Cast- Ishaan Khattar, Janhvi Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana
Director/ Writer – Shashank Khaitan
Is run-of-the mill love story of class divide where in a poor boy falls in love with a rich girl.But thats not the only sore point.
Not only is the story age old but the narrative and treatment are so insipid , it really could test the patience of an avid movie lover like me. And even if you have managed to stay alive through the meandering movie, the nail in the coffin ( the climax ) can surely put you in that coffin !
Parthavi (Janhvi) is the daughter of a rich and political big wig of Udaipur who falls in love with Madhukar(Ishaan) who is the son of a modest restaurant owner.
The young teenagers are shown indulging in some innocent cute encounters pursuing each other. But let me add that the length that has been attributed to this effect seemed more stretched than necessary, especially considering the fact that there seemed to be no zing or spark. In fact, they looked pretty illogical and foolhardy given the archaic set up of the place.
The movie seemed to move at a snails pace almost till the intermission with only the charm of the newcomers and the beautiful set up of Udaipur to give you company. Some comic relief was provided by Sridhar Wastar as Madhu’s friend Purushottam.
The movie story line thankfully takes a turn midway when the lovers are discovered and have to flee to save themselves. But again, this abrupt change came about with no build-up.It seemed they had to flee just to save each other rather than the love or craving to be with each other.
Their life later on is shown with some realism and hardships but drags at a testing pace and then their life suddenly goes on a fast forward mode to being hunky dory. Then the pace takes a break again and scenes start dragging again and you start anticipating that something is about to happen. But nothing, absolutely nothing could have prepared us for such an abrupt climax .
Director writer Shashank Khaitan comes across as pretty confused as to where he wanted to place his story. It’s a small town set up , but the way he wanted to present his lead pair and specially Janhvi seemed to clash with it. He wanted to add realism to the narrative. But he failed to connect up with the viewer at any level. With his in-cohesive narrative in which the editor was probably paid to do nothing, he ended up making a mumjo jumbo thats a complete disaster.
The story failed to evoke any kind of emotions. There seemed to be no passion, no fear, no sympathy. The only thing I could feel was some palpable tension given the archaic class divide and menacing characters. And the so called message at the end of the movie was as useless as anything. Any message is pointless when the movie has failed to connect with audience.
Talking of performances , Ishaan Khattar shows the potential and not for the first time. In his non-commercial debut “ Beyond the clouds” (Apr this year ),he has proven his mettle. He’s charming and very natural and convincing as the small town boy.
Janhvi looks charming too but a big misfit as the small town girl. She’ll need a good second chance to prove her salt. Her voice and accent stuck out like a sore thumb.
Ashutosh Rana as Parthavi ‘s father looked impressive and menacing.
It’s really sad and such a waste that one of the most talked about star kid has had such a disastrous debut. The second calamity to befall on poor Janhvi . Ishaan at least has one critically acclaimed movie to his credit.
Harsh may be , but my recommendation is – Stay Away .
Score 4 on 10 ( And take away 2 from this score for the climax )