Holiday

Dino Morea, Onjolie Nair, Kashmera Shah, Gulshan Grover

Why was Holiday ever made? Because Pooja Bhatt obviously needed to keep herself busy. If that itself makes for a bad case against sitting through the film, what’s worse is that Pooja, in keeping with the age-old Bhatt camp tradition, has (again) filched a Hollywood flick. Too bad, this time the film in question is one that almost all of us have seen at some point of time.

HT Image

No need to play a guessing game here — Holiday is almost a Xerox copy of the Patrick Swayze-Jennifer Grey hit, Dirty Dancing. If you haven’t already guessed that much from the teasers on telly, you’ll guess it before the first reel ends. Which is strange, because Pooja’s earlier works like Jism and Paap — albeit desified Hollywood scripts both — still had the steam. It could be because they were thrillers, a genre that draws interest more easily.

Holiday is a desified version of the Patrick Swayze-Jennifer Grey hit, Dirty Dancing. But Dino Morea and newcomer Onjolie Nair lack the required chemistry.

With

Dirty Dancing -

sorry,

Holiday -

Pooja tries to explore the nuances of romance. The setting couldn’t have been more idyllic (Goa), or the mood more upbeat (literally, because the protagonist is a dance trainer, and dance forms an integral part of the narrative movement). Yet, watching

Holiday

unfold its painfully slow pace you realise what’s wrong: Beyond presenting the sun-sand-skin routine strikingly, Pooja stumbles at the storytelling level. And Dino Morea, for all his fit looks and (much) improved acting skills, is still no Patrick Swayze.

The final nail in the coffin:

Holiday

lacks a solid score so vital for a musical. Ranjit Barot’s music is

hatke

by Bollywood standards, but the film lacks that one chartbuster that could have made the difference. These comparisons automatically crop up, considering the original material is

Dirty Dancing

.

Here’s what happens: Dr Daksh Suri (Gulshan Grover) arrives in Goa with his wife (Anahita Uberoi), and daughters Samara (Nauheed Cyrusi) and Muskaan (Onjolie Nair) on a holiday. While Samara is an extrovert, Muskaan is all bottled up in her own shell. At the resort they meet a dance instructor Dino (Dino Morea), who trains the hotel dancers. When one of the dancers (Kashmera Shah) has to be replaced, Muskaan steps in. The Dino-Onjolie track was meant to blossom hereon, as the instructor not only hones Muskaan’s salsa skills, but also helps her gain confidence in life.

But dry chemistry on the wet shores of Goa doesn’t exactly spell romance. And that’s Dino and Onjolie’s real stumble on the dance floor.