Hindustan Times Review

HUM TUMHARE HAIN SANAM
Cast Madhuri Dixit, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Atul Agnihotri, Suman Ranganathan, Alok Nath, Aruna Irani, Aishwarya Rai (Guest appearance)
Director K S Adhiyaman
Ever since Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar vied for the attention of Nargis in Mehboob Khan's Andaaz in the late 1940s, love triangles have been a common narrative device in commercial Indian cinema. It is pretty obvious, therefore, that Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, a reworking of a Tamil hit, has absolutely nothing new to offer. If the mothballed plot of a husband who suspects his wife of being in love with an old friend doesn't turn out to be as drab as one would expect it to be, the credit must accrue to Madhuri Dixit and the on-screen chemistry that she shares with the ebullient Shahrukh Khan.

Director Adhiyaman manages to craft an acceptable first half, helped along by the spark that Madhuri provides, but he is unable to sustain the tempo thereafter, letting a series of poorly written and unconvincing situations rob this tale of marital discord of its melodramatic force.

The story is so simple that it simpers. An entrepreneur Gopal (Shahrukh) marries Radha (Madhuri), who happens to be the very girl he doted on as a boy. But Radha is exceedingly fond of Suraj (Salman Khan), an orphan who has been raised by her mother. The latter is a dasher, a glib talker, the owner of a great physique, a wonderful singer and a superstar with a huge female fan following. The frequent phone calls that Suraj and Radha exchange sow seeds of doubt in Gopal's mind and he begins to impute ignoble motives to every gesture that his wife make, every word that she says.

The post-marriage scenes, especially the hero's desperate attempts to snatch some moments of privacy with his newly married wife, are handled with a certain degree of flair. So are the sequences that underscore the growing drift between the couple. What is most interesting is the touch of humour that the director is able to impart to the proceedings. As for the rest, Hum Tumhare… is strictly predictable fare. Even the surprise climactic entry of Aishwarya Rai as Suraj's blind girlfriend only serves to reduce the denouement to a bit of a farce.

Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam went on the floors six years ago. That, in a sense, proves to be a blessing in disguise. We get to see the Madhuri of the Dil To Paagal Hai days, young, lissome, sprightly, magically malleable. As long as she is on the screen, she presents a constant reminder of her class as a screen performer. If only she had better material to work with! Shahrukh is in fine fettle too, conveying the negative shades of his character without appearing to be pushing himself. Salman Khan, as always, plays Salman Khan. Only, this time he is reasonably tolerable. Good company does have its advantages.

Saibal Chatterjee

Expert's Rating ***

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