Deepika is the new Katrina

If you are the kind who has regularly watched Hindi movies over the years, you can summarise the storyline of most movies into one line: boy meets girl, boy loses girl and boy wins girl again. Most Hindi films are essentially versions of this story line (or what the director of the movie may tell you treatment bilkul alag hai.)

Now what would you say about a movie which twists this entire logic on its head. Boy loses girl in the beginning, boy loses girl at the interval, boy loses girl again after interval and boy wins girl, finally, in the end, after the girl has gone ahead and married the second hero.

Well that it is different. Hmmm, almost. In a nutshell that is the story of Imitiaz Ali’s much awaited Love Aaj Kal. The movie works over most its two hours running time except towards the end when it really drags and of course whenever Deepika Padukone tries to act.

What works for the movie? Some semblance of a new storyline.

Great visuals (human as well as natural. You know what I mean.)

Great music backed by some real good lyrics. My favourite being the song Chor Bazaari, which has some brilliant lyrics.

Rishi Kapoor is excellent as usual (For a guy who barely acted for most of his career as a hero, he is having a real good second innings in Bollywood, with some excellent roles in movies like Hum Tum, Luck By Chance and now Love Aaj Kal. For the record he won a National Award for his debut role in Mera Naam Joker, when he was barely 18).

There are some real good oneliners in the first half, which I won’t reveal here.

Then there is Shweta Gulati playing the young Harleen (the girl who Rishi Kapoor’s character is in love with), who looks fantastic. She has been kept under the wraps, so don’t know what her name is. But she clearly reminded me of Bhagyashree in Maine Pyar Kiya. (How many hearts fluttered when she said hota hai, hota hai)

Oh and you must look out for this yesteryear actress, towards the end, who makes her comeback, after nearly 30 years away from the movies.

What doesn’t work for the movie?There is very little chemistry between Saif and Deepika. Now that means two things. Either Kareena should have been the heroine or Ranbir should have been the hero.

Some really corny lines in the second half. Sample this: “Love-who knows what love is. I haven’t figured out that one as yet.” In these portions Imitiaz Ali who has written the movie as well, has clearly been inspired by the Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar school of film making. (Remember when Shahrukh Khan says in Dil To Pagal Hai to Madhuri towards the end “Rahul,naam to yaad rahega na” and when he tells Kajol in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai “Tum nahi samjhogi Anjali Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”. That for me is the corniest line written ever.)

The major weakness of the movie is : Deepika Padukone, for sure. She can’t act for nuts. Her first film Om Shaanti Om did not need her to act. Her second movie Bachna Ae Haseeno had two other non acting heroines (Minisha Lamba and Bipasha Basu) which of course allowed her to share the blame.

But this movie rests solely on her and Saif Ali Khan. Saif is pretty decent continuing with his Hum Tum act. Deepika though is a disaster, and that makes what would have been a very good movie, a pretty average movie.

You can make out how much difficulty she has had just mouthing her dialogues. As friend who works in the film industry puts it “These days we say cut as soon as the actresses are able to complete their lines without any mistakes.” So that rules out any space for them getting their emotions right as well, while acting.

Deepika Padukone clearly belongs to that category. You can make out that she tries hard to emote, but her dialogue delivery clearly lets her down. I guess we can safely say “Deepika is the new Katrina.” And given that, she has a bright future. Who wants heroines to act anyway?