Movie Review: Hello

Its Friday - time to head to the nearest theater, grab a huge bag of popcorn and enjoy the latest dish of Bollywood tadka - today we managed to catch the hugely anticipated multi starrer, HELLO.

HELLO stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Gul Panag, Sharman Joshi, Sohail Khan, Amrita Arora, Esha Koppikar and Sharad Saxena. In case you didn't already know, HELLO is based on Chetan Bhagat's massively successful 'One night at the call center'.

With HELLO, Chetan Bhagat steps into the lilting dunes of Bollywood - he has also written the screenplay for the movie. He has made some changes to his original story to suit Bollywood appetites. The book begins with a train journey where the author meets a hot girl and she tells him the story of a few blokes in a call center. In the movie a shirtless Salman Khan has a snazzy item number and he meets a hot female (Katrina Kaif). The story goes like this:

The story is viewed through Shyam, a call center agent and a tame team leader. The story revolves around him, his colleagues Varun, Esha, Radhika, his girl friend Priyanka and an aged Military Uncle. Shyam rues his break with Priyanka apart from the threat all of them face on the uncertainty of their future at the center.

The happenings of the night carry the romance and break up interludes of Shyam and Priyanka as flash back. Each character has a (sob) story to bemoan. But, the narration runs interestingly because it has the natural flow and the high sense of humor (at times black) of Chetan Bhagat.

Shyam (Sharman Joshi) is the protagonist who breaks up with Priyanka because her mother does not approve of him. Why? Because she feels that her husband ought to be at least a team leader. His temporary girl is Shefali.

Priyanka (Gul Panag) loves Shyam, but has a tendency to fight with him often... her mom doesn't help matters.

Vroom aka Varun (Sohail Khan) has a fascination for high speed, cars and bikes. He is confused, yet patriotic and is dissatisfied with himself.

Esha (Amrita Arora) is very attractive and wants to be a model. She has a crush on Vroom but pretends otherwise.

Radhika (Esha Koppikar) is a married woman trying hard to keep things together at her home. Her husband is demanding and is also cheating on her.

Military Uncle (Sharad Saxena) is the only elderly person in the team, who handles clients via chatting. He does not speak much.

Bakshi> is the upstart manupulative antagonistic boss of the above. He is the typical sleazebag in the office.

After a series of events, mostly unfriendly, the six co workers go off on a drive to a club... and they meet with an accident...and they get a call from someone unexpected - God.

Without spoiling much of the story, we get straight to the actors. Sharman Joshi, Gul Panag and Sharad Saxena were tailor made for their roles. Esha Koppikar, Sohail Khan and Amrita Arora are passable. Salman Khan looks sleep deprived. Kaif looks like she just had a fight with Salman.

Unfortunately HELLO is just passable fare. The movie tries to target people who have read the book and also the less blessed ones. Although the book was never designed as a thriller, the promos of the movie make it look like one. The movie is neither thrilling nor entertaining.

Chetan Bhagat's screenplay fails to keep it together and there is a lot of time wasted on just characterization. While the songs are good, Salman Khan (who is featured as a main character) is given a very small and forgettable role.

'One night at the call center' is Chetan bhagat's weakest book. Hello turned out to be a very average movie. Watch it if you have a choice between Harri Puttar and this flick. Big disappointment.