Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani Movie Review : Laugh’s like that
Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Salman Khan (for a minute!)
Director: Raj Kumar Santoshi
Rating: Two and a half stars
The kid’s brilliant. So watch it Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor and all the big and small Khans. At the rate he’s going – by sheer evidence of his screen charisma, technical felicity and youth power – Ranbir Kapoor is more than likely to be the Next Best Thing, if he isn’t one already. He’s RK Jr and he’s more than super A-Ok.
One BIG movie that can accommodate his talent, and he’ll be unstoppable. Alas, Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani (tongue-twister of a title that) is not that Biggie. Yet the actor does make the old-wine-in-newish-bottle watchable and remarkable for it wow moments – like RK Jr’s soliloquy in church and that scene of self-reflection on losing out on love, picturised against a hillscape in the declining evening. Applause please.
There is a bubbling chemistry, too, between goofball Prem (Ranbir Kapoor) and the Cinderella-like Jenny (Katrina Kaif). It’s heartening to see them together, never mind that corny in-joke about her fan mania for Salman Khan, who by the way, pops up in an uncredited guest appearance. Indeed, that’s the problem with director and co-writer Santoshi: he lays on the romcom much too thick like an entire tub of butter expended on a single muffin. Too much huffin’ and puffin’, including Santoshi fetching up in a Hitchcokian appearance to shrug grandpa-like at the lead pair. Cute? Just a little.
In fact in sum, Ajab..Ghazab is just that. Quite zany and ticklish occasionally but far too pancake-flat for most of the way. No Andaz Apna Apna this, which incidentally, is recalled very quietly in the background score. Or was it sound engineer Rakesh Ranjan fiddling around with the AAA soundtrack cleverly?
Aah, Santoshi was far more peppy and punchy then. This time around, there is an element of the woodenly retro, what with Prem and his pals running a ‘happy club’, besides dashing off for skirmishes with eunuchs (two even tumble and kiss!) and bellicose police officers. Balloons fly, a nasty stepma hisses, the only Nasir Husain touch that’s missing is the good old, late Rajindernath in a woman’s frilly nightie. Oh oh, no that’s there,too. Only Prem opts for the heroine’s pink sleeveless top instead. How gulabi is that!
Technically Santoshi frequently opts for a gaudy look, even outmoded back-projection shots and Steven Bernard’s awkward editing with antiquated wipes when a jump-cut could have made the pace snappier. Moreover, characters keep multiplying like rats as if Santoshi believes that entertainment means the more the madder. It doesn’t. He just has to re-see the classics of Charlie Chaplin or the breezy romances of Shammi Kapoor – both of whom are invoked here – to understand that less can be more in the movies. For instance, a nutzoid don and his henchguys in black become irritating as hell, particularly in the climax which makes the Priyadarshan finales seem far less anarchical by comparison.
The plot, if one can call it that, is simply this: hazy lazy Prem-sees-girl-falls-in-love-but-doesn’t-tell-her-so-till-she-drags-out Upen Patel (!) from semi-retirement. Patel’s a politician’s son, gifts Jenny a diamond necklace and irrevocably behaves like a sun-tanned Big Moose. Before this, Jenny has also been saved from a wedding to a beefy bozo rekindling Zabisko from Amar Akbar Anthony. In effect, it takes two weddings and no-funeral for true love to go chirpy-chirpy-cheep-cheep.
Throughout the gags could have been infinitely more inventive. Stillsitting on cream cakes, knocking on wooden heads and personality mix-ups are always good for a few guffaws and giggles. Pritam’s music score in serviceable, not quite in the class of his Dhoom and Jab We Met, which you hope will not turn out to be the Sholays of his career. Nothing vaguely comparable after those.
Of the lead players, Katrina Kaif’s looks bankably gorgeous (but pray, she should take care of those worry lines already creasing her forehead), and does reveal an incipient flair for comedy. Without Ranbir Kapoor, of course, this one would have been a mere ajab movie. He brings the much-needed underlining of ghazab to it. Sid has woken up and how.Way to shine!
Tags: Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani Movie Review, katrina kaif, Movie Review, rajkumar santoshi, Ranbir Kapoor
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Great writing Khalid Sahab. Seems like I am eating my words since that ‘Blue’ review.
Please don’t make any ‘ajab’ change in this writing style.
Yes. I don’t believe this is a Khalid Mohammad review. Mr. KM, Please stick to this style of writing. Be sober and controlled and unbiased like this. We would enjoy your writing more.
Hmm looks like Ranbir is slowly cementing his position in the “middle of the road” kinda movies. I hope movie does decently.
about Ranbir the only deal now is that, he seems to be having back to back releases… there are like one film backing after the other…. and thats extremely good for a newcomer… now have to wait and see how popular he remains once there is a considerable break between his releases….
I think he suits these kinda laid back/rom com roles,much like his Dad. I am looking forward to Rocket Singh, where his role is interesting.
also Ranbir somewhere looks like a perfect combination of Archie and Jughead… which is a pretty deadly combination for the urban youth audience… plus he is the kapoor beta as well toh lot of senior folks will also love to see him…
yup he totally rocks in these roles….good performer..tons of flair….mazaa aata hai use dekhke…
great comedy…
prm naam hai mera prem chopda haeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…..nice one rbr sayz i jst luv it…
ranbir Rocks man…main na kehti thi…..
“He brings the much-needed underlining of ghazab to it. Sid has woken up and how.Way to shine!”
Aah … nice one that ..
Ranbir continues to surprise you with his tremendous talent , it’s his comic timing which is on display here. APKGK takes you back to the 90’s…shades of Andaz apna apna…some cliches…some stereotype characters…but plenty of laughs…one very good song…and ‘emotional atyachar’ finds a place in the dialogues!
Hi Khalid,
Gems of this review “..romcom much too thick like an entire tub of butter expended on a single muffin ..” :-)
Promos reveal that Ranbir boy tries too hard but he has made his mark. He is the SRK of the new generation while Shahid models himself on Aamir.
Katrina is a total Barbie Doll who can act as well
Now in a spot with your 2.5 …to watch or not to watch..!
Ajab spot this !
cheers
nd
i actually see ranbir as the abhay deol of mainstream movies, his movies are mainstream/big budgeted but still quite a bit different. hope he stays true to his promise! shahid like aamir? not sure. imran khan looks to the kumar gaurav of this generation
. not as talented but definitely picking up some yuck movies post his debut.
Labor-Day-Sale sir, thank u for saying that..your initial feedback did throw me but am relatively new to the cyber medium…learning daily…and striving to write what comes to the mind and heart, not necessarily in that order.
ranbir is a revelation ….and in many ways a complete actor and above all he chooses to endorse and be a part of good/entertainig cinema…
he is one of the most promisng people ive seen in bollywood…..hope he continues with his good work…
go ranbir
The funny thing is most girls dont find him cute nor do the youth think hes a “hero”. Atleast all my friends dont,yet they like him as an actor.
this film would never work without ranbir go watch it and see him shine.
i dont know about ranvir, but this movie sure;y was a let down. couldn’t find anything funny except fw dialogues.those too shown in the trailers. and i think ranvir’s character was too loud at moments, obviously not his fault , it was a loud character. Had a lot of excepctation after watching the promos , but couldn’t get anything better.
Spoliers ahead:
felt like ranbir is dveloping a habbit of not caring for his parents. and katarina will find a lover in every moview who can do any thing for her but still she will love somebody else till the wedding ceremony. common isn’t Wake up sid mixed with singh is king mixed with lots of priyadarshan movies(climax part) and side kicks being very loud.
felt more like Singh is king after intermisssion
the music is good.
whats with the writing style of khalid…
this guy will never learn.
i have been reading his tales for many years,but disappointingly he hasnt improved.
i wonder why the sites like pfc go for this guy…he doesnt make sense at all…
he reminds me of indrajit hazra from sunday columns in hindustan times…but even he has changed his uncomprehending style of writing now..
he reminds me of ayn rand!!
himself cant make films but has to give his reviews on other films..
what gems has he created??
I saw this movie yesterday and was really disappointed. My expectation was on a high because of great promos but found that plot is really wafer thin. To me it was like collection of different and not so good jokes which just put together to create the movie.
No sense of location, just put a chase sequence, put God if required.. Oh my god.
I thought my choice does not matter, people were really having a wild time during the movie, but the reviews from other guys was more or less the same.. film clearly lack the plot.
p.s. Girls really liked the film (Ranveer I envy u)
The scene, the intercutting of don’s gang and happy club, where they decide upon the same dress code and same makeup,gave me expectations of a upcoming exciting and laugh riot scene full of confusing situations. But when it happened I was confused. For what reason the build up to the party was like that? It made no difference.
I am not asking for logic. Just that the party scene, where kidnapping of Upen Patel takes place could be much more of fun.
Dear Khalid Mohd,
]
It seems like you’re bitten by the ‘K’ bug while writing this review. Are you the same person who wrote Madhur Bhandarkar’s Jail? Samajh nahi aar raha, I Fail.
The very fact that he’s the only male scion of the KKapoor KKhandaan that’s been ruthlessly unleashed on the hapless Indian audiences makes Ranbir Kapoor the ‘next big thing’ by default. Say it isn’t so.Kyon?
[If anyone doubts his genes, plz see the photo Khalid has attached with the review.What looks! What expressions!!!
Then there’s the obvious PR-overdrive that seems to leave no stone unturned that needs praise.
I’m not sure Ranbir needs it after the super success of his very first film (Saanwariya). It may further raise the audience’s expectations-don’t you think?
It would do ’senseless’ filmmakers like Bhandarkar & Co. a lot of good if you-Khalid Mohd could let them in on what it takes(or how much it takes) to get into your good books.
After all, aren’t you the same Filmfarce editor who handed Salman Khan a Best Supporting Actor (What film was it?) over Manoj Bhiku Mhatre Bajpai?
About Katrina, you say that she ‘does reveal an incipient flair for comedy’. Now, its common knowledge that the lady can’t talk in hindi to save her life.In real life. So, tell us how That was achieved. Or could it be now that in the world of Ghazab Bollywood- basic conversational skills in a prescribed language are no longer a skill that’s required to be able to pass a quip?
What say chief?
APKGK was above average movie, the storyloine though not a necessary requirement in a Comedy flick, was too boring. It had repeatations. The incidents were predictable,and the pace was slow throughout. Certain selected scenes were hilarious but most gives us a feeling “kahi pehle bhi dekha hai”.
Ranbir was the best and he is a future Bollywood Superstar. Katrina’s performance was no different from the past movies. The story at the ending is a copy of Namastey London and on a whole its very much fails to generate the Andaz Apna Apna Feeling….. On a whole Raj Kumar Santoshi tgis time has Dissapointed many audiences. I rate it 2.75/5.
Ranbir Kapoor is a quintessential bollywood hero. There is nothing that he can’t do. His chocolate face may not allow him to do action roles but with little bit of preparation, he will be able to do that as well. He will soon overtake Shahid and the likes and emerge as the biggest superstar. He will go a long way. There are no two ways about it.
The church monologue & the “chal na kuch aur baat karte hein” scene. You picked the 2 absolute low points (in terms of Ranbir’s acting) to praise. The kid looks out of his depth in these 2 scenes which were seemingly there to showcase his prowess ( a la Amitabh’s monologues of the yore).
Again the scenes in which he is supposed to stammer, he does so worse than Katrina. Now that does take some hard work to come second best to Kat ! When they stammered together, it looked as if they were trying to outdo each other (in the wrong sense of the word)
Dumb film for Dumb Female fans of Ranbir.
0.25 out of 5. Get real Khaled sahab. Rather, get honest.
Nice film, throughout I was like no this is not happening why are they laughing so much, have we come down this low etc. But yes, by second half the pace of the film was infectious and you kinda guess that there is more than the fake masala elements, the film takes its own beautiful groove and then on its a superhit film.