Rishtey (2002)

Rishtey: Directed by Indra Kumar. With Anil Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Kaivalya Chheda. Suraj Singh (Anil Kapoor) is in love with the beautiful and wealthy Komal (Karisma Kapoor). They dream of their perfect family together but her arrogant father Yashpal Chaudhary (Amrish Puri) detests Suraj because he is a middle-class youth, with no riches whatsoever. Komal cuts all ties with her father, marries Suraj, and is soon pregnant. Komal and her estranged father meet at a family wedding and her forgives her for leaving abruptly. Yashpal agrees to meet Suraj but when they reach home they see a seductress inside, wearing Komal’s gown and drinking tea in the kitchen. Suraj walks in totally oblivious to the fact that a strange woman is in their home. Komal questions the seductress and she says she shares Komal’s husband. Komal is furious and tries to commit suicide but Suraj stops her and repeatedly tries to prove his innocence. It turns out Yashpal set up the whole thing to break up their marriage. Komal leaves her husband with her father. She delivers a baby boy but Yashpal wants to make sure that the one thing that can bring his daughter and Suraj together be eliminated immediately. He hires hit men to kill the baby but Suraj manages to get away with his son. They move to a unknown place and he raises his son with help from the villagers. Suraj later meets Vaijanti (Shilpa Shetty), an eccentric fisher woman who his son sees as a mother and friend. Vaijanti begins to love Suraj and hopes that he feels the same way. Komal, depressed and lonely, spots her son with Suraj. Then begins a bitter custody battle between her and Suraj.

“Originally u0026#39;Rishteyu0026#39; was to be made sometime in the late 90s. Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduriu0026#39;s production company ABCL was ready to launch the movie while Indra Kumar was to direct. The original cast included Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla. However, after ABCL fell apart, the film got shelved. Years later Indra Kumar tries to revive the film with a new cast that included Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and Preity Zinta but after the two actresses walked out they were respectively replaced by Karishma Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty. So, thatu0026#39;s the history. Now whatu0026#39;s the end product like? u0026#39;Rishteyu0026#39; is a pathetic excuse of a movie. The writing is so dreadful. The plot is one of those old fashioned crap about a stupid couple separating due to a misunderstanding created by the girlu0026#39;s father. Thereu0026#39;s a baby involved and after 10 years or whatever the mom finds out that the baby is alive and wants him back. In the end they live happily ever after, yes, even with the evil father who becomes a good guy after his daughter slaps him across the face and whatever. Indra Kumar is a terrible director. I think his earlier films were more watchable because of the actors and the music. Here all the songs (with the exception of u0026#39;Deewana Dilu0026#39;) are garbage. The best song in the soundtrack (u0026#39;Dilbaru0026#39; sung by the sensational Asha Bhosle) wasnu0026#39;t even in the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe acting is clichéd and ridiculous to the core (with one exception). Anil Kapoor is miscast and, he whines, he barks, cries like a schoolgirl, is too old for the part, looks pathetic with the u0026#39;hey look Iu0026#39;m youngu0026#39; getup, and whatever. Karishma Kapoor is the queen of hamming. Though I must add that her character was awfully written. Deepshika and Sharat Saxena play clichéd characters that give them no scope and Amrish Puriu0026#39;s caricature evil dad is nothing memorable. Jibraan Khan is irritating.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe only good acting, and the only good thing that comes out of this heap of rubbish is Shilpa Shetty. Yes, she looks very sensual but if one can see past that, we do see a character with depth. The character does mildly suffer due to writing and the clichéd dialogues but Shetty moves ahead of that. She displays some impeccable comic timing and is wonderful in the dramatic sequences. One can only feel sympathy for her Vyjanti who is an uneducated fisherwoman hopelessly falling in love (as the definition of love is vague to her) with someone who does not give a damn. She selflessly does all she can to reunite Suraj with Komal knowing that thereu0026#39;s nothing to gain and I was moved by the last scene where Karan looks at her and we see her eyes filled with tears of both joy and sadness as she signals him to not say anything.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo thatu0026#39;s about it. This is a horrendous film with only one thing going for it and that is Shilpa Shetty.”