‘Jurm’ falls like a pack of cards

Rating:- *

Borrowed or, shall we say, inspired from different foreign and Indian films, ‘Jurm’ fails to impress.

Avinash [Bobby Deol], a business tycoon, is arrested for the murder of his wife Sanjana [Lara Dutta],and best friend Rohit [Milind Soman], who is also his legal advisor, fights his case. But as the court hearings begin to take place, Avinash finds himself more and more trapped in the case.

But has he really killed his wife? If the evidence suggests that he has been framed in this case, who is the real culprit?

The film takes off quite well but falters before long. When Shakti Kapoor spills the beans and reveals the story, charm of the film is gone, and JURM becomes one of those typical Bollywood films in which everything is predictable.

Music [Anu Malik, Anand Raaj Anand] is a mixed bag. The best three tracks are placed in the first half of the film ['Nazrein Teri Nazrein', 'Meri Chaahaton Ka' and 'Aksar Ye Hota Hain Pyaar Mein'], while the tracks in the second half are plain gap fillers. Cinematography [Pravin Bhatt] is alright. Action scenes [Abbas Ali Moghal] are striking.

JURM rests on Bobby's shoulders and the actor does reasonably well. This is the second time he has enacted a similar role, after HUMRAAZ. Lara Dutta runs through her role mechanically. Milind Soman is just about okay. Gul Panag is likeable and efficient.

Amongst character actors, Ashish Vidyarthi [cop] and Vivek Shauq [cabbie] can be singled out.