Monday, August 3, 2009

Review of Imtiaz Ali's


1) Imtiaz Ali is back after JAB WE MET

2) This is SAIF ALI KHAN (read ILLUMINATI FILMS) ’s production debut And

3) Pritam’s Music has already spelled the magic.


You are not to be blamed if you too had opted for FIRST DAY (and may be even FIRST SHOW depending upon how well you manage your time)


The story starts with a never heard before ‘break-up party’ between the protagonist Saif (as Jai) and Deepika (as Meera) complimented by Gen Z lingo like ‘Senti’,’Smarty’ and some even newer (and humourous) additions like ‘Aam Aadmi- The Mango People”. You expect the script to be the never-seen-before kind even in spite of the fact that SAIF ALI KHAN is playing his favorite (and of course the stereo type) role of being a confused, happy- go-lucky and cool (courtesy : the Yash Raj series HUM TUM, SALAAM NAMASTEY, TARA RUM PUM, THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC (hey I am sure you didn’t dare to see the last one) . The initial credits starts rolling at such a perfect time (with the beginning of the song ‘ Yeh Duriyan’) and the duo play such a ‘smart and cool’ couple in the first 30 mins that you look forward to a smart story, smart screenplay and last but not the least ‘a smart climax’.


But that’s where your ‘smartness’ ends.


From nowhere, comes the character Veer Singh (although flawlessly played by Rishi Kapoor) who claims that he was looking exactly like Jai in his youth and starts telling his own LOVE STORY when asked by Jai, only to surprise the audience by saying that he had got a Jai-in-sikh-look in 1965. Now Karan Johar is surely wrong if he says “Bollywood is recession proof” . If that’s not the case, definitely SAIF would have gone for some other actor for playing ‘Veer Singh’. And they say ‘Om Shanti Om’ was illogical (I can surely DIGEST a Reincarnation story better than the Jai-is-Veer Theorem )

What goes then is the synchronized tale of two stories (that of Jai (LOVE AAJ -2009) and Veer (LOVE KAL – 1965) Contrary to Jab We Met screenplay where songs pleasantly complimented the on-going situation/scene, here the song and dance sequence appear as a BIG SAVIOR for relaxation/to bit the boredom, as the story line turns out to be nail-bitingly simple and predictable. But certainly, no comments for Pritam, who is one of those who have honestly done their (decent) part of job and undoubtedly maintained the level of intensity and expectation after JWM. Kudos to the music director.


In between the songs-follow –dialogues-follows-songs sequence, in Love Aaj (read 2009), Meera starts becoming sentimental (transformation from the modern day ‘Senti’ tag ) and delivers plastic dialogues. Too far from comparison with Geet of JWM (played by Kareena who atleast spoke with confidence and grace). The audience is in utter confusion whether to laugh or cry. They chose laughing perhaps taking it good for health. The only time she delivers her best is the song and dance sequences where she returns to her cool avatar. Same is the case with Jai (and also Saif the producer) who forgets what was shown in the first half and turns into Love-is-full of pain mode most of the time in second half. Post interval, their chemistry only works when they return to their once-shown cool characters which sadly is only for a duration of 15 mins .


What comes as a surprise (perhaps the only surprise) is the spectacular performance by Veer ( its Saif again) and Harleen Kaur ( played by a refreshingly new face Giselle Monteiro). No over acting, no high dose dialogues. These characters best depict simplicity and innocence through sheer expressions and dialogues. Rajendra Zutshi ( known as Raj Zutshi) as Harleen’s father manages to chuckle some funny bones.


Before I forget, let me mention the name of another artist who had sincerely performed his job : Cinematographer Natarajan . Fabulous are the ways, in which he had displayed the visual effects one of which includes transforming 2009- London Bridge to 1965-Howrah Bridge.


Personally speaking, the “Our special thanks” list at the end should also include :


1) Rahul Khanna as Vikram – For agreeing to repeat the Anshuman of JWM

2) The publicity and promo team – For choosing the ALL NEW font, color and styling for LAK

3) Giselle Monteiro - For agreeing not to appear in pre or post-release publicity and promos 4) Imtiaz Ali- for providing the minimal no of dialogues to Meera


What could have been a better option is to build a story completely in the 1965 era. It seems the director of such claimed movies like Socha Naa Tha and JWM has not only compromised in storyline but more tragically hadn’t cared for a full bound script (perhaps for the first time). He ends the reel in JWM pattern by putting an ‘Aahoon Aahoon’ number.


Perhaps the only common elements between JAB WE MET and LOVE AAJ KAL were (sadly all are technical ones) :
1) The titling (Usage of Hinglish- combo of Hindi and English words)

2) Music Director – Pritam

3) Cinematography – Natarajan Subramaniam


Because of the huge publicity, star cast and the music, the movie has been able to generate the second highest ever opening day collections (Rs 80 million/Rs 8 crore ) after Ghajini, which did net business of Rs 92.5 million (Rs 9.25 crore) on the day of its release (25 December, 2008). We hope it would be able to generate a near 50 Crore revenue (if not more than the revenue generated by JWM- Rs.55 Crore)


Overall Rating : *** ( Thanks again to Pritam’s Music )

7 comments:

  1. I'd say ..Start with a bang...
    Fantastic Rath. great start.
    Now I am waiting for the second post.

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  2. " I wished your first published article were the long pending assignments ..."
    Welcome to the bloggers arena
    About the review : As usual like one of the typical BNR productions .... obviously expected one that he will start with some bollywood flick ..
    The reviewer has tried to play a far more balanced act (Thank God ! it's not Aamir's one)than just crticizing the movie, maintaining a decent sense of humour, persuading the reader to read further ..
    Keep your thoughts flowing ...

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  3. Gr8 start..
    Full analysis on movie..
    Very rare to get such kind of reviews..
    Help people with more such reviews..

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  4. gr8 review of the film bro.....
    movie sucked real hard.....
    they tried to make something like hum tum...but forgot that magic cant be created again and again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, Champ has entered in his most comfortable field....

    No Doubt, your comments are absolutely spot on...
    I personally appreciate your Technical Knowledge and some detailed observations which one can only expect from Perfectionist like U. For Ex: "The common elements between JAB WE MET and LOVE AAJ KAL were:
    1) The titling (Usage of Hinglish- combo of Hindi and English words)"

    Wtng eagerly for one more review--->let me guess "KAMINEY"..... :) :) :)

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  6. though i havn't seen the movie yet,but after reading this review its like i hv seen the movie,wonderful job biswa.wot are you doing with maruti suzuki,you must at TIMES OF INDIA or HINDUSTAN TIMES.
    i specially like LOVE AAJ 2009,and LOVE KAL 1965.
    congratulations for d blog,will look forward for similar work from you.

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  7. bhaina, great work
    just saw the the movi yday...I agree that they put Saif on both roles for cost cutting purpose..

    when Meera calls out saif during the 'private party' and asks him to go away ,,i was confused (so was saif, cant blame him),,,,

    the climax was good...but I say, Meera has supernatural control over her emotions !!...at the end she, on seeing Jay, wasnt suprised .She could also deliver a humourous dialogue with a straight face, before finally crying! ...pretty unconvincing.

    ReplyDelete