Hum To Mohabbat Karega is a tribute to MTNL. After a building hasbeen bombed to splinters, a trill emanates from the rubble. The phone isringing! Now you know the secret of MTNL's success: Never go by the rules.Journalist Karisma Kapoor hosts a live television show and will go to anylengths to get a scoop. But the novice does not take the trouble to verifywhether the sensational stuff being fed her is factual. She believesrestaurant steward Bobby Deol, who says he witnessed a murder she isinvestigating, and drags him over to her studio for a live chat. However,Bobby is a fan, and lied to her about the murder just so she wouldn't leavehis home in a huff.The film is in good part a comedy, but the funny scenes come up in all thegrim situations and leave you wondering how seriously you should take thegoings-on. The best part is when Bobby is called upon by the police to givea description of the killer. He shoots off his mouth like he were relatingthe menu, and what is the image that comes up on the computer screen? Thatof his friend, employer and landlord, Johnny Lever!
Villain Shakti Kapoor is characterised by a trademark tattoo and clencheshis teeth every time he is agitated. The police come in for their share ofridicule. During an ambush, Sadashiv Amrapurkar laments how everybody in thecity has machine guns save the cops. Again, when he asks the driver of hisjeep to chase escaping convicts, the guy promptly drives off-leaving himbehind!
The performances in Hum To Mohabbat Karega are above mark, with BobbyDeol, Johnny Lever and even Rohit Roy as the restrained channel chief, doinga good job.
As you would have noted already, the music of the film leaves much to bedesired. Now that we know that Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote to a tune, we knowhe didn't find Anu Malik inspiring enough in this film. In fact, Maanja is rather similar to his own Daiya yeh main kahan aa phansifrom Caravan. R Verman's sets, especially for the title song, arecolourful and impressive, even though one of them has been lifted fromKrishna Shah's film, Shalimar.
And note the allegedly utopian world of TV journalists. Karisma is aseductive glamour doll with not a hair out of place, hardly working sohardly harried, and still has fans queuing up outside the studio forautographs. Hum To Mohabbat Karega is good for a few laughs.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.