At best Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is a light hearted and frothy tale of four friends who take off on a life changing adventure and as a result end up discovering facets of their personality that make them sit up and take far more serious notice of themselves.......
At worst, it is yet Karan Johar production that does not scrimp on production values, locales, costumes, lavishly mounted sequences yet it lacks a soul and spirit that could have made another run of the mill production about the youth of this country and what makes them tick into a masterpiece that would have been heralded as a showpiece in the 100th year of Indian cinema........
One certainly expected a lot more from director Ayaan Mukherjee after his noteworthy maiden directorial effort "Wake Up Sid" with the very same leading male protagonist, this less than sterling effort does certainly raise a few questions about his story telling abilities and innate ability to work with a screenplay that is seemingly full of gaping holes.......
The movie/flick is certainly not without it's heady moments with the "Ghagra" ditty picturised on the leading man and the evergreen Diva Madhuri Dixit leaving you dancing in the aisles with gay abandon; the first half is racy and does not flag for a moment but the movie does flag considerably especially during the first thirty minutes or so of the second half and the climax scene also seems contrived and conforms to stereotype.......
Ranbir Kapoor (Kabir Thapa aka Bunny's) take on the way he wants to lead his life is original and also a bit eccentric, he wants to be free from all encumberances and just do his own thing without being bothered, while Deepika Padukone (Naina) is his exact antithesis, she is studying to be a doctor and places family values, togetherness and doing what is right by the family above all........
A special mention should also be made here of the ensemble support cast especially Aditya Roy Kapoor, who is in splendid form in his avatar as (Avi), his roles does have shades of Aashiqui 2 but his comic timing and effortless portrayal of happy go lucky person who is some kind of a gambler at heart surely make one doff his hat to him.......
Kalki Koechlin is better than adequate in her role as Aditi, she is at least seen smiling and grinning often in this one in stark contrast to the sombre, macabre and twisted characters that one normally identifies her with........
The foot tapping and ceetee maraoing music by Pritam da is certainly a cornerstone of this modern day love story (if one can call it that), the inimitable Pritam Da is certainly in fine form and conjures up memorable tracks like Badtameez Dil, Balam Pichkari, Dilliwaali Girlfriend and last but not the least, the best of the lot Ghagra.......
On a personal not however, I preferred the understated yet immensely soulful Sufiana numbers: Ilahi and Kabira that take you back in time to a period where soulful lyrics and divine melody were the king........
Like I said earlier, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani does not scrounge on production values and has all the hallmarks of every successful Karan Johar production Ranbir Kapoor's fan following and the Karan Johar banner might guarantee it a bumper response at the box office and a Rs. 100 crore plus return, but I for one was left ruing the opportunity and wondering what might have been had the director spent half the time on polishing his craft and story narrating skills........
Rating:3/5, Duration: 2 hours 41 minutes (could have been cut short by a good 30 minutes with some less self indulgent editing), recommended only for die hard Ranbir and Deepika fans as there is nothing new or novel about the movie.........
At worst, it is yet Karan Johar production that does not scrimp on production values, locales, costumes, lavishly mounted sequences yet it lacks a soul and spirit that could have made another run of the mill production about the youth of this country and what makes them tick into a masterpiece that would have been heralded as a showpiece in the 100th year of Indian cinema........
One certainly expected a lot more from director Ayaan Mukherjee after his noteworthy maiden directorial effort "Wake Up Sid" with the very same leading male protagonist, this less than sterling effort does certainly raise a few questions about his story telling abilities and innate ability to work with a screenplay that is seemingly full of gaping holes.......
The movie/flick is certainly not without it's heady moments with the "Ghagra" ditty picturised on the leading man and the evergreen Diva Madhuri Dixit leaving you dancing in the aisles with gay abandon; the first half is racy and does not flag for a moment but the movie does flag considerably especially during the first thirty minutes or so of the second half and the climax scene also seems contrived and conforms to stereotype.......
Ranbir Kapoor (Kabir Thapa aka Bunny's) take on the way he wants to lead his life is original and also a bit eccentric, he wants to be free from all encumberances and just do his own thing without being bothered, while Deepika Padukone (Naina) is his exact antithesis, she is studying to be a doctor and places family values, togetherness and doing what is right by the family above all........
A special mention should also be made here of the ensemble support cast especially Aditya Roy Kapoor, who is in splendid form in his avatar as (Avi), his roles does have shades of Aashiqui 2 but his comic timing and effortless portrayal of happy go lucky person who is some kind of a gambler at heart surely make one doff his hat to him.......
Kalki Koechlin is better than adequate in her role as Aditi, she is at least seen smiling and grinning often in this one in stark contrast to the sombre, macabre and twisted characters that one normally identifies her with........
The foot tapping and ceetee maraoing music by Pritam da is certainly a cornerstone of this modern day love story (if one can call it that), the inimitable Pritam Da is certainly in fine form and conjures up memorable tracks like Badtameez Dil, Balam Pichkari, Dilliwaali Girlfriend and last but not the least, the best of the lot Ghagra.......
On a personal not however, I preferred the understated yet immensely soulful Sufiana numbers: Ilahi and Kabira that take you back in time to a period where soulful lyrics and divine melody were the king........
Like I said earlier, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani does not scrounge on production values and has all the hallmarks of every successful Karan Johar production Ranbir Kapoor's fan following and the Karan Johar banner might guarantee it a bumper response at the box office and a Rs. 100 crore plus return, but I for one was left ruing the opportunity and wondering what might have been had the director spent half the time on polishing his craft and story narrating skills........
Rating:3/5, Duration: 2 hours 41 minutes (could have been cut short by a good 30 minutes with some less self indulgent editing), recommended only for die hard Ranbir and Deepika fans as there is nothing new or novel about the movie.........
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