Here it is at last, Dreamz Unlimited's first dream on celluloid: Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. Considering the unabashed media blitzkrieg that has preceded this film, it is funny to consider that it spoofs majorly today's TV journalism, and the culture of hype and marketing it propagates.Juhi and Shah Rukh ride brilliantly on a collision track as rival TV news stars out to get that one more scoop that will establish their network as the best, prodded on by their network owners, Dalip Tahil and Satish Shah. Outwitting each other is part of the game, and so is creating sensations where there are none. Inevitably, the search for a scoop takes them up the political garden path, where they are hit in the face with a real scorcher. A terrorist on the run turns out to be an aam Hindustani taking revenge on the politicians who have violated his daughter and caused her death.
The terrorist (a badly hamming Paresh Rawal) is sentenced to death, and our star journos get thrown out of their top-notchjobs when they say they want to tell the public the truth. What follows is a hunt for a missing tape, which contains an all-important interview with the terrorist, and a race to get it broadcast. And to motivate the general janta to look inside their Hindustani hearts and free the poor old man.
Director Aziz Mirza has not allowed -- as feared -- co-producers Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla to show their hand too evidently in Phir Bhi.... But he has underutilised Juhi, especially as she and Shah Rukh make very good comedy together. The first half of the film is a laugh riot, with some stale jokes and some new, and Juhi could have been put to better use there. The second half drags a bit, and has a lot of pop patriotism, a sentiment that has truly been marketed and packaged to top gloss in Phir Bhi....
The finale is a comical farce, where you have the hanging of the "dreaded terrorist" being beamed live from all satellite stations, and corporates rushing to sponsor the event, minute by minute-- "Eat phaansi, sleep phaansi, drink only...". Even the costume the prisoner wears to his hanging is sponsored, each part by a different guy.
Nevertheless, Mirza could have chopped off the last 10 minutes or so, and emerged with a much better film. Never mind, Dreamz Unlimited has come up with an entertainer, and may they continue doing so!
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.