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By Taran Adarsh, February 3, 2006 - 16:52 IST
Sometimes, some stories lose the sheen if delayed for a period of time. That's precisely the problem with MERE JEEVAN SAATHI. The concept of two women vying for the same man's attention is as old as the hills, but what sets MERE JEEVAN SAATHI apart from films of its ilk is that the 'other woman' is not the type to take things lying down. She wants her man at any cost!
Borrowing the basic idea from the immensely popular Hollywood flick FATAL ATTRACTION [of course, writer Robin Bhatt has modified it to suit the Indian tastes], MERE JEEVAN SAATHI is interesting in parts. In fact, the film reminds you, at places, of AITRAAZ [Akshay, Kareena, Priyanka] in the sense that the third angle of the triangle gets too aggressive and wouldn't let her man slip out of her hands.
But the problem -- a major one -- is that the film goes on and on endlessly in the post-interval portions. Ideally, the drama should've culminated during the Akshay-Amisha engagement song ['Diwani Diwani'], but it takes another 30 minutes for the story to conclude.
Also, in these 30 minutes, the other woman turns ferocious [she gangs up with the villains], then becomes docile [when the man meets her], then emotional [the two ladies have a heart-to-heart talk] and then, in the climax, ends her life. Clearly, if the first hour of the film is quite interesting, the second hour just spoils the show.
To sum up, MERE JEEVAN SAATHI suffers due to a lopsided script, which, quite frankly, looks completely out of place in today's times.
Vicky [Akshay Kumar] is a budding pop singer in love with Anjali [Amisha Patel]. Molani [Gulshan Grover] and Tolani [Ashish Vidyarthi], who own M.T. Music Company, are impressed with the adulation Vicky receives after a stage performance and sign him for their company. Meanwhile, a U.S.-based music company, Angel International Music, extends an offer to Vicky to stage musical shows in the U.S., which he gladly accepts and returns the advance paid to him by Molani and Tolani.
Angered by this somersault, Molani and Tolani swear to destroy Vicky. Instead, Anjali gets injured in the process. Vicky is in a fix. He does not desire to leave Anjali and join Angel International Music, but at the same time he has to honor his commitments. Anjali persuades him to proceed to States for the shows. Reluctantly, he leaves for New York.
In New York, Vicky meets Natasha [Karisma Kapoor], the CEO of Angel International Music. She extends and renders all help and assistance to Vicky for his shows. Natasha dotes on Vicky and is already in love with him since the college days.
Vicky succumbs to the charms of Natasha and the two spend intimate moments before he departs for India. The next morning, Vicky feels guilty and realizes that he has betrayed Anjali. But Natasha is not the type to give up so easily. She accompanies him to India and comes up with excuses so that Vicky spends more time with her, than Anjali.
Vicky is nice at first, but slowly his patience gives way to anger. Natasha tries to commit suicide by slashing her wrists, but is saved in the nick of time. Vicky decides to get engaged to Anjali, but, again, Natasha loses her temper.
If the first half of MERE JEEVAN SAATHI has a modern feel, in terms of the plot, the second half gets into the mould of a typical Hindi potboiler that looks completely outdated in today's scenario. In fact, barring a few individualistic scenes, mainly those of Karisma, the film doesn't have much to offer.
Given the script, there's not much that director Suneel Darshan can actually do. If the drama vacillates from engaging to monotonous, the execution of the subject isn't topnotch either so as to camouflage the defects. Had the writer made Karisma's character grey, instead of making her the sacrificial lamb in the climax, it would've worked for the betterment of the film. The reason why Priyanka's character in AITRAAZ worked and Karisma's in MERE JEEVAN SAATHI doesn't is because Priyanka was wicked right through, while Karisma tries to balance her wicked side and her benevolent nature simultaneously.
Nadeem-Shravan's music is an asset, but the problem is that there are too many songs in the narrative. However, talking from the melody point of view, 'Diwani Diwani', 'Tum Bin Na Hum Jee Sakenge' and 'Mashooqa' are foot-tapping. Cinematography [W.B. Rao] is eye-pleasing, especially the locales of U.S.A. and South Africa. Dialogues [K.K. Singh] are punch packed.
Akshay Kumar plays the helpless male again, after AITRAAZ, and he's strictly okay here. Karisma Kapoor does well in the latter part, when she tries to get aggressive. Amisha Patel tries hard to play the typical Hindi film heroine part. The two villains, Gulshan Grover and Ashish Vidyarthi, irritate. In fact, the film could've done without this track. Rakesh Bedi [Akshay's business manager] is alright.
On the whole, MERE JEEVAN SAATHI doesn't have much to offer. At the box-office, it won't find many takers.
  
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