Satish Kaushik) dancing to a number with college kids in the canteen. How can anyone take a film seriously when the hero falls in love with the heroine because she scoots into the college on a scooty? Wait, there’s more ludicrousness. The heroine falls for the hero because he shows compassion towards a friend’s neglected grandfather.     

The writers make the film even more gimmicky as they try to weave in a love triangle. The hero’s friend falls for the heroine and in a fit of jealously he employs his father’s political influence to label the hero a terrorist. The hero is about to be encountered by the police when a twist of fate brings the hero’s father into the picture. And the father saves the day. This film and its narrative clearly belong to an era long forgotten.

The poster of the film tries to glorify the subject by telling you that this film is based on the thoughts of 220 million college students. One doubts if the youth of the country has fickle aspirations of leading lives that are too cheesy even for Hindi soap operas. Of course the film bravely tries to tackle a recent rumour. Not too long ago, cinema buffs were perturbed by the trend that people were being infected with AIDS as they were being pricked by infected needles. That’s exactly what happens to the film’s heroine as she’s infected with HIV blood by a displeased lover.

The fact that this film has 10 songs proves that the filmmakers had no faith in their own story. They’ve tried to lace it up and sell it like a commercial potboiler. But this film isn’t worthy of even that title. The future looks bleak for all those who worked in this film and for those who would want to watch it under the marketing lure of winning a diamond pendant.