It has a bold and daring concept never seen before in an Indian film. However, it is heavily 'borrowed' from Barry Levinson's Michael Douglas - Demi Moore starrer Disclosure.

Raj Malhotra (Akshay Kumar) is an executive working in a 9-5 job for a mobile phone company. He has a simple life, some good friends and life is generally a breeze.

Things get even better when Priya (Kareena Kapoor) enters his life. They fall in love and get married. She is expecting their first child, he is due for a promotion. He couldn't have asked for more.

That is, till the predatory man eater Sonia (Priyanka Chopra) is appointed as his MD and it all goes a bit topsy-turvy.

She accuses him of rape after he spurns her advances and the case ends up in court.

To make matters even more complicated, it is revealed that Sonia is actually Raj's ex girlfriend. He dumped her after she aborted their child. How the case is resolved forms the crux of the story.

Technically the film is sound with some good locations and cinematography. Music by Himesh Reshammiya is not of the chart busting variety but a couple of the numbers like Gela Gela, Hey You and Talatum are catchy.

Directorially, Abbas-Mustaan have done a good job in 'Indianising' the whole concept.

What could have been a silly sleaze fest turns out to be a gripping edge of the seat drama that keeps viewers glued to their seats.

Some of the sequences especially in the courtroom have been deftly handled and they deserve full credit for this.

The dialogue is bold and raises a number of questions that are usually brushed under the carpet.

Why must the male always be held responsible for clandestine happenings between men and women? Can't a man be an object of sexual harassment even in a society like ours?

Of the cast Akshay is restrained and has a fairly passive role. Kareena is good and shines in her one and only confrontational scene with Priyanka and the final courtroom sequence.

She is turning into a fine performer and has finally shaken off her Poo image from K3G.

Both Paresh Rawal and Annu Kapoor are in splendid form.

Ultimately though, Aitraaz is Priyanka Chopra's film. As the deliciously wicked, gold digging, scheming seductress, she chews up every scene she is in with her magnetic screen presence.

Of the four Diwali releases, Aitraaz has a good chance of being successful especially after word of mouth publicity.

It has a bold theme, good music and good performances going for it. It should find the going easy, in spite of strong opposition from Veer Zaara. A thumbs up!