Sherazade Review of Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena

Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (2005)

Too stylish for its own good! That and it's a copy of a Hollywood film!

[8/10 · 26 March 2006]

The Maverick and The Beautiful, as the title loosely translates, 'Ek Khiladi, Ek Haseena' is Bollywood's remake of the Rachel Weisz sleeper hit 'Confidence.' Koena Mitra appears here in the sexy vamp role immortalised in the Hollywood version by Weisz and the directors and stylists do there best to make Mitra stand up to par, and that she does to the best of her ability. Catchy song numbers as well as dragged out scenes and dialogue make the film a true Bollywood one by letting it unnecessarily spill over the two hour mark, and with that you just have to wonder what they were hoping to accomplish that Confidence and its stellar cast didn't already do? The film suffers from being too urban, too ahead of itself, too flashy, too sexy, too shiny in spite of being a dark thriller, too prim for its own good. Con artists and swindlers needn't over do it to achieve their goal, the director (who had a perfect 10 in his clutch) let it slip by overdoing the glitz and things. Nevertheless, Koena Mitra and Fardeen Khan don't fail to delivery the much needed sizzle for this type of film. Ignore Mitra's Britney Spears-ish number that the film opens to, there's much more to be enjoyed inside!