And then they met..

This post has been due since last Saturday. That same Saturday when i relieved myself off the hangover that MrSLB Gave me,(refer to previous post) What did i do to get rid of it? I went for a joyride! called Om Shanti Om. I don’t think there is any need for analysis when a film has been accepted so well by audiences that it has gone on to becoming one of the highest grossing hindi films in history, and hence i had
restrained myself from writing a review about oso.

So what changes my decision? a little movie i watched today at mumbai.. called jab we met. I am no fan of kareena, or shahid for that matter. But i was positive about it as robert frust here liked its aftertaste, and we normally agree on most things movie related. The movie started. In the first 15 minutes, in spite of a toy train visual that looked too tacky for this day and age, i liked what i saw! and i continued liking what i saw. i loved the movie and left the hall with a high that was similar to the OSO high! but completely different, for this high was more emotional as opposed to OSO which was fun.

As i mentally cracked open the film, i noticed how strong the character sketches of its protagonists were, how strong the storyline was, and how accurate the performances were. Jab we met, my friends, is a very good film. The chemistry between the lead pair is nothing short of spectacular. Every scene of their interaction is a delight as the dialogs are quite well written and the lines never lose focus of what they are trying to say, the story of two young people and their choices. No spectacles, no comedy sidetracks, no fights no villains, but a simple strong story. The story is not new, in fact it has been told a hundred thousand times over, but the way in which it has been told in Jab We Met, is fresh and involving. This proves again that you don’t have to be original in your story, you just have to be original in telling the story. Pick the worst actors in Bollywood and give them lines and scenes that fit them, and never lose focus of what you are trying to sell to the audience..you have a winner. What a shame the real life love story is over. The editing is crisp though oldworld, the performances straight from the heart though cliche’d, and the music, extremely hummable. Paisa vasool again!

And hey after watching this movie i get a sense of how patchy and rushed OSO was. What worked in its favor were the marketing, star power of SRK and a lot of spectacles and surprises. I also think good films are making the money that they deserve. Films like chak de and jab we met are cases for the positively evolving tastes of the average Indian movie goer. We love good films guys, we do.