Movie Review: Hamari Adhuri Kahani - It's Adhuri Indeed

Mohit Suri's Humari Adhuri Kahani is the story of Vasudha (Vidhya Balan) who is leading the life of single mother since her husband Hari (Rajkumar Rao) went missing 5 years ago. Though, even when he was around, Vashudha wasn't living a life of love. All in all, she was struggling with her loveless past and lifeless present when ace hotelier Aarav (Emraan Hashmi) enters her life. They eventually for in love and just when they are set to lead a life together, Hari re-enters Vasudha's life, leaving her in a flux. The story progresses in such a way that in spite of their love for each other Vasudha and Aarav never really get to spend their life together. Their love story remains incomplete, thus the title "Hamari Adhuri Kahani" But trust me there are enough reasons beyond the incomplete love story that ensure that the movie stays incomplete. 

The movie can be divided into two broad themes - an abusive marriage and a soulful love story. However, none of the themes have been crafted well. While the story of Vasudha and Hari's abusive marriage lacked the intensity to make the audience truly pity Vasudha; the soulful love story of Aarav and Vasudha was over-dramatic to say the least. 

I must say that the movie has a few deep dialogues for sure, however, they appear to have been forced into the plot as opposed to being seamlessly integrated into the story line - my honest reaction to the way they were placed in the movie was "WTF?"

Talking about Aarav's love for Vasudha in the movie, to me it appeared more of an attempt to re-create the missing elements of his childhood as opposed to being a genuine liking for Vasudha. What he thought was love was actually his subconscious attempt to be to Vasudha what Dayal was to his mother. It appears that he was trying to complete his mother's "adhuri kahani" than his own.

Coming to the rating, I give this movie 1.5 stars, only because it was tolerable enough for me to watch it till the end.

Movie Review: Dil Dharakne Do - Its a Feel Good Movie

Zoya Akhtar's Dil Dharakne Do is a movie truly made for the family audience. It’s one of those movies where you have an enjoyable experience for the duration of the movie and then just forget about it. It’s a light family drama with some strong messages that are delivered in a way that they don't feel as heavy.

Because every family is dysfunctional in some way or the other, the Mehra family's story is one that most people will be able to relate to, in some way or the other.

The movie gets 3 stars from me. Here is why:

• The first star is for the chemistry between Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra. It is true that siblings are always the best confidants one can have. It is also true that no one understands you better than them; not only because you have grown up together but also because you share the same mad family. The sibling camaraderie depicted in the movie won my heart. It made me smile all through. This star is a shared one both for the script writer and the actors.

• The second star is for the role that Farhan Akhtar plays in the movie. I am not talking about his on-screen role though. His most impressive contribution to the movie were the dialogues he wrote. Without those dialogues, the movie would have been flavorless to say the least.

• The third star is for the direction and scriptwriting that ensures that the family remains the central theme and is not diluted by the romances in the movie. Had romance been given any more weightage, the movie's plot would have been a complete mess.

Well, I will not talk at length about the acting. Not because there was nothing impressive about it, but because when the star-cast includes seasoned actors like Anil Kapoor & Shefali Shah, you take good acting for granted. 

The music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy was a bit disappointing though. It is definitely not the music that will last beyond the marketing push for the movie.

All in all, the movie is a good one time watch. If you do not go in with high expectations you will enjoy the movie.