This creaking relic of a film finally teeters its way across on to cinema s screens and one wishes that the audience had been spared the ordeal. With an impressive body of work behind all the lead performers, you wonder what it was that prompted any of them to accept this lame duck of a film. Having said that, its awfulness is such that makes the first half quite unintentionally entertaining.

On a rainy night, a tearful Aruna Irani, in the flush of youth, arrives at her father's house (Aloknath) to ask for money to have her husband treated in hospital. But of course, father refuses as the hubby is a wastrel but as daughter stomps out of her house with her two children, he makes a call to the hospital to authorise the treatment only to be told that the wastrel has kicked the bucket. Daughter refuses to have anything to do with her father until later when Father appears to be breathing his last. Off mother and daughter Radha (Madhuri) go to the hospital only to have their rickshaw thumped by some wayward driver, flinging mother out on to the road. Well, if that wasn't bad enough, another car finishes the job. Now orphaned, Mads and bro ( Atul Agnihotri), a Bachchan wannabee, end up with grandpa who "manages" the estate of some deceased friend who had two children Gopal (Shahrukh) and sis (Suman Raganathan) whom Grandpa had brought up. Grandpa now arranges the nuptials of Radha and Gopal, Gopal having been in love with Radha since he was a wee little kid! All goes off smoothly but oops, there is a spoke in the wheel. Our hero Gopal is an insecure and rather petty person who cannot bear the fact that our Radha is friendly with aging and balding popstar Salman Khan. They had been friends since childhood and Radha makes no attempt to hide her adoration for the pop sensation. Aakhir, ghar ki baat hai.

Gopal continues to fester and fester until he explodes one day and in his confrontation with the pop supremo, Salman calls him "complex", of course meaning complexed. The fact is that he is complex and complexed and in the most utterly unconvincing and pathetic way. Its the usual hum drum after that but as we well know, good bharatiya naris will never look at another man so the ending is really quite predictable. But then again, our leading lady here really did not do very much to merit behaviour of the kind from our "complex" hero. And there is never a hint that there is anything more than a brother sister relationship between the two.

This film really does tax your senses and the whole ordeal of sitting through a film which is barely three hours long but appearing to be twice the time. I am sure I know why Shahrukh did this film...he needed the moolah what with his new production house and the new house he bought. He sleepwalks through the film and this must be his worst ever performance. Madhuri looks nice and you see her sparkle here and there but oh my is she paunchy in the Bappi Lahiri ditty "gale main laal tie". Salman khan...oh well, nothing new here. The same old steps except that now he does look a little old for it and what with his thinning pate, he looks like something out of Sunset Boulevard, trying hard to hold onto his youth and his popularity.

Direction is awful and the music is certainly not worthy of mention although a couple of songs do manage to pass muster. On the whole, dull as ditchwater and not worthy of certainly two of its stars.