Maan Gaye Imtiyaz-E-Ali

Vasan Bala
Vasan Bala   | Talking-Points | August 2, 2009 at 6:45 am       Print this article!  Print


Love Aaj KalThough Jab We Met had the electric Geet with the ‘main appni favorite hun’ dazzle, Imtiyaz Ali’s Aditi is the closest to my heart. When Geet was the toast of the nation I was yearning for Aditi.

By the time I reached the venue to watch the film I had read enough negative reviews of the film. Mixed reactions. Oh! It’s not JWM. Oh hmmm…and I was prepared to be let down by one of my fav director and my coy wish to meet Aditi shattered.

“Someone will touch her, feel her, hold her hands….these Things will happen. So what. That’s how it is. Practical hai.”

This is a point where Veer and Jai’s banter “on that thing called love” meets an unlikely cusp. An unlikely meeting point of an apparent juxtaposition of their view points on love.

Whatever the era, whether it’s the shy glances of the bygone era or of the pick up guru’s of the dude era. When cupid strikes, time stands still.

As abrupt as life is, as fickle the mind is, so is this post. Shivli (Paanch), Kiran (Gulaal) or Chanda (Dev.D). All their past can be jumbled up, the geography, the men they meet, the era they live in. They are a continuation of the same women creations. They all just happened to exist in Bombay in 2001, Rajasthan in 2005(when it started) and 2008 in Delhi.

So is Meera. In Meera I found my Aditi again in 2009. More agressive a lot more 21st Century.
Socha Na Tha ‘was’ still my favorite Imtiyaz Ali film and it stood firm even in the Jab We Met deluge. Love Aaj Kal displaced it and how.

Meera and Jai are the typical ‘we know what’s best for us’ couple. Cold logic and great sex. Fun it is? No strings attached, no frills no heartaches none. The true inhabitants of Lala Land.

It lasted till it was great, they parted when they felt ‘it’s not working out mate’. Not because they did not like each other or anything. Long Distant Relationships don’t work. Logic, fair enough. We move on.

“Yeh log move on kaise kar jate hai” Dev, Dev.D, 2008

Veer Singh the owner/chef of the place where their fun BREAK UP party was hosted nudges Jai.
What’s his angle? Jai reminds him of his youthful days but that Jai left the love of his life JLT(just like that). Thats not done.

The rest of it, as we all know now and what was mentioned above. Shy Era and the Dude Era. But when it strikes….time, universe, relativity, theories, Einstein, fundas, logic sab fail.

LAK is like an album. We keep flipping the pictures. Some years we clicked some we did not. Maybe 1982 my dad did, 1987 my dad did not. It jumps, it moves then you flow with it. It may not be the exaggerated high points it can be sweet, some sour, some JLT, some yeh kya tha but those moments are a part of your life and you cannot ignore it.

LAK on the face of it might be candy floss but it not gudda guddi, no way. It might not have the bizarre psychedelic energy of Dev.D but the tone is as forbidden as youthful and as brash.

The expectation of an Imtiyaz Ali heroin or for that matter any goody goody punjabi love story is that of a girl who is…in Bombay terms ‘Wife Material’. Meera was not that. She went beyond Aditi.

“yeh jhoot bolne wala idea achcha hai” Viren, Socha Na Tha.

Thats what Meera and Jai do here. When they are settled with their respective girl/boy friends they do the same. Lie, make an excuse and make time for each other.

She would make her current boyfriend wait at the dinner table and hold hands with Jai behind the Minar.
She would like to meet him for one last time before she got married.
She would after having had a lavish wedding tell her husband Jai is the one.
She would file for divorce and while signing the papers say I won’t tell Jai, if he has to come he will, if he knows he will.

This is the super intelligent, beautiful, logical, scaling new heights in the business world strong woman. Who makes her choices in men thinking they know what they are doing. Get together as soon, get out sooner, feel miserable but accepts, is not apologetic about it.

Saif as Jai is outstanding. The scene where he meets Meera just before the saath phere. Imtiyaz Ali and Saif nail it. What a scene!

Deepika. I missed Ayesha Takia through out. I just saw her doing this. OK for ‘practical’ reasons she could not but that scene where the couple after a happy break up tell each other what they disliked in each other. Thats an Ayesha Takia special. It was for her. Sad she is not around.

Rishi Kappor. Will not use words like affable, likable and all that. He is awesome. Period.

Natrajan Subramanian is back with a back with a bang after the rather off focus JWM

Don’t know much about editing but I love all films edited by Aarti Bajaj except Salam-e-Ishq :)

Teddy Mourya – Triple delight – Production Designer, Taxi Driver, Dancing Man in the Safari Suit.

This is my best Imtiyaz Ali Film Aaj Kal….waiting For his next.

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64 Comments

  1. girish girish says:

    “Saif as Jai is outstanding”..are u sure?..
    whatever u have mentioned about Rishi kapoor is absolutely rite!!..But,Saif outsatnding!!…i can’t digest this!!

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  2. When cupid strikes, time stands still. I like that Vasan!
    This could be the tag line for LAK, although not in commercial sense.

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  3. kartik krishnan kartik krishnan says:

    IMHO – you write better, clearer lucid,heartfelt,honest,less confused scripts than posts machcha.

    KAL = Rawness, naievete, heart, Kya PHODU Cinema !
    AAJ = sophistication, GRE, murkiness, intellect, Caheirs Du Cinema!

    Love you

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    • Indraneel Indraneel says:

      Iska matlab samajh nahin ayaa, KK

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    • It is Cahiers Du Cinema.

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    • KK, you may be right that Vasan writes better scripts than posts. I wouldn’t know since I haven’t read any of his scripts.

      But I disagree with your equating intellect with “bad”. And as you know, I always have disagreed with you on that. When you look down on intellect, on knowledge, on learning, on training, it is a messed up, sad, situation.

      If you are looking down on fakeness (yes, not a word!), snobbery, intellectual highhandedness, fine. Those are all bad things. If you feel Vasan’s posts are needlessly complicated for the sake of it, fine.

      But intellect?? The desire to learn? The desire to know where we came from historically and cinematically? Those are all great things, IMHO.

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      • kartik krishnan kartik krishnan says:

        Shripriya – i never intended to suggest too much info is bad..learning is the preresequite for growth…We’re all kinderkarten kids when it comes to cinema/learning/life etc etc etc … That wasnt the intention to look down upon knowledge at all :)

        Intellect, growth, knowledge are great things IMHO too :)

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    • Vasanbala Vasanbala says:

      KK I agree but when writing the script there is the “Hand of God” guiding me Machchan :) here writing a post..it’s just 100% me…pure mess, totally confused but certainly heartfelt :)

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  4. The crusader The crusader says:

    This is the first positive review I have seen. It would be nice to hear why so many people on PFC have such a strong negative reaction to this movie (of course, haven’t watched the movie myself :) )

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  5. shamoni8 shamoni8 says:

    what the crusader said.

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  6. Brijesh Bolar Brijesh Bolar says:

    Hey Vasan,

    Salaam-e-ishq was a movie bit dragging. But the only thing I liked about it was that it was edited pretty well..

    Anyways… will definitely have to watch LAK.. and Socha na tha (man its in my list of movies I need to need to need to watch).

    Ya, Deepika I really feel she just can emote dat well.. I mean if we have to go by her past movies.. so was not very keen nor expecting anything out of her… definitely I agree Ayesha Takia would have done justice… But all n all, its an Imtiaz Ali movie and expectations are soaring high.. and wid ur review its kinda created an urgency in me to catch it asap..

    thanks..

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  7. My two bits:

    LAK is good not great.
    Flaws? For one this isn’t a plot driven film, we know from reel one where the story is heading… in film’s like this it’s the characters that make or break it – Saif & Deepika’s characters weren’t well defined at all. You could exchange their lines and no one would notice. On the other hand JWM was plot driven, it had twists and turns… and it also had very well defined characters for Geet and Aditya.

    Secondly, Imtiaz is great at writing dialogues for the ‘now’ generation… but when smart lines seem to be written just for the sake of smart lines and NOT to further sculpt or etch a character they could start to irritate… or become a sign of trying too hard.

    And finally, Deepika – she’s a very weak lead heroine. She completely falls flat in two major plot points of the film – the second break-up scene, and the realisation scene where she runs out on Rahul Khanna. She just couldn’t carry them through and that affects the narrative and believability of the film.

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  8. i likes it…! the film, the review, the director…

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  9. Amir R Jaffar Amir R Jaffar says:

    I remember at the theater how the entire audience howled with laughter when Deepika tells Rahul Khanna “mein baad mein maafi maang loongi”. It was designed to be Deepika’s most poignant moment in the film, and the audience reaction summed up everything that was wrong with the premise, characterizations and execution of the film.
    I guess that’s what Imtiaz must have been thinking too while making this film.. mein baad mein maafi maang loonga.

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    • rufus rufus says:

      the situation was serious but that particular line was meant to be funny …if audience laughed , the scene worked isnt it?

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      • Amir R Jaffar Amir R Jaffar says:

        really was that supposed to be funny? while she was in tears? Sorry I missed it then… I thought the thought itself was preposterous to begin with and was misplaced. I don’t know how characters are written, but Deepika agreeing to marry another guy and on the day of marriage having doubts??? seriously??? Nothing I”d seen between Saif and Deepika really justified that for me. But then what would I know…

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        • Anurag kashyap Anurag kashyap says:

          that is what humour is .. a line like that in a situation like that.. delivered the way it was done..
          that was intended.. don’t straitjacket filmmaking and the intention of the filmmaker.. imtiaz is the man who looks at the most gravest of situations like that..

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          • Amir R Jaffar Amir R Jaffar says:

            appreciate you responding Mr. Kashyap..
            I am sorry but the audience did not laugh at the allegedly intended humor, they too IMHO reacted to the cheekiness of the very thought.
            And I am not merely speculating here, at another point later in the film (i forget where exactly) a member of the audience remarked out loudly “koi baat nahin baad mein maafi maang legi” resulting in another round of laughter from the rest.
            regards

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  10. Cherish Cherish says:

    Loved the review and movie. Definitely not the best, but not as projected by other PFC authors. Deepika was the weak link and the hero of the movie – Imtiaz.

    There was time when only 1/2 reviews were coming (and sometimes not even one). But for the last 2-3 releases we see so many people writing reviews. Some standardization is required and also weight on each author should be given for people as guidance (and I dont get the point system).

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  11. rohan rohan says:

    Hey vasan, i dnt think saif was perfect in total terms, only the sene before the sath phere,as u said, yes it perfect fr saif coz only he cn deliver dialogues with such stupidity, remeber dil chahta hai, deepika was perfect in her own way , she rather carried on scenes where practicality was needed, but thoda failed in creating emotions, the brazilian model, no body could make out her to be a foreigner, except when she dance udhar gad bad laga tha,also song locations wer sumwer similar to JWM, but all n all good movie not d best

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  12. DPac DPac says:

    now im devastated!!!

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  13. rbehemoth rbehemoth says:

    I absolutely loved Saif in the role of the sophisticated dude. Most notably in the scene where he comes to the wedding and is supposed to convince her in for the marriage but ends up saying unintended stuff. Loved that feeling of goofing up and all in that entire scene.
    There were moments in his sardar role where I felt he was trying too much and/or was more than conscious about trying to be the sardar. especially when it came to certain kind of dialogue delivery or body poses.
    Anyone else thought Saif’s sardar thing to be a direct relation/homage/inspiration from OLLO’s Paresh Rawal’s triple role thingy?

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  14. Nick Nick says:

    I dont like giving negative reviews. But this time I fear cant stop myself.
    Socha Na Tha was a classic I for one cant argue against it even if I tried.
    Jab We Met was good, Kareena could have toned down a little. I mean her stereotype overplaying the character was an eyesore. But Jab we met no classic maybe tad above avg.

    But Love Aaj Kal sucked and how. the flight scene after the breakup where they discuss each others faults easily could have been the best scene of the movie. But it sucked, why? Dude Ms deepika she has 0 acting skills. No skills for dialogue delivery. Her has just tone to it, much like my Civics teacher in school. monotonous.
    Her name says it all, last name, first name put together asks a question and answer it too :)

    Saif ali khan, I cant begin to explain how big a disaster he was. I just dont want to go there.
    So there goes you lead pair.
    Rishi kapoor was there, just there, he couldnt have impacted the story at all, whatever he did, coz he had no role.

    Ms Harlen singh (Giselle Monteiro ) easily the best actor in the movie. She is a brazilian who cant speak hindi and just had a single dialogue which I fear might be dubbed. Having said that she was really beautiful and the best cast in the film.

    Catchy dialogues was supposed to be the USP. There were a few but the actors ruined them. Other were just repeated 10,000 times just to bore you to death.

    So in conclusion Mr Bala whatever your reasons are for like this particular movie arent apparent to me in this article. I gave you 100 reason why I hated it.

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    • Tejas Tejas says:

      “Her name says it all, last name, first name put together asks a question and answer it too.”

      I resisted so long not blurting out that joke in public, as it is language specific, but now I can’t stop laughing!! :rofl:

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      • Nick Nick says:

        No disrespect intended and I havent watch any of her other films. but really am I the only who thinks she might have better career playing badminton?

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    • Vasanbala Vasanbala says:

      “So in conclusion Mr Bala whatever your reasons are for like this particular movie arent apparent to me in this article. I gave you 100 reason why I hated it.”

      read again or watch the film again…:)

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      • Nick Nick says:

        how could I when half the article you were rambling about socha na tha and Jab we met. Were you actually reviewing Love aaj kal.

        Watch the movie again??? Are you kidding me? I was gonna ask you, if you know a proper channel through which I can ask for my 10.5 $ back in refund.

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        • Vasanbala Vasanbala says:

          Mr. Nirav Shah

          Do read the places were I was talking about the film. Those are the reasons why I liked it. If you don’t find them call me. As for refund, yeh Illuminati Films is in Bandra. Try your luck.

          “I gave you 100 reason”

          Now that you have decided to take this on to some other level….Mr. Nirav Shah….I can’t count 100 reasons. Write them all Mr. Shah if you claim to have given so many….I’ll cancel all my ramblings on the other films and just write you an email on LAK.

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          • Nick Nick says:

            “Now that you have decided to take this on to some other level”

            Please elaborate.

            “I gave you 100 reason” = hyperbole :)

            Argument sake commenting? Thats taking it to the next level. downwards!

            what I meant by u gave me no reasons for example is.
            “Saif as Jai is outstanding. The scene where he meets Meera just before the saath phere. Imtiyaz Ali and Saif nail it”

            you didnt tell me what you found outstanding

            let me take you back to the movie.I have a few questions for you.

            The punjabi saif’s accent, what are your thoughts on that

            Deepika londener accent, what are your thoughts

            tell me one line in the film which was totally memorable for you?
            one line you will use in future review of Imtiaz movies like you use the socha na tha line.

            the mango joke, used i think 4 times, hilarious?

            you said deepika is no kareena.
            thats k but what are your thoughts on her acting in the film not making a comparison?

            I understand short scenes when narrating the today’s love story. maybe he wanted to be fast paced.

            He used the same technique first half for the veer story? 30 sec short snapping forward and back.

            Wasnt it really apparent he was showing a parallel track to emphasize it so much?

            I can go on and on. might literally reach 100. :)

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        • OM OM says:

          Nick i find it very strange when people after watching a movie ask for a refund..well strange and funny…for simple reason that..no production house or director forces you to watch a movie..all they do is tempt you..and if YOU as a viewer do not have a control or judgemnt on your tempatations…why would you ask for a refund..it was YOU as a viewer who failed to “judge” the movie based on its trailer..it actually talks a lot about YOUR OR MY intellect..if i may call so..

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          • Aarti Aarti says:

            I find it downright disgusting. Vishal Bhardwaj’s next movie is a dedication to such people :)

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          • Nick Nick says:

            OM and arti. How ironic you say that. You are telling me you never come out of anything (any movie, restaurant, etc) wishing you could get your money back.

            I declare you the winner of the argument if your answer is no.
            If yes join the kaminey club. :)

            Besides its my bad too. Ill be sure to put a smiley next time I speak frivolously about something. Few things have to be explicit down the throat i guess.

            Like imtiaz ali’s parallel naration. :)

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          • Nick Nick says:

            “it actually talks a lot about YOUR OR MY intellect”
            I have no qualm in accepting i was fooled. But then if you are so influenced by somebody else that you cant call a spade a spade.

            I believe its speaks much more of you as a person.

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    • Sammy Sammy says:

      Well as a consumer i have full right to ask for refund if i product is defective..

      Anyway 2 minute ka trailer dekh ke ghanta pata chalta hai movie is good or bad…i went by brand name Imitiyaz Ali and since i trusted in Anurag’s reviews and he gave a pretty positive review of LAK..guess idealism is passe now…everything is sold out..

      And yeah once again Deepika Padukone single-handedly raped the whole movie
      only thought i sahre with Vasan is that Ayesha would have been much better choice than Deepika

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  15. Sammy Sammy says:

    @Vasan
    i can see million reasons why i should re-watch Socha Na Tha/JWM gazllion times but seriously if soemone feels nauseated just by watching the lead character on-screen i don’t think its possible to see how Imitiyaz Ali’s actresses have evolved film after film
    @Nick
    ROFL…her acting was worth..ermm..shall i say ‘flatulent’..totally polluted the whole film

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  16. OM OM says:

    vasan..funny i agree with all your points here..but for the SEL bit..i have been a fan of aarti bajaj since BF and have liked all her work including SEL..i mentioned somewhere that where she started with SEL..she mastered in LAK…you can actually see a growth in her editing world..

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    • Vasanbala Vasanbala says:

      Oye OM. read again…I have clearly mentioned I don’t know anything about editing….so I did not like S-E-L ‘the film’ of all the films she edited and not disliking her work as an editor.

      I said I have liked all the films she has edited…but SEL…not as in editing work…but as in not like the film .

      OK I’ll try other combinations of getting what I want to say….but am clearly not getting the right phrases…and to say I am in the business of communication…thats really funny :)

      OM, I am a big big fan of her work and its great learning too.

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  17. OM OM says:

    ouch…my bad rei..i thought you were talking about her editing..per se..lekin saala..if YOU say YOU donno about editing..BC..mereko kya ghanta maloom hoga? i am just saying on what i felt..nothing technical..saala this platform is soo scary..all the things i used to say from what i felt, now we have to say on a technical level..it really is scary yaar..cant we just effing love movie cause we felt about it? tereko nahi bol raha hoon..bas bak raha hoon ;-)

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  18. ~uh~™ ~uh~™ says:

    I wonder why can’t we leave the comparison with other movie while writing a review. Surprisingly your reasons for liking is exactly my reasons for disliking it ( Saif, editing, the scenes you mentioned).
    Anyway, you wrote your take, I wrote mine.

    ‘Deepika. I missed Ayesha Takia through out.’
    [ Editor Note: ~Uh~, Please discuss the film and not shapes and sizes of actresses explicitly]

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  19. Prasun Banerjee Prasun Banerjee says:

    my affiliations upfront … i really liked the film. was very good. not great. will not compare with jab we met bcoz as long as i was on the theatre i was not reminded of jab we met. 2 films that came to my mind while watching Lak was Three Colours Red which in my opinion has a similar plot device … protagonist of older love story in touch with protagonist in present day love story and the parallels. 2nd movie that came to mind was Dil Chahta Hai … specifically Tanhayee … Saif could not match Aamirs intensity in the Main kya hoon song.

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  20. Aarti Aarti says:

    No, Nick. I never do that. I like to take full responsibility of my judgement. That statement was low, very low.

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    • Nick Nick says:

      congrats on your victory.

      But dont understand where i transferred the responsibility of my judgement on someone else.

      low is a relative term, a gandhian might find making “kaminey” sortta judgment on someone you havent even seen very low.

      Personally i find neither low cos i take stuff in jest of it.
      you have a good day/night/afternoon.

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  21. Vasanbala Vasanbala says:

    Mr. Shah I’ll start with a smiley :)

    “you didn’t tell me what you found outstanding”

    I see a girl and say wow. I will seriously not go into the details of stats, skin complexion, eye lids, finger nails, toe. A wow is a wow.

    But sorry we are talking about cinema here and ofcourse there is no such thing called magic. There is no such thing called a feeling.

    If a scene is good then very specifically for me that is then I would have to get into.

    Performance
    Dialogues
    Lighting
    Camera
    Edits
    Junior Artists
    My mood while watching it
    My seat
    The sound in the cinema hall
    The person sitting next to me
    The person sitting in front of my
    The crying baby in the hall
    So on and so……

    Right.

    But then say you do not approve of the girl I date and give me 10,000 reasons for not liking her or hate her. I sill say no man she is outstanding. And you say fool give me one reason at least.

    “you didnt tell me what you found outstanding”

    I rest my case to this. You can call me a chut for not being able to articulate something I like.

    The punjabi saif’s accent,

    If a UP sounding thug operating in the hills of Bangalore can be the one of the greatest characters written in Hindi Cinema then thats a very very minor thing for me. See am a pretty impressionable guy. If I like most am ready to let go of a lot many.To answer, have not lived around with many sardars but whatever little Saif did not sound great.

    I don’t like Deepika.

    One memorable line.

    I say pass to this test. Do deduct marks.

    “deepika is no kareena”

    now I would really urge you to read the post once again.

    “Wasnt it really apparent he was showing a parallel track to emphasize it so much?”

    That bothered you not me.

    Happy viewing Nirav. Hope some filmmaker gives you that perfect film. Am an easy guest with mediocre taste. Am very easily entertained and am thankful you did not go till 100. Am still getting over your very valid points for hating the film and my very weak answers to loving the film.

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    • Nick Nick says:

      So now you have it, I utter the line “You have your take and I have mine, to each its own”

      To you what came across as shoving down the throat which i believe is what you think from your wow dialogue, but it was actually an argument to see reason.

      But I rest my case and leave you to your judgements with the utterance of the above line.

      b/w My wow’s are cos I have innumerable words to describe it which is infeasible so I just say wow. So if somebody challenges them I do give them the gist of it but no obligations.

      And i sincerely hope yours is not due to the lack of words?

      You have a nice one.

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  22. OM OM says:

    “But then if you are so influenced by somebody else that you cant call a spade a spade.

    I believe its speaks much more of you as a person.”

    erm..with age i am able to understand the importance of taking dabur Chyawanprash with dhoodh…but, what are you talking about?

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  23. Sammy Sammy says:

    i had heard of the term ‘herd-mentality’ now i am getting introduced to ‘celebrity-induced-herd-mentality’…hmmm..i wish this film was directed by Suraj Barjatya/Kunal Kohli..i would have seen ppl bashing it left and right on this forum

    but when beloved Lord says something everyone has to agree no matter how shitty the film was

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    • Aarti Aarti says:

      Sammy is like a stuck record. Someone please help him move on? That’ll be your good deed of the day. Thanks!

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      • Sammy Sammy says:

        Well i aint gonna say film is great just cos i should not sound repetitive
        Aartiji jo hai woh hai..try to accept that there’s a section of audience who loathed the film for being complete fake no matter what u felt…

        I don’t believe in picking out minor flaws in technical nuances of a film..i felt it was FUCK-ALL and i stand by it..PERIOD.

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        • Aarti Aarti says:

          Sammy, the funny thing is- I didn’t like the movie either!!! I was talking about other things which I assume you were smart enough to understand.

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          • Sammy Sammy says:

            Sometimes in this world of equal opportunity i feel its good to be M.chauvanist P.

            Atleast i don’t have to deal with common issue such as common sense

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    • Nick Nick says:

      ( Editor note . deleted Objectionable part of the comment )
      Dude there are people who might come after you for maligning kunal kohli too. …. I am out of this discussion.

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  24. Pooja Pooja says:

    Saif shud now realise tht he is now 2old for these kinda roles, chemistry btwn Saif &Deepika was non-existent,To be honest, the parallel story from? 60’s was more touching than saif-deepika’s,really impressed with young Harleen(a Brazilian model),who despite not knowing a single word of Hindi emoted very well without dialogs,Music is the only high-point , one advice for Deepika: Inspite the fact, that she looks awesome in the movie she REALLY needs an acting session class

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  25. OM OM says:

    OK Guys…No personal attacks, lest you want to get banned.

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  26. Sammy Sammy says:

    @Pooja
    completely agree with you..exactly the point i wanted to put forward

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  27. OM OM says:

    Nick, if you would like to discuss, we can. If you want to be a smartass, which i will come to know with your next comment, you will see where you stand!

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  28. Riju Riju says:

    good smart treatment for sure….but the chemistry was missing…and the story….the same confusion abt love like last two films….what abt next film yaar?

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  29. Sunny Sunny says:

    bad acting by Deepika Padukone….complete plastic…songs were out of place (except Chor Bazaari which was amazing)…there was one dumb song that thankfully I dont remember anymore..the one which was when Saif join Golden gate…the song was the most clichedly picturized I have seen i long time…White chicks trying to woo our desi lad…angrezi janta clapping for out hero..our hero walking and explaing stuff to phoren workers, moving with a swagger…smiling silly when he is putting on his construction cap, playing video games or eating a goddamn burger for that matter…you get the point….this stuff that I associated with Karan Johar, Yash raj, Farha or Sajid Khan but not Imtiaz Ali…
    The man who became a cliche buster became a victim of it himself.. .maybe its similar to the saying “while fighting the evil you might turn into evil yourself”…oh well me silly…you get the point

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    • Sunny I didnt like the song either but I was impressed by what was shown. The song is trying to show his transition from being in the euphoria of acheiveing a great dream to the emptiness of not having her. There are more than 4 shots of video game but every time his expression is conveying his change in emotions. I thought it was masterful. Anyways, to each his own ( btw this term is so overdone at PFC :) )

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  30. Ravi Ravi says:

    Sunny bhai, dat song u r rippin apart, in totality, tells d story of saif’s downward spiralling journey so beautifully….m surprised u didn’t notice

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  31. narayan narayan says:

    :rofl: NO offence but what I saw was a pathetic film by any standards whether it is the script, the perfomances and more than anything the sensibilities. It could easily have been mistaken for a Johar Film.

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  32. Ashish Shukla Ashish Shukla says:

    …beautiful Vasan…you are still one of my favorite movie reviewers on PFC…cheers!

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  33. la_dolce_vita la_dolce_vita says:

    I’m Sorry Vasan, But in my book LAK goes down as the film in which Imtiaz Ali sold out. Not that I ever thought he ever had a great non-commercial agenda (and he doesn’t need to) but his last two films had characters and stories which had integrity; they burst forth with a freshness and ease of evocation that didn’t push their commercial manipulation into our faces.

    LAK is over-burdened with agendas, is almost didactic at times and has really very little to offer in the way of insight or observation about love, life or the times that we live in. Heck, I didn’t even get any real insight into the way Meera thinks!

    I understand that films above a certain budget have to try to satisfy the many different audiences whose approval make it a success – like the youth audience as well as the family one, the NRI audience as well as the home-grown one.. but when one starts to get the feeling that a film is essentially just being formulated to have parts which will work for disparate audiences then the whole starts to suffer. And frankly, LAK seemed just like that – a bunch of sequences stitched together around a loose central idea which was neither deep or clever.

    The result is something that I suspect works in its entirety for very few but ofcourse has made dollops of money all over the place – proving again that the formulation indeed does work! But this thing that he has created is closer to a YashRaj film than anything else. Funnily enough, it managed to get half-decent reviews exactly because it isn’t a Yashraj film and most people presumed the best about Imtiaz’s intentions based on his SNT & JWM street cred. Had it been a Yashraj film it would have been hammered everywhere (most spectacularly at PFC ofcourse!).

    Let’s face the fact that Imtiaz has walked over to the dark side. He is now a maker of filmic products like the many other business men of Bollywood. Let us not confuse present reality with earned reputation. the job of artists is to remain alive and vital – and Imtiaz is responsible for dereliction of duty!

    I hear he has a new Merc. I hope he enjoys the ride.

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