I See You (2006)

Director:

Vivek Agrawal

Writers:

Vivek Agrawal (story)
Suresh Nair (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 December 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Dr. Shivani Dutt lives a wealthy lifestyle in London, England, along with her widowed mom, and a dog named Kaali...

Plot Keywords:

Psychiatrist | Coma | Television Studio | Television Show | London

Cast

Arjun Rampal	...	Raj Jaiswal
Vipasha Agarwal	...	Shivani Dutt
Chunky Pandey	...	Akshay 'AK' Kapoor
Boman Irani	...	Dr. Patnaik
Sonali Kulkarni	...	Kuljeet A. Kapoor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Deepak Bedi
Sophiya Chaudhary	...	Dilnaaz Bagga
Shahrukh Khan	...	Street Guitarist
Kiron Kher	...	Mrs. Dutt
Zaayan Lala
Michael Maloney	...	Inspector John Smith
Ashwin Mushran	...	Dr. Shah
Hrithik Roshan	...	Whistling man on street

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

UK:PG

Company:

Chasing Ganesha Films

Not that great

"I See You" is a remake of the Reese Witherspoon/Mark Ruffalo film "Just Like Heaven". While the film does have its flaws, it is not by any means the worst film to come out of Bollywood that has been 'inspired' by a Hollywood film. Arjun Rampal stars as Raj Jaiswal, the host of the successful NRI show British Raj. He moves into a new apartment but soon finds that it is being haunted by a ghost, Shivani Dutt (Vipasha Agarwal) that only he can see, the catch is, she's not a ghost but a doctor who is in a coma after an accident. His friends ponder his senility, but his close friend Akshay (Chunky Pandey) supports him as much as he can. Shivani informs him of a plot that involves doctors stealing and harvesting organs of healthy patients at her hospital.

The story has it's flaws, for one, the added story line of the harvesting of organs isn't really needed and doesn't contribute to the story being a romantic comedy. It actually does nothing for the story overall. If they had stuck with the original story, the film would have worked more. At certain points, it is unclear which story line is the central plot.

The location and setting is a tired one. The film is set in London but it could have been pulled off in Mumbai or any other Indian city. There is little charm in the way London has been used and the location never fully comes alive.

The acting is far from perfect and very flawed. Arjun Rampal manages to carry the film but because the film is heavily flawed and unnecessary, his character tends to replicate that fact. He has persona and charisma, but not enough to make this film work or enough to make it a pleasurable experience. Vipasha Agarwal sleepwalks through her performance and isn't worth a second glance. It is because of her that the film suffers, there is little chemistry between her and Rampal even though he tries his hardest to make it work. The supporting co-stars don't do much but the stand outs are Chunky Pandey as Akshay who is Raj Jaiswal's best friend and Michael Maloney who plays Inspector John Smith, the English Hindi speaking detective investigating Shivani's accident.

The writing is un-inspired and the direction is useless. This film joins the ranks of other cheap knock offs that help hold back Indian (or rather Bollywood) cinema rather than allow it to flourish. The high point for some will be the ten second cameo's by Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan, but at the end of the day, it is their cameos that are selling the film. Not the story, not the writing, not the director and certainly not the actors.

4/10: "Just Like Heaven" is far superior over this tripe, even though it is quite a mediocre film itself.