Nasha: Movie Review

If you are expecting the barefaced boldness of Poonam Pandey's provocative tweets from her debut film, you would be better-off glued to her social media account. With the aesthetics of Jism that director Amit Saxena brings to the film, though Nasha has enough skin-show, it doesn't end up as a sleaze-fest. Thereby it marginally escapes falling in the B-grade zone that is meant for downright titillation. But at the same time it is so shallow on story that it can't even win an A-grade esthetic, despite the namesake certification.

Another setback with Nasha is that though it essentially relies on sensuality, its female lead Poonam Pandey doesn't exude as much sex-appeal on celluloid as her twitpics promised. But then again the film is largely seen through the perspective of its male protagonist and Poonam just happens to be the object of his obsession.

The story, by and large, is about an adolescent school boy Sahil (Shivam Patil) who is obsessed with the new teacher Anita (Poonam Pandey) and can't think beyond her. You don't blame the boy much for the teacher roams in the campus in micro-minis, gives literal lessons in seduction and is on perpetual PDA spree with her boyfriend.

What initially starts as a screwball campus comedy soon shifts towards an obsessive love story. Thankfully the director steers away from the tendency of appending any suspense-thriller streak, often associated with the film's primary genre of erotica. The theme of physical fascination to the opposite sex, particularly at an impressionable age, has been previously captured in Bollywood films like Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Jokerand Manisha Koirala starrer Ek Choti Si Love Story. Nasha raises the bar with the boy's intense and imaginative fantasizes about his teacher - faintly reminiscent of Monica Belluci's Italian film Malena - though obviously not as outrageous.

With the boy's persistent obsession with his teacher, the film gets one-dimensional and repetitive after a point. The narrative lacks a definitive climax point and by the end you realize that the film merely captures an adolescent escapade without exploring any conclusion or a message out of it - despite the opportunity it offered. The film finds its convenient climax in the passion play between the young boy and the much elder teacher. Director Amit Saxena, however, succeeds in eloquently bringing out the mixed emotions of - reluctance yet giving in to the sinful temptation - in the teacher's consciousness.

Poonam Pandey just manages to walk through the role. While one doesn't expect histrionics from her, she doesn't set the screen on fire either. Her hoarse vocals are a further turnoff. Shivam Patil surprises with a fairly expressive act. Sheetal Singh as Shivam's girlfriend is good in her short role.

Nasha might have a tempting facade but is not addictive enough!