Mere Baap Pehle Aap: A review

The movie opened to cinemas without much fanfare in midst of not-so-catchy trailers and thumbs down reviews. Even my decision to watch this movie was driven by a non-availability of tickets for others. All fears of a goofy, slapstick comedy with cheap songs were coming to fore with the cameo that the movie started with. End of the why-was-it-there Cameo. Enter Om Puri who plays the role of Madhav Mathur, an oldie bachelor who is desperate to get married. The actor makes a bad cut in the character with his acting talents severely suffocated.

He is the friend of Janardhan Rane, played well by Paresh Rawal whose son Gaurav (Akshay Khanna) is the owner of a mall. First few minutes are wasted as the director tries to tickle you hard (without much success) with putting Madhav and Janardhan in almost unconceivable situations that might seem funny for someone with a bad humor.

The storyline suddenly gets a breath of fresh air with the arrival of Genelia D'souza (Shikha Kapoor) who is playing pranks on Gaurav for reasons only the story unfolds. And Priyadarshan has taken us into his charm again. Only this time Genelia's warm smile coming to rescue with a few thoughtfully sprinkled and effective comic sequences. You might actually fall off laughing during some scenes.

Boy meets girl. Gaurav meets Shikha. But in what fashion. The girl taking a revenge for college ragging years ago by pretending to be a ditched girlfriend who happens to be the mother of Gaurav's baby even. Cute, eh? Laughter scores as Gaurav runs berserk trying to find out who is behind his discomfiture. The plight is set straight by the girl and the guy takes it sportingly. But they do not fall in love immediately. Not the girl. But ofcourse the girl gets emotionally attached with Gaurav's father, Baapu. Something is surely brewing.

A humorous first half transforms into a semi-pseudo-serious second half. The much ado is actually about Paresh Rawal's long lost love Anuradha, played by Shobhana, who is incidentally Shikha's aunt. Not much of a role for Shobhana though, the situation does bring up social issues like the remarrying of the elderly and the general apathy towards love marriages. Priyadarshan is able to handle the issue quite beautifully. Now Gaurav and Shikha will bring them together, against all odds. And fall in love in doing so. The story meanders okay, keeping you tied to the seats, waiting for the ensuing excitement.

Amid all the chaos, hulla-bulla, comedy, and some unexciting cha cha between Gaurav & Shikha and Janardhan & Anuradha, Madhav (Om Puri) continues to look for an eligible spinster and always landing in one or the other perplexity with some in your face slapstick comedy moments. In the end though, he is able to hitch up with Inspector Bhawani (played hilariously well by Archana Puran Singh) as they spent so much time together in the police station, the Inspector eternally picking him up from his misadventures.

The film has an happy ending like all Priyadarshan movies. Baapu-Teacher get married. Naseeruddin Shah who plays Shikhas' father brings up a well thought of surprise after throwing in some tantrums about the union of Shikha and Gaurav. Very cute.

Rajpal Yadav's character is also insignificant but he plays it quite well, in his typical style. The movie does not have memorable performances, and indeed not at all an unforgettable storyline. But as a whole, the story is able to make you laugh, amaze at a few very sweet moments that the script throws up and unwind totally. Isn't that what we watch movies for? A sure entertainer, do watch it once.

Jab We Met: A review

Jab We Met is a refreshing decamp from the typical hindi movie romantic plot that I had in mind before I saw the movie. To my pleasant surprise, it was a crackerjack of a movie with not one moment where the storyline seemed to be extravagant.

So, Aditya Kashyap is a heartbroken and messed up heir to a huge yet falling business empire. Played with quite maturity by Shahid Kapur, his charm wins over the crowd even with some tit-bits of overacting here and there. This aimless millionaire kid, left incoherent after the marriage of his beloved to another man, on top of business dilemmas, decides to dash it all and leave everything behind. Gets on train, apparently to get killed or go ‘far away from the maddening crowd’. Meets Geet, a mindblowing performance by Kareena Kapoor. Chatter box or talkative would be an understatement of the character that Kareena played, a chance wonderfully used to act in a full-blown comedy role by the glam queen.

Boy meets girl, but hang on, I told you this movie is different. Sad Shahid gets off the train while ‘Bhatinda ki Sikhni’ thinks it appropriate to help this mindless soul; in an attempt she is stranded alone in a lonely station. Finds the sad man, threatens him to help her and take her home. And their journey together begins. Misses her train again, finds him again, together they find a place for the night and ultimately their way back home. Every bit of it sounds unbelievable, but nothing actually is. The screenplay, dialogues, the chemistry and the cinematography, take care of the apparently fantastic propositions. One is so enthralled that such details seem to be meaningless and is waiting for what happens next.

Imtiaz Ali weaves humor and drama even into intense and emotional moments, making the movie all the more intriguing. We have a laughter riot in a lot of occasions with bubbly, chirpy Kareena making seemingly pointless remarks and declarations with bewildered yet smart Shahid trying to drive logic in the ‘Bhatinda girl’.

The two wannabes reach home (Geet’s) where everyone is planning Geet’s marriage with childhood companion Manjeet. Geet is not party to this and plans to sneak away at night. Aditya is somehow convinced and apparently elope together. Intermission again is well timed with Aditya leaving Geet at her boyfriend’s resort in Manali.

Now, the movie has some really amazing songs, shot in exotic locales with touchy and soulful lyrics. The one en route to Manali is especially a treat to the eyes. Pritam, I hope, came up with some original scores!

The movie also has some thoughtfully jutted in wisdom about life, not necessarily true but beautiful at least. This aspect adds that extra zing to this movie that can make one to see it again. Not forgetting the superfluous scenes brimming with laughter.

Mr. Sad becomes Mr. Happy while Geet’s boyfriend disowns her. Played by Tarun Arora, I couldn’t help notice how his character was assassinated. Well that brought up some laughter though. And how can he even think of taking the girl when cute and cuddly Aditya (Shahid) is around. He has to be dumb. Dumb, dumber, dumbest. OK. So, Aditya learns Geet is not home for months from her family and takes the onus of getting her home. This chase ends up in a lot of soul searching for both Aditya and Geet, whom Aditya finds in the scenic mall road in Shimla. Follows her and then meets her. Convinces her to come with him and infuse life into the skeleton of this erstwhile bubbly, chirpy, chatterbox of a girl. As she did when he was on the run.

Bad guy aka boyfriend aka Anshuman comes back and plays spoilsport by complicating the otherwise settled state of affairs. Geet is left wondering and Aditya, who by now is surely in love, agonized. In hindsight, otherwise the movie had to be ended right then without much of the ensuing drama, comedy, romance and making-an-ass-of-the-ex-boyfriend concert.

Somehow the girl gets a brainwave about what she wants and chooses Aditya over Anshuman. And what else? ‘Mauja hi Mauja’.

Kareena’s (Geet) seesawing was justified given the situation but her method was not convincing enough. But again, the chemistry of the duo is a class apart, finally and we are enticed into the way the story unravels.

A few thoughts. The train chase scene could have been done better and realistic which was ancient at best. Anshuman’s character could have been made more intelligent. In order to maintain the hatred of the audience, evilness could have been used. Aditya could have been a tad less distraught than what he actually was initially, not at all harming the movie’s essence but increasing the believability. A poorer Aditya would have been more real.

Most of the comic scenes are carefully carved in the screenplay and laughter comes spontaneously. The ones that dominate attention are, the scene when Kareena (Geet) meets Shahid (Aditya), Geet convinces ticket collector, shouts at the stationmaster, meets and hugs Aditya on the dark alleys of Ratlam. The entry into evidently indecent “Hotel Decent” (an ironically introspective name), inside the hotel room, Geet using Aditya to get rid of Manjeet, Geet abusing Anshuman, and the ones where Anshuman plays dumb.

In retrospect, the steam is lost a bit in the second half and the story meanders its way to arrive at a suitable end. Which it almost beautifully arrives with the all-essential item song at the end, in this deviating-from-the-conventional storyline. But even that is foot tapping and exciting with the Kareena-Shahid twosome putting in their best act together.

The movie has a fresh outlook on generic issues facing all lives, family problems, jilted love, dreams, passions and most importantly, an inclination towards being happy and spreading happiness. A movie filled with positivity. A must watch!