Producer: Dinesh Gandhi
Director: Honey Irani
Cast:  Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Gracy Singh, Preity Zinta, Randhir Kapoor
Music: Shankar-Ehsan-Loy

So far being hailed as a renowned scriptwriter Honey Irani dons the robe of a director for the first time in ‘Armaan’. Produced under the banner of Aarti Enterprises’ the stellar star cast of the film names Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Priety Zinta, Gracy Singh and Randhir Kapoor. With so much expectations riding on the great storyteller of Bollywood, she only lets us down. ‘Armaan’ looks out of place for the age-old storyline.  

The base line of the film is a hospital and the emotions of the people riding on it. Here it is the hopes and dreams of Dr Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan) a humanitarian, who wants his son to go ahead and unleash what he had aspired to do. His only ambition is to make a state-of-the-art hospital, which can cater to patients without any discrimination. And he wants to fulfill his dreams through his adopted son Akash Sinha (Anil Kapoor) a neurosurgeon who is an equally devoted doctor and son. Anesthetist Neha (Gracy Singh) joins the hospital shortly. Soon Akash and Neha start taking a liking for each other.

It is then than Soniya Kapoor enters the scene. She is a rich, snobbish and arrogant woman, who gets things done her way. She knows inside her where she stands and that because of her nature she’ll never get the love of man. This is then her eyes rests on Akash at a party and she gets determined to get her way to him through a financial agreement that he cannot object to. Akash also suffers a blow in the meantime due to the death of his father while saving a child.  The agreement is a mode for Akash to make the hospital of his dream that he can achieve only by marrying Soniya, as her father Gulshan (Randhir Kapoor) will help finance the hospital project. Akash is at the cross road of his life. He loves his fellow doctor Neha and if he thinks of marrying her he will lose the dream of his father. There is no other way for him other than to sacrifice. He goes ahead and marries Soniya. But the turmoil of three lives linked with each other doesn’t end there.

When there is a hole in a boat nothing can save it from drowning. With such a weak story and script ‘Armaan’ is also due one such fate. Even the mammoth star cast can do little to save the film. As the film progresses the going get pretty predictable, making one lose interest on the film soon after it begins. Add to that the slow pace. The film has its moments but they don’t stand out due to the tired script. Also the climax is confusing and lacks justification. Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is functional and is a saving grace in the film. Cinematography is ordinary and dialogues are melodramatic.
 
The only thing worth appreciating in this film is the performances. Amitabh Bachchan is fantastic; Preity Zinta does her part honestly and comes up with an amazing performance. Same can be said in regard to Anil Kapoor who attributes the complexities of his character sincerely. Gracy Singh and Randhir Kapoor are also good. But only on the strength of performances a film cannot be a potential winner at the box office. It is the same here.