The Good, The Bad and The Beautiful

Okay, so I was desperately waiting for this film and it finally released. So what did I feel about the film? Well, it’s complicated. Okay, so I was desperately waiting for this film and it finally released. So what did I feel about the film? Well, it’s complicated.

Firstly, like other reviewers, I don’t like wasting time on telling the plot. So if that’s what you are looking for it, stop reading now. Yeah, so the film begins with and old Ajay Devgan trying to woe the old Kajol. Pretty interesting, I thought. So, as they say well begun is half done and the film begins well. Now, the movie goes into the story of the cruise. And what is happening? The story could not connect with the audience. Not just me, but the whole hall felt disconnected. The jokes, the romance, it’s not working. Reason? It looks fake and planted. They have copied this part from the move, The Notebook, and it doesn’t works. We have recently seen Jab We Met and we saw how beautifully the dialogues the scenes were just like lovers behave in real life. And that worked. But here, the whole meeting of lovers did not work. Okay, so we move on and Ajay and Kajol fall in love. Then for some reason there is a nude scene… well, I just don’t understand the point of keeping it there. I mean, the guy is not some Brad Pitt who will get the female crowd to see the film. Nor is the scene helping the screenplay. So, film moves on, and it starts picking up pace. People start feeling connected to the film and from the Jee Le song onwards, it’s good. And as soon the interval comes and Kajol starts forgetting things, you are hooked on to the story. The major strength of the first half is the fact that you cannot connect the old and the young Kajol and Ajay, and that keeps you hooked.

Then the second half begins and from now on, the film is simply beautiful. There are moments in it that simply stun you, and I mean it in a good way. Like the scene where Kajol puts the baby in the tub, or the title song. It’s simply amazing.

As far as the cinematography is concerned, the look of the film is good. The lighting is quiet impressive, specially in the Dhakda song. The film could have been edited some more. Specially in the cruise part. Costumes make the characters more believable. And the set decoration brings a reality to the story. The sound of the film helps the story without drawing much attention towards itself. That’s how any technical aspect in a story like this should be.

Now, the acting by Ajay, Kajol is fantastic. But then, when it’s them, you don’t expect anything less than fantastic. But the surprise package were Sumit and Divya. They were really good in the film. Isha Sharvani didn’t had too much to do. The music of the film is really good. It may not be a chartbuster, the words mean a lot and that’s a big thing. Specially the title song. I missed Shreya’s version of the title song, but never mind.

And finally, Ajay Devgan’s direction is good. He is a sensitive director from whom we can expect a lot in the future. He is specially good with emotional scenes.

So, all in all, U Me aur Hum is Good in the beginning and pre-interval scenes. Bad in the early cruse portion and beautiful in the second half.

Rating - ***1/2