Film: Beiimaan Love
Rating: *1/2
In one scene Daniel Weber (Sunny Leone's real life husband who also plays her other love interest in the film) says to her character, "You are an uncut unique diamond."
While the line was perfectly cheesy and got me giggling, it is a perfect analogy for Leone. There is surely none like her in Hindi cinema. After all, she has created a whole genre of Hindi cinema — Sunny Leone films.
This one is a quintessential Leone film. So does it matter what the story or plot is if you are watching this film for Leone? May be not!
But just for formality let's look at the plot of the film. A drunk Raj Malhotra (Rajneesh Duggal) tries to sexually molest Sunaina (Leone) in a bar. She slaps him and walks away. His friend makes a video of the incident and uploads it online. Unable to take Sunaina's insult, he decides to get back at her by placing a bet with his brother-in-law that he will get Sunaina to sleep with him in just 10 days. Meanwhile, it turns out that Sunaina works in his father's company.
And lo and behold! Raj manages to impress Sunaina by doing the following cliched things that we have never seen before in Hindi cinema: apologising for the incident, telling his friend on the phone how he is a changed man and wants to get serious about working in his father's company, selling dubious products to Chinese clients (who look, behave and speak like anybody else but Chinese!) pretending to work late into the night, sending her flowers on her birthday, saving her from goons, fighting with his friend for her honour and then disappearing for three days so she can pine for his love and then come running into his arms later. Sunaina forgets this was the same man who tried to molest her a few days ago and falls head over heels in love with him. And all this in just 10 days! Props to the man.
In the process, though someone very close to Sunaina ends up killing herself after suffering humiliation at the hands of Raj and his father. Then begins a seemingly unending game of deceit, as the title suggests, as Sunaina seeks revenge by plotting to bring down Raj and his father by becoming a successful entrepreneur and bringing their business empire down.
The film's biggest moment and comic relief comes right around the time you have started to switch off due to sheer exertion or boredom. Ziesha Nancy who plays Raj's fiance makes an entrance with loud makeup and assets spilling out of whatever it is that she is wearing and sits next to her father (Avatar Gill). This scene will leave you in splits, and more such scenes featuring this character offer unintentional comic relief in the otherwise tedious proceedings of the second half.
The songs are the mainstay of the film. After all, the film starts with a Leone dance video and ends with her dance number. In between you also have two songs with sensual and intimate scenes — the prerequisites for a Sunny film are all there.
No doubt that Sunny looks amazing and interestingly also ends up coming across as the better actor in this entire cast (yes, you heard me right). Sunny has surely improved her emoting and expressions. The question is, do we as audience want to see Leone in this same mode film after film or do we want her to do something more and attempt something different? Do we want to continue watching Sunny Leone films or do we want to watch Sunny in an un-Sunny kind of film?
In this case, director, writer and producer Rajeev Choudhari has made a perfect Leone film — the songs, dancing, romance, sexy outfits and intimate scenes — its all there. So if you are a Leone fan and have a high enough threshhold for pain to last through clichéd narration, contrived plot points and hamming just for a good dose of Leone, this one is for you. For the rest, stay at home.
Producer, director, screenplay writer: Rajeev Choudhari
Cast: Sunny Leone, Rajneesh Duggal