Bollywood has churned out love triangles with amazing regularity, over the decades. From SANGAM to SILSILA to SAAJAN to KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI to AITRAAZ, romance continues to be the pet subject of most dream merchants. It's either two guys loving the same girl or two girls getting swayed by one guy.

Suneel Darshan meanders on the same path in BARSAAT. Suneel borrows the essence from director Andy Tennant's Hollywood flick SWEET HOME ALABAMA [2002; Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey], but changes the genders here. In the Hollywood flick, it was all about two guys and one girl. In BARSAAT, it's two girls and one guy. No cause for worry!

But what indeed is cause for concern is that Suneel treats the subject in an old-fashioned manner. The screenplay is so hackneyed, so conventional that you often wonder whether you're watching one of those old-fashioned, conservative sagas of the 1970s.
 

Subconsciously, perhaps, BARSAAT also reminds you of Sooraj R. Barjatya movies in a way. A parivaar with pitaji-mataji, bhaiya-bhabhi and their kid, the next-door daadi, the domestic help, the bunch of friends who go for picnics and play games, the karwa-chauth ritual and Diwali celebrations… Everything is so saccharine-sweet here!

Of course, Suneel peps up the goings-on with some interesting moments, but they aren't enough to camouflage the defects, courtesy the screenplay which refuses to rise beyond predictability. Even the end, which should've been different, is so bizarre that you often wonder whether you're actually watching a contemporary film.

Suneel has always attempted films that are seeped in Indian emotions, but very modern in terms of what they intend conveying. That's where BARSAAT falters mainly!

BARSAAT is a love story of three young people caught in a vortex of love they have no control over. Their love story is like the rain… unpredictable yet welcome, torrential yet life-giving.

Arav [Bobby Deol] is a car designer in the U.S. who bumps into Anna [Bipasha Basu] first in a temple, then at a party and later in a car showroom. Anna is attracted to Arav, but he isn't. Gradually, Arav also realizes that he loves Anna.
Arav joins the BMW team and the Chairman of the company [Shakti Kapoor], who also happens to be Anna's grand-father, besides being impressed with Arav's designs, announces Arav and Anna's engagement, while unveiling the latest model in the BMW series. Everything is hunky-dory till Arav gets a call from his hometown in India.
 

Arav decides to return to his roots to sort out a few things. He has a past, he had been forced to marry Kajal [Priyanka Chopra] by his parents [Gajendra Chauhan, Beena] before he looked at West for career opportunities. Arav now seeks a divorce from Kajal.

At first, Kajal avoids the issue in a playful manner, but relents subsequently when Arav tells her the truth -- about Anna and his impending marriage to her. She decides to move out of his life.

Things take a turn when Anna and her grand-father fly to India to get Arav and Anna married. By then, Arav has lost his heart to Kajal…

The one aspect that's of paramount importance while making a romantic film is that the love story should've moments that make you smile, make you laugh, shed a tear or two, make your heart pine for the lovers, make you jump in glee the moment the lovers unite… BARSAAT does all this half-heartedly.


There's no denying that Suneel Darshan is letdown by the screenplay. The film could've been one feel-good entertainer had the script been far more innovative, but the writers seem to be stuck in the 1970s mould. A dash of imagination would've really helped!

Nadeem-Shravan's music is pleasing to the ears, but the placement of songs is what dilutes the impact. Yet, the title track as well as 'Haath Uthake Zara Gol Ghum Ja' are numbers that you'd like to hum for the foot-tapping tunes and rendition. Cinematography [W.B. Rao] is eye-filling. The locales of South Africa as well as North India are captured well by the lensman.

With BARSAAT revolving around three characters primarily, you expect the three actors to give their best in an effort to outdo each other. But nothing of the sort happens here! Bobby Deol makes an earnest effort, but is plain average. Bipasha looks alluring and her skin-show will attract the attention of the masses. As an actor, she does show sparks only towards the end. Priyanka isn't in form at all. She runs through her role mechanically.

On the whole, BARSAAT is a weak fare, with the outdated script as its biggest drawback. At the box-office, BARSAAT will face rough weather!