Kisna's uncle (Amrish Puri) and brother (Yashpal Sharma) are dead against the
British. They along with others kill Catherine's father. Defying his
family, Kisna saves Catherine and sets on a journey to take her to the British
High Commission in New Delhi. During their arduous journey, their relationship
develops. Kisna who is already engaged to Laxmi (Isha Sharvani), falls for
Catherine. The story is narrated as told by Lady Catherine.
Subash Ghai has made an attempt and partially succeeded in making a global
film. The first one hour or so keeps you glued to your seat and has a dreamy
quality about it, but the film's sheen
wears off when the dreaded formulistic designs takes over. Then the movie
becomes predictable as our hero gets rid of the enemies one by one. Some of the sequences
after interval is unnecessary.
Technically the film is fabulous. The scenes have an ethnical quality about
them and the locales are shot beautifully by cinematographer Ashok Mehta. The beautiful
colour scheme in dusky orange shades in the first half turns colour in the
second. The action scenes especially the sword fights are superb. Music by A.R.
Rahman and Ismail Darbar is good.
Vivek Oberoi is good but does not really rise up to what the character
demands. Antonia Bernath as Catherine steals the show with her flawless acting.
She deals with the various emotions effortlessly that one would never feel this
is her first film. Another debutant, Isha Sharvani as the village belle, also
does her part well though her character is not well developed. However her
dancing skill is amazing. Amrish Puri and Om Puri are okay. Incidentally this
is the last movie of Amrish Puri. Sushmita Sen appears in one or two scenes.
Rest of the cast is alright.
Overall, it is a saga turned sore just because of a faulty script in the
second half. After all the hype, the film may not meet the expectations of the
audience.
