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<P>Grahan</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Unlike wine the taste of which enhances with time, a film, which has</P>
<P>been long in making loses some of its allure. Grahan is no different.</P>
<P>Launched a good five years back, Grahan sort of lived up to its title,</P>
<P>what with, constant production and distribution problems, landing its</P>
<P>star producer Jackie Shroff in a financial soup.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>However the eclipse finally clears as Grahan hits the marquee today.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Dealing with the sensitive issue of rape, Grahan offered ample scope and</P>
<P>possibilities. That, they remain unexplored is an altogether different</P>
<P>issue.</P>
<P>Parvati Shastri aka Paro (Manisha Koirala) is a bubbly and naïve lower</P>
<P>middle class girl, who supports her aged father and herself by giving</P>
<P>dance lessons. Tragedy strikes when she becomes a target of Chief</P>
<P>minister's lecherous son Sanju's (Prasad Purandhare) lust. To save his</P>
<P>skin, Sanju hands over his case to lawyers cum siblings Raghu</P>
<P>(Raghuvaran) and Jaggu (Jackie Shroff), on his sister Suneeta's (Anupama</P>
<P>Verma) insistence. Incidentally Jaggu and Suneeta happen to be lovers</P>
<P>too.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>As it turns out Jaggu, blinded by the belief that Sanju is innocent,</P>
<P>proves to the court that Paro is characterless.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Things take an ugly turn for Jaggu when he discovers the "real" truth.</P>
<P>Burdened with guilt, he decides to unearth the missing Paro and procure</P>
<P>justice for her.</P>
<P>Cut to the exotic locales of New Zealand (passed off as Mount Rose),</P>
<P>where he gets a schizophrenic and crazy Paro treated.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Does Paro become normal? Is Jaggu successful in nailing down Sanju? Will</P>
<P>Paro regain her lost esteem? For that you'll have to watch the movie</P>
<P>folks.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Not that you will miss anything earth shattering if you don’t.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The film has too many loopholes to overlook.</P>
<P> </P>
<P> Prime one being-badly etched characters. For example Paro's character</P>
<P>is so weird. Barring for simpering and stuttering she doesn’t resist at</P>
<P>all when Sanju tries to get physical. In another shot, when she is with</P>
<P>Jaggu during her treatment, she just breaks into a seduction number.</P>
<P>Bathing in milk, et al. How the hell are you supposed to empathise with</P>
<P>such an inconsistent character? Also, who are they kidding when they try</P>
<P>to pass off Anupama Verma as the Chief minister, that too just because</P>
<P>her father, an ex-CM died. Apparently the makers are still living in the</P>
<P>archaic age.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The climax is even more confusing and ludicrous. The audiences are</P>
<P>misled into believing something which turns out to be something else</P>
<P>altogether.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>In the acting department, classic beauty Manisha Koirala comes up with a</P>
<P>sensitive performance. It may not be in the same league as Khamoshi or</P>
<P>Bombay, but she is simply marvelous in a heart wrenching courtroom scene</P>
<P>where she finally breaks down. It's her badly written role that lets her</P>
<P>down.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Jackie Shroff is perfect as the subdued and controlled lawyer. Don’t</P>
<P>expect him to mouth great one liners like Sunny Deol in Damini though.</P>
<P>Grahan has so many court room scenes, but it can't boast of a single</P>
<P>punchy line to its credit.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Débutante model turned actress Anupama Verma (voice dubbed by television</P>
<P>actress Grusha Kapoor) bags the meatiest part. Sadly, she doesn’t</P>
<P>display the needed maturity and conviction to handle it.</P>
<P><P></P>
<P>One of the positive aspects of the film is its melodious music by Kartik</P>
<P>Raja. Kehte Hain Jisko Mohabbat and Aaj Main Khush Hoon in particular</P>
<P>are standouts.</P>
<P><P></P>
<P>Cinematography by S.Kumar is breathtaking. Looks wise, Grahan doesn’t</P>
<P>give any sign of being a long-in-the-making project.</P>
<P>In a nutshell, Grahan misfires for the want of a tight script and</P>
<P>hard-hitting characters.</P></BODY>
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