The story gets into the grim of things quickly: the phone rings for ACP Rajeshwar Vyas (Rahul Dev, grimacing and scowling, and never in uniform) and he receives information about a dead body. We see the body of Ritu Bhatnagar, a lady with plumped-up lips and big, non-blinking eyes. The next cut takes us to Jimmy (Mimoh) who’s dancing away furiously in a nightclub where he works as the DJ. As your eyes curiously scan the newcomer, you realise a few things – he’s a great dancer, an absolute natural; his dancing, unfortunately, does not make up for his lack of leading man looks and presence; his hair needs some immediate TLC (tender loving care).

The song playing in the background has lyrics like `why not Jimyyyyyy’. Jimmy is DJ at night and mechanic at day; he’s working this hard to repay his deceased father’s karz and give his aatma shanti. His mother is the archetypal filmi ma, only tad more glam. She keeps spouting dialogues like `ye ladka bhi na’, when not scolding him like he’s a five-year-old.

Love interest arrives in the form of a girl Megha who keeps crashing into his car and the cop they go to, alas, turns out to be Shakti Kapoor in his most suggestive and objectionable avatar. They christen her Miss Breaking News and turns out she is the daughter of a man who calls himself an Arabpati. Arabpati is friends and partner with a slimy man and his slimier son (Vikas Kalantri, help); again these characters are straight out of the villains in the '70s who always came in beta-baap jodis, with the latter being the more calm and cunning one. Arabpati suggests that Megha marry his partner’s son, but she’s fallen for Jimmy.

Meanwhile, Jimmy faints twice and is diagnosed as having brain tumour. He is approached by a man who claims to have killed Ritu. He wants Jimmy to take the blame upon him, and in return, is willing to finish off his existing loan. What happens next? Courtroom drama that make you giggle, emotional rona dhona that gets on your nerves, the ACP who is omnipresent and manages to eavesdrop on everyone’s conversations, the story told all over again through a flashback scene, and a twist that has you all twisted in the head.

Mimoh is a superb dancer, but he's not proven himself to be hero material whether in terms of talent, presence or even outward styling. Vivana is pretty in a Sonali Bendre kind of way and has a commanding screen presence as well. Zulfi Syed, who plays Jimmy’s bhai-jaisa-dost, gives dialogue delivery so bad, it’s perplexing.

The technical aspect of the film is archaic. Cinematography tries hard to be contemporary and cool, but ain’t; editing needed to trim the film further, was the flashback really required; the storytelling technique is old as the hills, and the dialogue is unoriginal and uninspired. Songs like Marhabba are quite listen-worthy.

The film, overall, gives a very outdated feel and its lack of originality makes for a rather dull debut vehicle.

Here's a sampling: the hero traipses into an airport with a black leather bag full of illegally got money and no one stops him. He even boards the aircraft, opens the bag exposing the cash and pats it indulgently. But it's illogical to expect logic here. This is a thriller, Gupta factory style, and as long as the actors are charismatic enough, and there?s enough skin show, they?re hoping no one will look at the gaping discrepancies in the script.

We are introduced to wolfy playboy Samir (Sikander Kher) in a scene you could mistake for a modelling portfolio shoot. Once he gets off his too-cool bike, Kher attempts dancing to Saawan mein lag gayi aag, an amateurishly picturised song. So we know that he loves the flashy lifestyle; but back home, his landlord (Shakti Kapoor) who says things like 'beti aur gaadi, dono paraya dhan hai', is after his life for the unpaid rent. Samir needs money, but refuses to work like ordinary mortals.

One evening, at a nightclub, Samir spots a girl who introduces herself as Zara Kampani (Neha Uberoi). He pursues her but she dismisses him with an 'I spell trouble' warning. Evidently, he doesn't know how to read and goes after her anyway. A few days later, she lands up at his home with a sinister plan to test whether her husband really loves her. She begs Samir to kidnap her; he complies for the money, and once they reach the secluded Woodstock Villa, pretends to rape her, so she looks the part of the distraught kidnapped. He then makes the ransom call to her husband Mr Kampani (Arbaaz Khan). Then, predictably, comes the twist in the tale.

Oh yes, and there's also an unnecessary parallel sub-plot of Karim bhai (Gulshan Grover), who trails Samir to get back some big bucks he lent him. Possibly this angle was introduced for the sole purpose of reiterating that the protagonist needed the money real bad.

Woodstock Villa introduces two actors, Sikander Kher and Neha Uberoi. Kher is unconventionally attractive and suits the character of the brooding playboy who's always getting himself into trouble. But it'll need a second film to test his range and adaptability. Uberoi, who complies with Sanjay Gupta's dictate of half-stripping his heroines, is an interesting face and does fairly well. They're both strong on presence and exude dewy freshness and confidence. Gaurav Gera as the hero?s dost and sidekick is a thankful relief from other hammy performances in such roles, like the one in Jannat.

The songs are all superb, a huge advantage to the film. Technically, the film falters in cinematography, which is patchy. Editing is effective and the sound design interesting. The narrative technique is wannabe cool with its superfluous jump cuts, spilt screen fight scenes, and other jazz. Director Hansal Mehta refuses to evolve from his Dus Kahaaniyan stupor and gives us a supposed thriller that rides only on the appeal of the lead actors and the songs. Oh well, so what else is new.

Rating: One-and-a-half stars