Albela

About the film

Albela (transl. Unique) is an Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film released on 20 April 2001. It was directed by Deepak Sareen and stars Jackie Shroff, Govinda, Aishwarya Rai and Namrata Shirodkar.

Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from critics and was declared an "average" at the box office by Box Office India.

Plot

Tony (Govinda) is an easy-going and popular tour guide. One day a fortune teller tells him that a blue-eyed princess from overseas will enter his life and change it forever. She is the dream girl that he has been searching for.

On the way from Austria to an intended holiday in Singapore, Sonia (Aishwarya Rai) and her nanny (Maya Alagh) stop off in Mumbai. When their connecting flight is delayed, Sonia decides instead to travel to Malaga (which is implied to be near Goa), the birthplace of her mother, who died when Sonia was very young. Sonia has been brought up by her father (the Austrian Ambassador) (Saeed Jaffrey) since her mother mysteriously abandoned the family to return to Malaga. Although Sonia knows her father will be very angry with her – he hates India and Indians due to his wife leaving him – Sonia wants to see her mother's grave for the first time. She convinces her father to let her stay in Malaga for a few days to fulfill her wish.

Upon arrival in Malaga, Sonia meets Tony and hires him to show her the area and to help her find her mother's grave. As Sonia and Tony see the sights of Goa and find her mother's grave, Tony begins to fall in love with Sonia and it appears Sonia is very fond of him. Unbeknownst to Tony, his childhood friend, Neena (Namrata Shirodkar) is in love with him and she does not take kindly to him spending all his time with Sonia.

Production

The film was shot in Bangalore (interiors), Goa, Mauritius and Austria.

Reception

Taran Adarsh from IndiaFM gave the film 1 out of 5, writing "On the whole, ALBELA has just one factor going in its favour; the fresh combination of Govinda and Aishwarya Rai which has helped the film take a good start, but the poor direction and a poorer script will mar its prospects after the initial craze declines. Its fall is inevitable!".

Ziys Us Salam of The Hindu cited "Albela brings Govinda and Aishwarya together for the first time. While Govinda attempts to step beyond the ribald street entertainer with his portrayal of the suave English-speaking guide, Aishwarya tries to prove that she can hold her own in front of the master of comedy. In their own way, both of them succeed. While Jackie and Namrata are adequate in their relatively smaller roles, it is the music of the film which does not quite get you humming out of the hall. It may not shower the bounties of spring on the producers but it is not too bad a proposition for this summer of relatively meagre takings". Ronjita Das of Rediff wrote "The film is pleasantly enjoyable. Deepak Sareen (of Aaina fame) probably didn't think of making anything more than a family entertainer, which is exactly what this film is. Aishwarya, as usual, is a visual treat. The film is just another ramp for her to display her exquisite designer clothes. If only she paid more attention to her acting. Govinda is atrociously overweight and has a tendency to mouth his dialogues as if everyone in the theatre had lost their hearing. On the other hand, Jackie Shroff steals the show – no bulging bags under his eyes, and the actor looks good. Namrata Shirodkar is hardly present in the film. When she is, all she does is cry. So making out whether she can act or not is rather tough. The mu…

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Jatin–Lalit.Songs were popular

Key details