So, as I said, you want to sample a typical, plagiarized Bollywood fare? Take a look at Zeher (Means poison in Urdu/Hindi). I am wondering what to discuss first Zeher or Out of Time (Hollywood flick featuring Denzel Washington, Eva Mendez). You may naturally as why? Because Zeher is, as they say in Bollywood, is inspired by Out of Time. Inspire is more of an euphuism for almost frame by frame copy, without giving any credit to the original. If this shocks you, well it is a very common practice back in Bollywood. Only the songs are added to please the Indian public. Still interested? Read on.

Police officer Siddhartha Mehra (Emran Hashmi) is separated from his same profession wife Sonia Mehra (Shamita Shetty) because he is jealous of her professional success. Siddhartha is one hell of a confused guy and still yearns for Sonia, but is too stubborn to admit it, even to his best friend and fellow officer James (Ninad Kamat).

By chance, Siddhartha meets an attractive woman, actually his friend Sean's (Sameer Kochar) wife, Anna (Udita Goswami). She seems to be ill treated by her husband and she often seeks Siddhartha out. Soon they form a relationship but is it really what it seems? Throw in drugs money and other things going wrong and the case investigation going to the estranged wife Sonia. Sounds interesting? I only wish the movie was not plagiarized from the Hollywood flick.

The movie also plays another very popular Bollywood angle. Show some skin (basically bare back) in posters and promos and claim it to be a daring movie, whereas in the movie those scenes pass in the blink of the eye. What I mean to say is deliberately giving a different impression about a movie and attracting certain audience and then letting them down by not showing what they expected. The media plays along with the hype and after watching Zeher, I was left scratching my head that where was the skin show and what was the fuss about? Many HBO movies have more skin show any day than Zeher.

Such movies are typically not strong in the acting department. Characters try to look good, even if the scene demands them to be crying. All the three lead characters are flat though they look good. The only worthwhile performance in this movie is given by Sameer Kochar as James, the ever laughing and philosophizing friend to Siddhartha. The pace of the movie is good and the director is to be commended for it. One song of the movie 'Woh Lamhe' superb but again this song is originally by a Pakistani band Jal, again no credit given to the original.

What do I do with a movie like Zeher? Well, if I had not known that it was copied from a Hollywood flick, I would have given it three stars and recommended it. But knowing what I do, you can sample this movie only if you want to see it to believe it, that what I am saying is true. Not recommended.

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age