Ah, ha!! Don’t judge my review by just reading the heading. The film works for me, in pockets. There are brave moments, good direction moments, absolutely fine acting by one of the actors, a brave screen-play, beautiful love story (I will explain why I stated this). So then why the ‘hhhmmm’ you ask? Read on. I’ll take a bow as I let you in to read my humble review.

Reel Life – The story of a rich yuppie doctor and his rich friends on an ‘expensive’ cruise liner. Dr Ajay being the only single person in the gang, he obviously gets chosen by cupid and vola, he’s in love with a girl that serves him his drinks. This is real love folks (Bollywood style 100%). He learns about her dreams and her liking and declares then, that he has the same. He learns Salsa all night long, just so that he can teach the girl salsa at dawn. However at the one chance that he gets to Salsa with her, eh…he doesn’t really Salsa with her, instead he watches from the side-lines and cheers her on (no, no. There is no significance of this to the film, except it happens because our actor ‘Ajay Devgan’ cannot really set the dance floor on fire can he?). Anyway they fall in love, clear a misunderstanding and there you have it. They get married. Just before the intermission, there is a moment, where the husband nearly drives into his wife in the pouring rain and could have knocked her over. Don’t worry that doesn’t happen. He brakes on time, but when he gets out of the car, she tells him something. She tells him that she’s lost, that she couldn’t remember where they lived; she couldn’t remember his mobile number and even his name. A moment very well enacted by Kajol. Ok, then we come to the other half which really splashes a beautiful love story showcasing how much the husband does to keep alive the relationship and promises that he made to his wife, when she was in perfect health. There is an incident when an infant nearly dies due to this illness, but still the husband never lets go. It’s not all about him though, even the wife, in her moments of reality, realizes that she is a burden to her husband and child and wants to stay away from them, BUT, what really goes on is a story on how the marriage is held on to, about how the love is kept alive. Alas, though, we have to remember that this is a ‘non-daring’ Bollywood film, made by a veteran actor, so the climax is basically – well – all is well that ends well. Sob, Sob. Tears and tears.

Real Life – Firstly, the reason I said earlier on that this was a beautiful love story is exactly for this reason. Many of us have been brain-washed by our film makers to believe that the greatest love stories were when a boy met a girl and fought the world to win her over and eventually marry her – all bruised and all. Well wake up, there’s a love story after the marriage too, a love story wherein the biggest obstacles come from within the couple itself, due to illness or even to moments that are not really handled well. I really liked the love story that was showcased, when the couple were faced with challenges. I also liked the chemistry between the three guys who were friends all along. Yeah that’s really it, from a ‘real-life’ perspective. I would say, it’s a wonderful reminder to see how couples should stick it out as much as possible. It’s a matter of commitment, when you make a promise to be with each other forever, this is a nice reminder of what that means and how to never give up. I’m very big on friends and I really liked the chemistry between them. No matter what they were going thru, they were there always. I liked that. I wish upon you all good relationships, deeper commitments with your spouses and family. I also wish upon you all, good friends.

Cinematically – Ok, I was very disappointed with Ajay Devgan as the actor. He just isn’t convincing as a rich yuppie romantic, flamboyant, blah blah, call it what you want, that he was trying to be in the first half. Seriously. He was also looking a bit lost when he had to pull of being a romantic. Shame really, coz I expected a lot more chemistry between him and his real wife – Kajol. Now coming to Kajol, I cannot help but say that this woman is amazing. She is so natural. Man!! We used to compare the likes of Rani and Priety to this woman!! Wake up India, Kajol is in a league far ahead of many of the people in this industry. She pulls of those scenes, especially after interval with such ease and grace that you don’t even realize she is acting. Playing the love interest in the first half wasn’t that great by her too, I think because she didn’t have much to do in the first half and secondly the chemistry with Ajay just did not come across. Put it this way, unlike when he acts with SRK, you just didn’t feel like you wanted her to get hooked up with Ajay. Shame. The cinematography is good, the edits were good too. The screenplay is brave, because the way the flashback was done was quiet daring, i.e. you knew from the beginning who the film was about – watch it, you’ll know what I mean. I cannot remember a single tune from the film, neither did I enjoy the music when it was there on screen. Finally, as a first time director, Ajay needs a pat on the back. He has good potential as a director, though maybe he should realize that he should not act in a film, simply coz he is directing it. I would have loved to see Salman Khan in this film, doing the role that Ajay did. He would have made you laugh and fall in love in the first half and taken you on an emotional roller-coaster in the second half along with Kajol.

Finally - So the verdict? Yeah I mean do go and see it. It’s watchable. Go watch it for the love story AND for Kajol. Ok, I guess AND to see Ajay Devgan’s work as a director. If you watched it on DVD, that would be fine too. On the “Uncultured” scale, I’d say it’s a 5 or 6 out of 10. My opinion, my column – made with a lot of love, patience, pop-corn, diet coke and chocolates. Just for You, by Me and now that’s really HUM.

My name is Tagore Almeida, and I am based out of lovely Dubai. I am a technologist in my day job, and a film-writer by night. I run a humanitarian group called ‘The Uncultured Company’ too, read more about me and my work at www.tagorealmeida.com.