In love with Kareena Kapoor: 2012

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Dream Date

Woke up today on this Valentine's day all sad and depressed. No plans for the day, none for the evening. In my mind, I followed the same schedule as for the last 5 years. Wake up, get ready and go to work. Come back home and prepare for the next day. I was wrong!

This morning was different. The first thing I saw in the morning was Kareena's face right in front of me. She was staring right at me with her twinkly eyes and her bubbly smile. I could not believe my good luck and could not hide my excitement any more. I leaned forward and got closer. I soon realized, we were so close, there was only a thin piece of glass separating us. I was on this side of my new LCD TV and she was on the other. The New TV gifted by my wife, my dream date for this Valentine 2012.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Movie Review: Ekk Main Aur Ekk Tu

Ekk Main Aur Ekk Tu- Kareena Kapoor, Imran Khan. Rating 3/5

Ekk Main Aur Ekk Tu is a rom-com about two diagonally opposite individuals. The boy leads a bland and boring life. The girl is blabbermouth and full of life (American Jab We Met girl). Their paths cross. And as expected, opposites attract. So what's new?

Rahul (Imran Khan) could never come out of the shadow of his parents who tried molding him in their customized templates. A random encounter with Riana (Kareena Kapoor) leads to a few drinks and they wake up next morning to realize they got married in their drunken stupor. Annulling their accidental wedlock would take a few days.

Meanwhile Riana loses her rented apartment and checks-in with Rahul. The uptight Rahul loosens up in Riana's company and starts “living life”. Cupid strikes Rahul over a Kuch Kuch Hota Hai song. Further they fly to India where Riana expectedly introduces Rahul to her extended joint family - the only variation being they are Christian folks over the perpetual Punjabi prototypes. What follows includes misunderstandings, separations and reunions...

Let the accidental marriage idea not mislead you. The accidental marriage theme is employed more as a gimmick and doesn't contribute anything to the story. In fact the makers take the convenient route and entirely do away with the actual marriage scene from the narrative. Also the lead pair chooses to stay together and is never compelled by any legal obligations.

The writing by Ayesha Devitre and Shakun Batra is a case of too much screenplay without much story. The overall tone of the film is refreshingly lighthearted and the chemistry between Kareena and Imran is conversational over corporeal. But somewhere the story seems too shallow after a point with no tangible plot-point conflicts and the screenplay tries to fill that void with birthday parties, New Year celebrations, school revisits and such similar elements that remain external to the central plot.

Nevertheless you find solace in the film's subdued sense of humor and subtle temperament. The subtlety is not per se but largely because the story is devoid of any theatrical twists. And the residual dramatic sequences are handled with utmost sensitivity by director Shakun Batra, like Imran's climactic outburst at the dinner table. The dialogues comprise more of carefree and casual conversations over dramatically designed punches and go smoothly with the natural flow of scenes. There's an intentional aberration in the end to set the film in a league of its own but could disappoint the ones viewing the film as a Valentine special.

Kareena Kapoor is beautiful in both her looks and acts. Despite playing the chirpy-outgoing girl, she never goes overboard and is absolutely adorable. Actually the movie is a must for Bebo fans. Playing the high-strung guy with deadpan expressions comes naturally to Imran Khan. He comes up with a fairly decent act. Their chemistry is informal and affable. Ratna Pathak Shah as the elite fashion-fanatic mother is too good. Boman Irani as the business-minded father is restrained in his role. Sonia Mehra (after some disastrous films) comes across as desirable in her one-scene cameo. Ram Kapoor gets no scope. The actor playing Kareena's father is funny and a fresh deviation from the regular father figures of Bollywood.