Director: Deepak Tijori
Music: Ravi Pawar
Lyrics: Ajay Jhingran
Cast: Kiran Janjani, Vikas Sethi, Adyasha, Mink Singh, Mita Vasisht, Kiran Kumar.

Actor turned director, Deepak Tijori’s much talked about directorial debut has some great aspects going for it. It’s theme and approach are boldly novel, sure to deliver some knock out punches to the orthodox, puritan Hindi film goer used to seeing dew drops on flowers whenever the hero and heroine make out.

The film which is touted to be a teen comedy, based on the life of male strippers is anything but. The film delves deep into relationships, into the double standards of a prurient society but alas, offers no answers to the questions it poses.

Jahaan [Kiran Janjani], Aakash [Vikas Sethi] and Nikki [Adyasha] share a passion for dancing and work as background dancers in Hindi films. While Akash is wholesome, handsome and rich, Jahaan is handsome, poor and a little messed up because he wants to make it big with or without the support of his ever-whining teary eyed girl friend Nikki.

When a popular starlet Sonia (Mink Singh) offers Jahaan the path to a quick buck, he readily agrees to be strip and dance for a bunch of affection (for want of a better word) starved ladies.

Mayhem ensues with the women falling all over the two dancers which makes Jahan feel like God and a million bucks but Akash queasy and cheap.
Meanwhile Nikki decides to hitch her horse to the stable and kind Akash and Jahan continues to perform for Sonia’s buddies. There he meets a mysterious older woman Sharon (played chillingly well by veteran indie actor Mita Vashisht) who , it turns out is into the ‘real thing’. Some kinky encounters later, our young lad is totally smitten by Sharon, who refuses to tell him anything about her real identity.

When Akash hears of the tale he encourages his pal to take full advantage of the situation, what better than to have an affair with a forty something woman with absolutely no strings attached?

But things turn real uncomfortable (oops!) when Sharon’s identity is revealed and the tale begins to take strange twists and turns.

The film is punctuated every five minutes by pointless song and dance routines which makes one itch for the fwd button even in the theater and the denouement is so lame it takes much away from this cinematic exercise.
Some things fall right into place and are pleasantly shocking but the pals coming together ( all forgiven/forgotten) and Jahaan landing a role in Bombay Dreams and giving up stripping for cash and fun is taking the easy route out.

The end could have been edgier …all said and done, even though Oops can never be called a masterpiece by any standards it does offer some fodder for thought.

The cinematography by Thomas Xavier is commendable and music by Ravi Pawar is passable.
Kiran Janjani as Jahaan is pleasing to the eye as are Vikas Sethi and Adyasha. Kiran shows promise as an actor but the same cannot be said about the other young actors in the film including Mink Singh.

|