Kal Kissne Dekha, launch pad for producer Vashu Bhagnanai’s son Jackky, is a heavy borrower. It’s a packed-in combination of past hits – the candy-coloured college campus, girls walking around in short skirts, and weird competitions from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai; the Archie-Betty- Veronica triangle from the same movie; the villain from Main Hoon Na; and the poor-boy-rich girl romance from Kal Kissne Dekha.

The central character—“Nihal Singh from Chandigarh” - can sing, dance, out-debate anyone, croon romantic songs, and beat up trained baddies on his own. And oh, he can also peek into the future. The girl is an archetypal “ameer ladki” devoid of any manners, throwing books at the librarian and saying things like “Misha kabhi kisi ko sorry nahi bolti”. He enters college and falls for her the next second. They dance a song in a bid to outdo each other like films of the `80s/early `90s, with two warring groups of boys and girls. That’s not about the only retro reference – there’s the college bad guy in a leather jacket riding a bike, the stage performance that brings together all the players in the story, the song resonating the film’s title, sprawling mansions, a villain named `Marshall’, unwarranted song breaks and so on. Misha goes on to insult Nihal time and again, but relents when he saves her life. They go on to sing many songs in pretty locations, with several dress changes.

The plot finally begins – Nihal forms a bond with his college warden (Rishi Kapoor). The old professor takes his protégé’s help in solving a tricky gadget. Nihal sees unpleasant visions when working on the project, but is pressurized to continue. Meanwhile, a small-time Don Kalicharan (Riteish Deshmukh) is added to the story for a few laughs, complete with Rajpal Yadav reprising Asrani’s jail act in Sholay.

Writer-director Vivek Sharma’s (Bhootnath) story is nothing to munch on. Jackky’s (looking a little like Uday Chopra) a good dancer and great at action; but one wonders if he’ll be able to hold his own with such intense competition from the new bunch who’re adept all-rounders. Rishi Kapoor honestly steals the thunder with his warm smile hiding a deadly secret. With Namastey London, Luck By Chance and now this, Kapoor has reinforced his career, allowing this generation to see a truly gifted actor with a penchant for fun, experimental roles. Vaishali Desai (granddaughter of Manmohan Desai), who reminds you of Amisha Patel in Kaho Na Pyar Hai, is a great looker and can make it as a glam actress. Rahul Dev is fab as the cool, calculating bad fella. Archana Puran Singh is super funny as Jackky’s mom.

Kal Kissne Dekha is a damn good-looking film with great styling, rich frames, lavishly shot songs, and zooming bike chases. But the formula of adding romance, comedy, action in a film, assured that it’ll be a hit, became outdated about a decade ago. Watch it if you still like films that have the hero pound the bad guys just after singing a romantic duet with the heroine in a foreign location.

Rating: One and a half stars