Love Aaj Kal is Unconvincing

Imtiaz Ali's LAK which released in movies this week is a cool and breezy and heard-so-many-times love story. However, the script is so weak, that the movie needs to fall up on the acting skills of Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone and their chemistry to keep us interested.

Jai and Meera are two career oriented people who date each other for a year before they decide to break up. It takes one more partner for each of them and another year before they realize that they are so deep down into each other that they cannot have a long-distance-relationship.

Another love story which runs parallel to this is between Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) and Harleen (Unknown). This is the love of yesteryears which sounds 'illogical' to Jai.

The best thing about LAK is the performance of the lead actors. Saif has essayed the I've-never-figured-out-what-love-is role umpteen times, that he has perfected the character. His portrayal of Jai is flawless and is the highlight of the movie. Saif's portrayal of the younger Veer is as good as any of his best performances. The clear distinction he brings about to the two characters is worth mentioning. Deepika affirms her place as the actress to look out for in Indian Cinema. She is too good in most of the scenes, especially the one in which she gets drunk and returns home with Saif.

The disappointing factor in LAK is the writing. Nothing is so strong or convincing in the movie. Neither the love stories nor the emotions and not even the pace at which the story moves. Before you realize what’s happening, Meera gets married and breaks up with her husband.

I would go with 2 stars out of 5, for LAK, 1 for the movie and 1 for the performance of the leading pair.

New York – Worth the Wait…

New York which was released after a two month long lull of movies at the multiplexes is worth the wait. It is relevant, intriguing and a recommended watch. The issue it raises is that of the physical and mental torture by the FBI on innocent Asians in America, who were later freed on account of lack of evidence.

The movie begins with FBI arresting Omar (Niel Nithin Mukesh), as they found AK-47s in his taxi. They want him to give information on his college friend Sam (John Abraham) who is a terror suspect. Confident that Sam isn’t into terrorism, he accepts the spy-work and goes back into Sam and his wife Maya’s (Katrina Kaif) life. Omar slowly reveals some shocking truths about Sam and Maya. Roshan (Irfan Khan) is the FBI agent who is in charge of this undercover operation.

The movie has got a point to make and it does that very easily. It brings in to picture, the idea that those who fight terrorism are themselves the ones who foster that. Irfan Khan is excellent as the FBI agent. Niel Nithin Mukesh tries to emote in some of the scenes and at times with success. John and Katrina , as usual will get the credits for their looks rather than acting.

Director Kabir Khan takes the credit for the wonderful treatment of this script. Sans those typical filmi masalas, New York is a recommended watch and a very good movie. I give it a 3 out of 5 for the commendable effort.

Everything happens for the good

This is a story I heard from someone, don’t exactly remember the guy, but the story continues to remain in my memory and have found myself retelling this at various places, on various occasions and to various people.

“Everything happens for the good “

Once there was a king, who had a very wise minister. One fine morning, as the king was cutting apples, he accidently bruised his fingers.

“Aahhrrgg “, he screamed. The minister, who heard his screams came in, gave the first aid while saying “Everything happens for the good”.

“How dare you say that!!!” the king fumed. “Soldiers, arrest this arrogant man. Put him behind bars.” The minister obliged, smiling and didn’t forget to say “Everything happens for the good”.
Later that day, the king and his close men went hunting. They went inside the forest, deep into it, so far they went into the forest, that they lost their way. The king and 5 of his men were estranged from the rest of the group.

Now, it so happened that these men were in that part of the forest which were inhabited by cannibals. The cannibals caught these men and as the night set in they prepared for dinner. They examined each one of them and took him inside the kitchen to be cut and eaten.

As they were examining, the cannibals noticed that the king had a bruise on his finger. “We don’t eat people who have wounds. Set this man free”, ordered the cannibal chieftain.

After many hours of walking through the dense forest, the king finally found his group who were searching for him. And they reached the palace soon enough.

“What my minister told this morning was true!” the king thought to himself. “Everything happens for the good. If I hadn’t cut my finger this morning, the cannibals would have eaten me!”

He ordered his soldiers to release the minister. The minister was released and brought before the king. “I would like to say sorry for what I did this morning. You were right. But tell me one thing. Even when you were imprisoned you said everything happens for the good. What did that imprisonment bring you?

The minister replied, “If I hadn’t been imprisoned I would also have accompanied you to the forest and the cannibals would have eaten me. “

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Now, how many of you believe that? “Everything happens for the good”?