Tera Jadoo chal gaya has been cleverly planned to be Abhishek Bachchan's second release because it is completely at the opposite end of the spectrum to Refugee. The film does not aspire to be anything more than a mass entertainer although that is a rather silly definition for a film. What exactly is a mass entertainer?

Well, in Bollywood parlance, it means that it packs all the ingredients that will appeal to a wide spectrum of people, without taxing the mind or offering anything of any great meaning. In which case, Tera Jadoo fits quite nicely into this bracket.

Puja works for an advertising agency, dreaming of making it big as a director and also of meeting her prince charming who will be dressed in armani suits, bally shoes and will drive a mercedes. Whatever happened to love, kindness, intelligence etc etc?

Surely the youth of today cannot be so mercenary..or perhaps they are. Or perhaps they are simply as dumb as our heroine in this film. Puja goes to Agra and meets Kabir at her friend's wedding who instantly falls for her. But he does not fit Puja's description of the man of her dreams as he is virtually a nobody…an orphan who works as videographer. Of course, Kabir mistakes her friendliness for love. On her return to Mumbai, she is sacked for having taken three extra days off but her boss (Kader Khan) is appeased by Maggie (Johny Lever) who tells him that she was engaged and hence the delay in her return.

In walks Raj (sanjay Suri), bally shoes, armani suit and of course, the obligatory mercedes. He is the boss's son. Stars shine in Puja's eyes and she is instantly in love. But what to do. Everyone believes that she is engaged to Kabir. At this point, Kabir shows up in Mumbai to win the love of Puja. Oops. Puja tells Kabir that she loves Raj and that he must now do something so bad that he is seen not to be good enough for her. So Kabir embarks of various schemes to discredit himself which fail rather comically.

So where does one go from here? Well, you may wonder as did I at the time I was watching the film but it's all about how driven our hero is to prove his selfless love for our ignorant heroine. Plot smacks a little of Pardes. Sadly, where the relationship between the leads in Pardes was handled with some sensitivity, here there is none. Our heroine is too smitten to even consider the sacrificing Kabir, and realisation, when it finally dawns upon her, if forced and unconvincing.

Do not be put off because the film is not bad. Its simply not very good but trots along at a fairly brisk pace. There are songs galore and most of them completely unnecessary…but nevertheless quite well shot.

What is missing is a certain charm and chemistry that was necessary between the main leads. But this is missing and it may be that the fault lies with our rather wooden heroine. Did someone say give her a break, its only her first hindi film. Well, truth is that she looks enchanting at times, but is devoid of any expression and does not come across as someone with screen presence or personality. Whether she dubbed or not for the film, her voice is grating and childish, almost irritating.

Abhishek Bachchan slides into this role with ease and proves that he really can fit into any kind of role. In this film, he looks so much like his father, in mannerisms, in the way he places his hands, in his pronunciation. At times, its uncanny but when you see him at closer range, you see that he has his mother's eyes, not those of his father, dark, brooding and full of volatility. Sanjay Suri has a useless role and is wasted. The only two worthy of mention are Paresh Rawal and Himani Shivpuri who bring some humour to their roles.

The music of the film is OK, not great but not that bad either. The stand out track has to be "ai chand teri" which is beautifully sung by Sonu Nigam and is a well-composed song. "Qayamat ho" is another good song. The title song passes muster. A Muthu directs with a certain freshness and the film has a contemporary feel to it. It's a bland and mindless affair with little magic in it but you could do a lot worse with two and a half hours at your disposal.