YEH JAWANI HAI DEEWANI

A perfect escape destination – Ye Jawani Hai Deewani.

Yes the movie is a perfect example of escapism. A Full on candy Floss- Fantasy -Formula love story with a tinch of reality checks here & there. It appears to be very modern and todays love story though it is almost a replica of 18 years old DDLJ. Dot by dot the story is same. Group of friends go to have a trip. The guys tease girls and girl finally falls for guy without knowing whether the guy also thinks same. And yes, the guy also realizes that and follows his love to a mega wedding ceremony which last for entire second half. Only difference here is the characters themselves and their dream are the major roadblock in the love story instead of their families. And eventually they overcome it. There is nothing much new in the story here but what new is the treatment, the way the story is being portrayed. Kudos to this young chap – Ayan Mukherjee who took up such a big challenge of redefining an old love story and man, he did his job!!!

Surely he is supported by the bestest contemporary acting talent of India – Ranbir Kapoor, without a doubt one of the finest actor; Deepika Padukone – the hottest girl in town and man, she has learnt acting!!!, Kalki  - no words for her, she is an outstanding actor; be it a helplessly in love courtesan in DevD or be it a vulnerable young girl in search of her father in Girl in Yellow Boots , be it a bitchy fiancée of Zindagi na milegi Dobara or here a sweet but practical girl who in the beginning is in love with a guy who cares a damn for her transforms to a much practical girl who finds her love in guy who loves her immensely.  This guy – Aditya Roy Kapoor is loaded with talent but he has to be really smart now onwards in choosing his movies. He can’t just keep doing any role in every movie his brother is producing.

Ayan has worked on the treatment really well. The pace of the movie is awesome. Nowhere does the movie looks slow infact at some points of time the pace is so speedy that it just appears to be slap on your face saying what else do you want in this scene. One such example is formation of triangle between Rana Duggubati, Ranbir & Deepika and just the very next moment the triangle just vanishes in the air. The movie is nowhere stretched out yet an almost 2 hr 40 minute saga. But I have to admit here; at times I felt that it should go on a bit more for a while.

The characters are contemporary – ambitious, self-indulged in search of love. But the story is basically of a guy (Ranbir) who does not care much of relations and wants to achieve a lot in life. Since Ayan has made this character the center point of the movie, he did not work much or say he did not give much thought to other characters. Or one reason could be he had to handle three more equally important characters so he could not weave the story for each of them. Deepika who is main protagonist is also sideline a few times. One such scene is where she had to dance in the sangeet and Ranbir helps her but intern makes it his own affair rather making her dance stand out. I would say the second best written character in the movie is of Kalki. And the least importance is given to Aditya’s character. He is shown as alcoholic, gambler playboy. But just that!! Nothing more. You will be confused what he was there for? To be the one sided love interest of kalki!!! Well I am not sure what Ayan wanted to do with this character but anyways all in all, things just fall in place and movie looks awesome. The dialogues are really punchy. From contemporary double meaning (oh sorry, now they are called single meaning) punches to some really soul searching dialogues, they create the magic exactly where it is required. One such I remember – “life main sab kuch nahi kar sakte tum, kuch to chhhodna hi padega”. There were many more which I just wanted to remember but don’t remember now.

The Entire team has done a great job. Ayan first and foremost for a totally fresh screenplay and outstanding direction making an old story look so connecting. All the technicians – good job done by the cameraman and editor. But still editor did not have much to do here. Most of the time I say that the songs should always be edited and just few lines should be kept. But it is not the case here. The actors are so good looking and dancing & acting so awesome that you want to see the entire song. The chemistry of not only the protagonist but all four people with each other is amazing. In one of the interview Ranbir said – “Acting is so overrated”. I don’t agree with him. Only good acting can make you sit through a long story with all the routine songs.

Music just adds flavor to the movie. It changes genre as per the movie requirement. Cinematography is totally justified, same is production design. I have some complaints with makeup and costume departments. A studious, boring girl is wearing miniskirts everywhere, even for grocery shopping or for mountain climbing. There has to be some justification here. I agree that Deepika is glamorous but making her wear jeans or something nerdy clothes wouldn’t have created much stress to the movie. She anyways looks good. And to much of my surprise, the camera was mostly focused on her face in first half of the movie. So if you had to do that why mini skirt!!!

Anyway all silly faults I am picking out because I don’t have much to crap about. I know it is a perfect escapist movie and I enjoy such movies in their true form. So let it be. It’s a delicious strawberry cake served, we can forget if the icing are little weird. It still tastes awesome!!! J