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U Me Aur Hum
As the credits start to roll in with various romantic quotes in the background; you may be forgiven in thinking that Ajay Devgan’s directorial debut might be one of those romantic movies where the hero gets the heroine against all odds and settles down to a lived happily ever after scenario. But the movie turns out to be quite a serious movie which attempts to tackle a sensitive subject of a patient suffering from the Alzheimer’s disease.
The movie initially disappoints you due to an insipid first half. We are introduced to a psychiatrist Ajay (Ajay Devgan) who goes on a cruise trip with his friends. Things get quite bad when we are introduced to his friends whose sole purpose in the movie seems to be: scream-shout-drink-scream-shout-drink making the audience want to scream-shout-for-head-ache-curing pill. There are a lot of corny jokes thrown about and even worse dialogues are spouted. Sample this: Leaving a cruise midway is like looking for an abortion in the seventh month. Someone should take Ashwin Dhir to task for many such offensively stupid dialogues.
In midst of all this mess Ajay meets Piya (Kajol) and is entralled by her. He falls in love with her at first sight (predictably); meets resistance from her immediately (again predictably); uses a few lies and couple of songs to make her reciprocate his love (yawn..predictably). But even though the broad outline of the courting seems to be run-of-the-mill stuff, it’s elevated to a different level due to some neat touches by Ajay Devgan. The explanation of Piya’s background through her book; the conversations between Ajay and Piya run in the background while we see the two enjoying each others company; the sequence of Ajay attempting at learning Salsa overnight - all these result in making the courtship a bit more enjoyable. 
Everything seems to be going Ajay’s way and he seems to be leading an enviable life, when suddenly he discover that Piya is suffering from Alzhimer’s disease. From here, the movie takes a serious note as Ajay tries to grapple with Piya’s disorder and tries to bring some sense of order in his life.
The sequences showing Kajol’s gradual tendency to lose her memory is catalogued quite subtly. There’s an instance when Ajay tells Piya to come to meet her at a certain time and Piya turns up an hour late insisting that he got the timing wrong; Piya has a tendency from childhood days to keep post-its in her mirror so that she may not forget much. These scenes seem to be inconsequential at first but as we understand her condition, we also realise the importance of those scenes.
The movie focuses quite a lot on Ajay Devgan’s character and he delivers a commendable performance. His character goes through a lot of distress emotionally and he emotes quite well in those. Kajol delivers an excellent performance. She is pretty restrained in her performance when Alzhimer’s takes over her. Any actor of a lesser calibre could have gone over the top. Thanks to Kajol it does not become U Me aur Ham! Both the lead actors lift the movie up a few notches. The viewer feels very convinced of Ajay’s dilema and is sympathetic towards the choices that he’s forced to make. Ajay’s friends Vicky (Karan Khanna),Natasha (Isha Sharwani), Nikhil (Sumeet Raghavan) and Reena (Divya Dutta) spoil the mood with their histrionics. Except for the title track rendered by Vishal Bharadwaj, the songs are strictly ok. In fact a couple of songs (specially the wedding song), could have been chopped off.
Ajay Devgan the director handles the emotional scenes like a veteran. It’s the light-hearted scenes that are a big let-down. Off course that could be due to the low quality of writing. But he doesn’t seem to maintain a certain level of consistency. For instance, there’s a wonderful digital imagery where we are introduced to Kajol’s thoughts and aspirations; the very next sequence though there is a loud scene with Pichwade Pe Kutte Kate playing in the background. This puts off the viewer’s mood immediately. The romantic track between Ajay and Piya is marred by such inconsistencies. Ajay Devgan does have in him to be a good director, he just has to ensure that consistency is maintained. As Piya’s condition worsens in the later stages, there are a few shocking scenes which are handled very well by him. The story written by Ajay Devgan is good, but I thought the story was a bit incomplete. There could have been more meat in the story towards the end.
Overall, the second half saves the day for the movie. The emotional portions overwhelms you and you’re willing to overlook the blemishes in the first half. If you are looking for a light hearted romantic comedy, then this movie isn’t for you. It’s a movie that tackles the subject of relationships at a serious level.
27 Responses to “U Me Aur Hum”
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wasnt really impressed with the promos but will give it a try after reading this post…
50 First Dates
hi Sudhir
this movie seems to be a cut, copy, paste job of the Korean film ‘a moment to remember’, with bits of ‘fifty first dates’ and ‘notebook’ thrown in.of course, with a bit of ‘bollywood’ masala mixed in the right proportion so that the audience can have a bit of catharsis. why is it so difficult for our filmmakers to acknowledge their sources or ‘inspiration’?
Sudhir: I compltely agree with your views. The second half was enough for me to overlook the problems of the first half. Never expected Devgan to treat the material so sensitively. My standout scene from the film - the 10 minute soliloquy by Devgan in the second half - can be boring for some people who have little patience. I thought that was a very well written and well directed scene. Also, the pakeezah song sequence was also handled well.
Uma: “this movie seems to be a *cut, copy, paste* job of the Korean film
@vineeth
Hope you won’t be dissapointed !
@uma
I haven’t seen the korean movie so i wouldn’t know..
but you’re right; if it is a copy, there should be an acknowledgement and persmission to be sought before ripping any movie/book.
But sadly i don’t see it happening anytime soon :(
@Aditya Pant
Yes the treatment of Ajay Devgan in the second half came as a pleasent suprise to me as well.
The Pakeezah sequence was very well done. But then in midst of the sequence one of the supporting actors butts in with inane lines and again took the sheen off the scene.
IMHO, for his next directorial venture Ajay Devgan seriously needs to pay attention to the dialogue writer.
@ Aditya Pant: “the 10 minute soliloquy by Devgan in the second half - can be boring for some people who have little patience.” It’s not a matter of patience- what’s with banal lines like- it’s not about U Me aur Hum- it’s only about Me.” ? I thought it could have been touching, but turned out to be too corny- especially when coupled with the following scene, when Isha Sharvani- who just seems to be stretching limbs in films- excitably says to a piece of wood- “let’s get married!”
I did like the ‘Pakeezah’ scene though.
Premise from ‘The Notebook’ and the quote ‘The greatest journey…” from ‘The painted Veil”.
So many people copy hollywood, so no paint in getting offended if the hindi film industry is called Bollywood! Right…?
Ok I think we’ve figured this shit out now. So “U Me Aur Hum” is Notebook + 50 First Dates - Adam Sandler’s character + the Korean film “A Moment to Remember” - Koreans + Kajol + quotes from the Painted Veil + Masala + Desi thurkah? Is the the recipe? C’mon on guys, this is VERY IMPORTANT that we figure it out so we can nab these damn copy/paste culprits!
Oh, and look at these two guys over here. It seems that while everyone else is trying to uncover the source of “inspiration” behind U Me Aur Hum, Sudhir and Aditya, the only ones who’ve actually gone out and seen the film, are too busy trying to “enjoy” it.
They seem more concerned with analyzing the film on its own merits, and critiquing Ajay Devgan’s first attempt at Directing a film rather than point figures. They’re the crazy ones who are just trying to objectively assess, for the benefit of us who haven’t seen the film, whether its worth watching.
Guys, seriously, when a film is a rip-off lets get on their case about it being a rip-off. I’m 200% with you all on that. BUT, let’s first SEE the film in question (also helps if you’ve seen the suspected sources of inspiration as well), and see if the Director has put so little effort in making the film his own piece of work first before we break the damn door down.
@tony mera naam
I have seen both the movies, though i saw ‘u,me aur hum’ after i made the comment!seeing it only reinforced my views about it being a cut, copy, paste job. even the age at which the lead actresses are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s is the same:27. i do agree the movie is ‘moving’ though. if u still have doubts, check these links: http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/moment_to_remember.htm and http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_A_Moment_to_Remember.php.
what gives u the idea that the audience has no clue about world cinema or Asian cinema for that matter? i study in a university which has lots of screenings of foreign movie. i hope this answers your questions and doubts about my credentials to comment!
@Aditya Pant
sorry, I hope my response to Tony Mera Naam’s commments answers ur questions and doubts as well.
After reading the review of the film in the link provided, the korean film seems to have as much of a similarity with U Me Aur Hum as 50 First Dates has, ie, not much. Only guy falling in love with girl with serious memory problems. Ofcourse I could be wrong as I haven’t seen the korean film (and not likely to after reading that review).
Devgan’s done a good job. Mature-ish in most places. Silly in some others. But the overall product isn’t too bad at all. He handled himself as an actor brilliantly. He always looks drunk, what with his eyes and slurry voice, so he does the drunk routine quite a few times in the film.
@uma
i read the review of said Korean Film, in the link provided by you (comment#11).
I have have not seen the Korean film, but watched U, Me aur Hum and liked the movie. The only similarity between the two films are
1)in both films leading heroin suffered from same disease.
2)age of heroin in both the film was almost same.27 in former and 28 in later.
Expect these two ,i am not able to find any other similarity in two films based on the review provided by your link.
Ajay devgan has such a honest reputation , that i can not believe that he will do these kind of copy-paste job.The actor you gave us movie like “APHARAN”, does not need to do this.
Since you have watched both movies you must be able describe more similarity in both the films in detail.Please reply.
@Jahan
//it
Uma: It wasn’t my intention of doubting your credentials. If you read what I had written, the tone is not accusing at all. You had used the words “cut, copy, paste”, which is much more serious accsation than just taking a germ of an idea from another film. So I was confirming that you had watched both films. Looks like I wasn’t too wrong becasue you had actually not seen U, Me Aur Hum while making that comment.
Is this piece written by Sudhir Nair, the director of Mithun Chakravarty film, SAAZISH??
@Sanjeev
I don’t if this is a joke but it’s a very odd question. :-?
No I’ve never worked in any film in my life let alone direct ..and Saazish was directed by Rajkumar Kohli if Iam not mistaken
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Uma: My comment was nothing person, and I was especially not at all doubting your crediantial (or anyone elses for that matter as my comment was not meant to be singularly directed at any one person). That being said if I have managed to offend you I will apologize…
From the reviews the central theme of both the Korean film (BTW “A Moment to Remember” is a lovely title, translated or not) and “U Me Aur Hum” does seem to be the same. As does the basic premise of “The Notebook”.
The difference, as I can assess, is in the plot, the characters and the overall treatment.
Who the hell cares if it was copied or not? Was it good? NOT!! Ajay chose strange closeup shots in every conversation, when the aging skins of the lead pair demanded some diffuse lighting and distance. His dialog writer should be summarily executed, or at the very least banned from writing. The placement of the songs was most awkward - you decide to institutionalize your wife and come home to her trying to seduce you (successfully it would seem). The use of “You know something” close to 100 times, the cheesy notebook wishes, the language, the language - call the child F U dash dash E R!! Kajol was wearing white dresses with matching white lipstick for most of the film, and lots of black around the eyes. No fashion sense in real life makes you seem down to earth, but in reel life you cannot be portrayed as a siren if you look like a kid let loose into Mama’s makeup box. As for the sentiments portrayed in the film, very Hallmark card-ish, be it romance, sadness, remorse or duty.
I liked the movie. It was two different movies for me, first half coming from David Dhavan second coming from Ajay Devgan.
Thankfully I have not seen The Notebook and wasn
I dont this the similarities was with the Notebook, the movie as much as the Nicholas Sparks novel. The novel is one of the few contemporary classics and one of the most beautiful reads ever. Even the english movie The Notebook couldnt do justice to the novel so how could a hindi movie do?
It was, simply, a horrible movie. And Ajay did a horrible job acting and directing. It was an insult thinking that the movie was inspired from one of my favorite ever books. Now all I ask you bollywood people is this: Next time you need your so called “inspiritaion”, please, please, please STAY AWAY from such beautiful novels cuz there is no way you can pull it off!
Exellent film if srk was in it everyone wouldve raved about it sadly ajay never gets his due the fact is even if srk made a 10 minute film with him having a toilet everyone will rave about it. Ajay devgan has done an exellent job as a director his acting does not require any praise i would like him to direct more films and also direct films with other actors in the lead a bit like feroz khan. As for awards as usual srk will make a piece of crap and take that home with him like he always does but theres one thing ajay has that srk or any top actors in there league have is winning the national award 2 times i think mithun got that twice too but sadly he never got his due either. Carry on devgan your doing well and dont stop acting.
Ajay can get beaten in every position imaginable and win a National award for that, why start making ripoff films like U Me Aur Hum? Even the tag-line was pathetically ripped off from Painted Veil - has the man no originality?
ppl here have obviously watched a lot of movies. y cant we have, in some silent corner of the blog, a growing database of hindi movies, with their unacknowledged “inspiration(s)” ?
one day, when the list is long enough, these things will start to matter.. hopefully. ;)
anyways, we can put bollywood’s name (sic) to the test.. just for the heck of it, i mean..
a year down the line, maybe we could send a congratulatory message to the ones who have ripped the most. Maybe some of us could do a review of their ‘work’.
most of us here will never have godfathers. so i guess that’s fine ;)
[...] Kajol delivers an excellent performance. She is pretty restrained in her performance when Alzhimer’s takes over her. Any actor of a lesser calibre could have gone over the top. Thanks to Kajol it does not become U Me aur Ham! - Passion for cinema [...]