Review: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

5

June 7, 2013 by thejalebichronicles

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Genre: Romance

Running time: 159 minutes

Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Aditya Roy Kapur, Kalki Koechlin

Release Date: May 31^st, 2013

What would you pick? Dreams or love? Comfort or Adventure? Daal Chawal or new cuisine every day? Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, a much awaited flick by most of us Bollywood lovers. From the top Hero-Heroine to the naach gaana, to exotic locations and the  big, fat Indian wedding, the big dilemma faced by the youth, and (of course,) an ending which the audience loves. None of us will enter the theatre expecting a ground breaking out of the world story but YJHD disappoints on every count. With too many songs and really bad comedy, it makes one wonder whether ‘Wake Up Sid’ was a fluke for Ayan Mukherjee.

The Plot: The movie begins beautifully with the first 15 minutes being extremely intriguing, with beautiful cinematography.  It starts with the beautiful but extremely nerdy and self-conscious Naina (Deepika Padukone) meeting her school friend, Aditi (Kalki) and realizing how mundane her life is. She needs to ’live’ and decides to follow Aditi and her friends Avi (Aditya Roy Kapoor) and Bunny (Ranbir) on a trip to Manali. (Hello! Stalker alert!) A meet cute (running after a train) with Kabir, (aka Bunty) and you know where this story is headed. A being-chased–by-goons sequence cements her entry into the group and as she learns to let loose, a Holi song (and ditching her specs for lenses) marks the new her.

Naina falls in love, but cannot confess her feelings to Bunny because at that very moment, Avi finds Ranbir’s acceptance letter from Chicago University, making her realize that it could never work out between them.

Flash forward to a few years later; Aditi is getting married, Bunny’s living his dream, Naina is hot and Avi is an alcoholic gambler.

The story goes downhill from there, with Ranbir and Deepika figuring out their love and Avi and Bunny trying to fix their relationship.

 

The Cast: Ranbir Kapoor is the typical hero, with all the skills for it, (charm, charisma, attitude and more.) However, he does go overboard with the flirting and the clueless-guy-in-love act and his earring makes him prettier than any of the other women on set. Deepika Padukone is beautiful, and actually manages to pull off some good acting. Kalki would’ve been amazing if not for all the shrieking. Aditya Roy Kapoor steals the show though, playing both, the guy with the devil-may-care attitude pre-interval and the tragic nothing-works-for-me person later. But the star is truly Mr. Farooq Shaikh in the one sequence he has.

 

Watch out for:

• The scene between Ranbir Kapoor and his step-mother about Roof-afza, both at the start and the end.
• Farooq Shaikh’s presence.
• How Deepika wears tiny dresses in Manali while HIKING, (she’s supposedly a nerd.)
• Kalki dancing in Balam Pichkari (the only scene in the entire movie that’s laugh-worthy.)
• Trying to understand why Deepika wears skimpy clothes to a WEDDING.
• The friendship between Avi and Bunny and how they come to terms with it.
• The beautiful conference call at the end of the movie.

CONCLUSION: Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani is a typical KJo movie, minus being set abroad. However, it disappoints because it comes from Ayan Mukherjee. Despite being full of clichés, (think falling in love during a wedding and in mountains, the heroine saying “Mera Bharat Mahan” and a diabetic ending.)  We do glimpse a little of the Wake Up Sid magic when the main protagonists might not date, because of their dreams being different. But then, I guess the producer wins out in the end.

Do not watch YJHD if you’re a Wake Up Sid fan. Watch it if you like pretty people, prettier clothes and a faulty perception of reality.

 

–      Diksha Negi