Nov 15, 2005 01:14 PM
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(Updated Nov 26, 2005 01:45 PM)
Tum Mere Ho is a cheesy but entertaining supernatural laced with enough dimestore special effects to fill up a Fred Olen Ray filmfest.
While this is one of many Indian films to deal with ''snake women'' folklore, the movie's major draw is the romantic pairing of a young Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla - one year after the pair hit it big in director Mansoor Khan's wildly successful Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak [1988].
Needless to say, Tum Mere Ho could harldy duplicate the success of their previous year's coupling, and Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla would eventually go their separate cinematic ways after a few more box office disappointments.
Aamir Khan stars as Shiva/Ram, whose childhood is almost cut short by a fatal snake bite from a vengeful Nagin (snake woman), whose child was killed by Ram's greedy father.
The boy's grieving parents set his apparently lifeless body adrift on a river bed where he eventually crosses the path of magical snake charmer Baba Kalpanath.
Baba removes the deadly venom from the comatose boy, christens him ''Shiva'' and raises him as his own training him in the fine arts of snake charming.
Years later, the now-grown Shiva is giving a snake charming demonstration at a fair when he meets the beautiful Paro ( Juhi Chawla and it's love at first sight.
Of course, this being a Bollywood film, Paro's wealthy parents staunchly disapprove of her relationship with a lowly snake charmer, and her hotheaded father seeks to put a permanent end to Shiva's persistent presence in his daughter's lovelife.
When Paro rebels against her cruel father, he and his wife finally break the harsh truth to her: Paro is actually a widow whose hand was pledged to another when she was but three years old.
Unfortunately, the groom, who was but a child himself, was bitten by a snake and died before the pair could be married.
According to village custom, Paro must forever be a grieving widow.
By this point, if you can't see exactly where this story is headed than your mental compass must be seriously out of whack.
Not exactly one of the highpoints of Aamir Khan's career, Tum Mere Ho nevertheless cruises along in an engagingly goofy manner no doubt helped by its brief running time (by Bollywood standards) and song-and-dance numbers which are colorful and nicely picturised, if a bit repetitive (the title ditty ''Tum Mere Ho'' pops up on three different occasions).
Aamir Khan looks slightly embarrassed throughout much of the production and never quite cuts loose with his aggressive charm except during the song-and-dance numbers, while the lovely Juhi Chawla attacks her role with a surfeit of conviction that seems all the more commendable considering the bizarre behavior her character sometimes displays.
The movie's highlights include battling cobras, gloriously over-the-top supporting performances, and Shiva's hilarious duel with an evil snake charmer named Kalunath, whose skull-and-bones costume looks like something that was picked up in a Kmart post-Halloween bargain bin.
