Woh Lamhe - Watch it

If there is one reason to watch Mohit Suri's 'Woh Lamhe', it has to be Kangana Raut's performance as a schizophrenic actress caught in between wanting to be loved and disease eating away all vestiges of reality.

The movie from the Mahesh Bhatt stables is a poignant love story, which is supposed to be based on Mahesh Bhatt's affair with sultry screen siren on yesteryears, Parveen Babi. Irrespective of how fact and fiction was merged, Woh Lamhe is a neat movie that captures in very emphatic fashion how schizophrenia eats away at the very core of your being destroying everything that you once held dear and leaving you with nothing but memories of a life lived.

Kangana plays the role of Sana, which at first seems to be an extension of her role in Gangster, but soon one realises that something is not right and, it is to the actors credit that she manages to evoke the hallucinatory aspects of her illness without compromising on what she actually is as a person...someone lonely at the height of her fame. Everyone she knows has used her to further their own gains and even Shiney Ahuja who plays Agarwal, an aspiring director, also wants to use her popularity and fame for the very same reasons. But somewhere along the way he develops feelings for her and the rest of the story is devoted to how she is being destroyed by psychosis and how he stays by her side.

There are many poignant and touching moments especially during the second half where Agarwal is forced to kidnap her, in the hope that she can be cured. The way he looks with sad longing at her even when she accuses him of plotting to kill her or when with tears streaming down his eyes he eats a piece of cake to show to her that it is not poisoned drives home his sheer desperation of not being able to hold on longer to a losing battle.

As with most Mahesh Bhatt movies of recent times, there is a lushness to the movie which is exemplified by beautiful cinematography and very good music. The songs also manage to complement the emotions being portrayed...be it hurt, longing or gay abandon. Acting by the two lead players are very good, with Kangana's role the meatier of the two. All other actors are extraneous to the basic plot of the movie and one has the feeling that not too many hours were spent in trying to develop them. This is because the director is intent only on telling the story of these two people, which, though has its shortcomings is not too distracting, as we are caught up with what is happening to Sana and Agarwal.

Woh Lamhe is one of the better movies that I saw this season...