Atul Agnihotri and Chetan Bhagat, accredited together for the screenplay and dialogues of Hello, fail to do justice. Atul needs to work on his craftsmanship and do some good amount of homework before he gets down to direct a film. Chetan Bhagat is not so much of a screenplay writer as a novelist that he is. Hello needs another proof reading. Its tale has worked magic as a book, but not so much as a film. The problem with the adaptation is, its not been penned well and the shoddy direction adds to the sadness of the viewer.

‘Hello’ starts with a knock as a fully clothed Salman Khan jumps off a hatchet and dances to ‘Bang Bang Bang’ on a stage where – needless to say – he takes off his shirt to flaunt his finely waxed chest and abs to a crowd of collapsing and fainting girls. Thereafter, the rockstar (Salman is, we’re told) in his long leather overcoat and noticeably visible hair implants retires to a lounge to rest while a technical snag in his chopper is being fixed. There and then, walks in a beauty (Katrina Kaif) who tells him a story.

It’s a story set in one rainy night, a tale of six individuals whose lives – in a remarkable coincidence – hit rock bottom during the course of the night.

Shyam (Sharman Joshi) is trying to lead a team at the call centre even as he deals with his personal misfortune. The girl he loves, his colleague Priyanka (Gul Panag), is getting hitched to an NRI yuppie in USA. There is Vroom ( Sohail Khan ) who loves bikes and has a crush on his co-worker Esha ( Isha Koppikar ) who wants to be a model and doesn’t mind making a few compromises to get a lucky break. There is anti-depression pill-popping Radhika (Amrita Arora) who lives with an ill-tempered mother-in-law and a husband (Arbaaz Khan) who’s never at home. And lastly there’s Military Uncle (Sharat Saxena) who loves his NRI grandson so much that he always carries a framed picture of the lad.

As these six individuals work the night away their tangled lives are exposed, hidden truths exposed, and there comes a point in the story when their lives hang in balance…until a divine cellular intervention sets the things straight.

Together Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif are barely there beyond 10 minutes screen time. So don’t venture in expecting to be a Salman-Katrina movie. Sohail Khan is fun to watch and derives the utmost laughs. He is a great comic relief in the otherwise sober film. Gul Panag is just about satisfactory while Eesha Koppikar has done a superior job. Amrita Arora possibly for the first time is likeable. She is fully dressed for a change and acts well especially in the touching scenes. The best amongst the lot however is Sharman Joshi. It’s his most excellent performance till date. Sharat Saxena, Bharati Achrekar and Dalip Tahil give able support.

The film could have done much superior without the songs. Not only are they a sprain on your ears, they are unwanted bumps in the story. Atull Agnihotri ’s direction is pretty unadorned. He fails to build up stress and a sense of anticipation in his telling of the story.

Salman Khan is fine in his cameo role apart from his opening music number.

Katrina Kaif like always look cute.

Overall, Hello is an impetuous approach. The publicity is clearly missing, but with no other releases this week, the film could manage a decent opening.