KASAK In Hindi with English subtitles Director: Rajiv Babbar India 2005 145 mins (PG).

Lucky Ali, Meera Rajiv Babbar is an unusual and mulish film director. He tortured the masses in the late 1990s with B-Grade movies such as Shapath (97) and Yamraaj (98) - two films featuring eighties icon Mithun Chakraborty in wretched roles.

Now he has the audacity to make a 'comeback' seven years after his last failed attempt and offer us Kasak. Featuring singer-turned-actor Lucky Ali opposite Pakistan's vivacious actress Meera, Kasak in a nutshell is a disaster.

The reason is simple Rajiv Babbar! It is crystal clear that Babbar possesses no skill as a filmmaker. His story telling is always weak and his screenplays are usually shoddy. So why continue making films? But most importantly why do accomplished actors appear in his films. Answers on a postcard please!

However, the story of Kasak is quite interesting. Amar (Lucky Ali) is a loner. His mother is a sufferer of diabetes and passes away. Amar decides to become a nurse and look after diabetic patients.

There he meets Anjali (Meera), a nurse working in the same ward. Amar takes care of an old woman who is in a coma. He spends day and night caring from her and when she finally comes out of the coma, she passes all her fortunes to Amar.

Anjali realises that Amar is now worth millions and proposes to him. Once married, Anjali's begins to humiliate Amar and finally asks for a divorce. The divorce strips Amar of all his fortunes. He then sets out on a journey to win back the heart of Anjali.

I couldn't help but laugh at times whilst watching Kasak. Though it is not by any means a comedy, Rajiv Babbar's direction is diabolical at best and makes you curl up in your seat and cringe.

He has no sense of camera direction, the lighting doesn't make any sense and the editing is amateurish. The background score seems as though it should be in another film from a different era.

But if you strip away all the junk, there are a few positive points worthy of a mention. Music by M.M Kreem is first-rate but seems wasted in this enterprise. Lucky Ali's vocals add to the overall melody of the soundtrack that will no doubt outsell the movie itself.

Acting by the leading pair is good. Lucky Ali as the love struck simpleton is good but due to Babbar's criminal direction, the actor doesn't' have much to work with.

On the other hand, Meera is convincing in her second film in Bollywood. The Pakistani actress was slated by the Indian critics for her efforts in Mahesh Bhatt's Nazar earlier in the year and it seems as though the criticism is mounting with each and every film.

It is clear that Meera has a lot to learn about the Indian film industry but it is also clear that the actress has potential.

To conclude, Rajiv Babbar has directed a bad film. In the process he has maligned his actors and anyone else who was associated with Kasak. A major disappointment!