I will first say this – its not a movie for the masses, most likely it will bomb at the box office and watch it if you like Imtiyaz Ali’s work and movies that help you introspect.
Simply put its Imtiyaz Ali’s adaptation of 3 Idiots.
Based on this if you plan to watch the movie, please read no further.
The movie begins with a young kid who loves to listen to stories and lives in his own fantasy world- made of Ram-Sita, Alexandra, Laila-Majnu, Heer-Ranjha, Helen of Troy, Romeo-Juliet and many others.
The child grows up to become Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) who on a holiday to Corsica, France meets up Tara (Deepika) and they make a pact to remain incognito and never meet again, after this vacation . They have a great time in Corsica, partying, eating, exploring, singing and the vacation ends and they are back.
Tara is in love with this free-spirited man, whose name also she is unaware of. She still lives in the memories of the seven days spent with the stranger.
Four years later they have a chance meeting in Delhi. But this is not the Ved, Tara fell in love with. This Ved is polite, soft spoken, lacking confidence and just enduring the grind of mundane life. She rejects Ved’s marriage proposal on these grounds and sets Ved on finding his true self. The Ved she met in Corsica is the real one or this, the one in a 9-5 job and running the race and just been a mediocre product manager?
This journey is scripted and filmed in a very turbulent and a quirky manner. It lacks the coordination and serenity in story telling of the first half. The 2 Veds are fighting and the free spirited one popping up in between far too many times. We fear, if Ved is becoming a split personality in the journey from what the world wants to what the heart wants. And yes there is true love along to help him discover and find himself again. And thankfully it ends as expected.
The second half is a little drag, should have been a little shorter and just rubs the message far too many times.
The parts shot in Corsica are awesome, the beauty of the place and the amazing chemistry between the two is great. Some of the scenes are shot so well. The one when they meet after 4 years, you could actually feel retrouvailles along with Deepika. And another one where Deepika is holding on to Ranbir and not letting go of her love, shot in a café.
The music is fine. Special mention for the song ‘Heer to badi sad hai’ very refreshing. ‘wat wat wat’ is also good. Cinematography in the first half is excellent.
Imtiyaz Ali remains honest to himself and his art and delivers very well.
Ranbir is amazing and shows tremendous maturity in handling such a complex role with so many shades. But the real freshness is provided by Deepika. You yearn to see her in the midst of the darkness and quirkiness, she appears the only one with poise in contrast to the cacophony around. Oh she is too good.
But yes the movie will fail and not many of you reading this will like the movie.
If you liked Rockstar, you may like this.
Personally, I loved the movie!
Looks like an interesting Movie! Would be worth a watch. Thanks for the update Rozmarrah!