Why isn’t Yeh Jawaani not so Deewani !!!

Photo Courtesy: Internet

“Main udna chahta hun Naina, daudna chahta hun, girna bhi chahta hun bas... rukna nahi chahta.” Is his motto of life. Bunny played by the supremely talented Ranbir Kapoor's story it is. And he is the champion all the way!Deepika Padukone plays the nerdy Naina Talwar who self confesses to be a simple,boring girl and  yet looks stylish in her glasses. In her designer lengas , she doesn't shies away from unnecessarily  putting her mid-riff on display. 

Aditya Roy Kapoor as Avinash aka Avi is at the loser’s side. The story doesn't offer him much scope to grow in character. A waste of talent indeed! In a recent television interview he confessed to resolving to not take up any more characters in the future who are drunkards (Reason: common thing between his character in YJHD and Ashiqui 2? Uncontrolled drinking habit). Wise! 

Kalki Koechlin as Aditi is enjoyable , bindaas, tomboyish, an in your face kinda but sweet and an ideal friend at the same time.She proved out to be the perfect choice for the role and plays it to the hilt.Primary characters Kabir Thapar aka Bunny, Naina Talwar, Avi (Avinash), Aditi remain flat throughout the story i.e. same from starting till the end.Evelyn Sharma as Lara in a glam doll role is irritating throughout the film but adds that silly, dumbness to the story serving herself to the audience to be laughed upon.The friendship quotient displayed by the four friends easily scores higher than the romantic quotient shared by Bunny and Naina or Aditi's secret liking for Avi. 

Deepika’s dialogue delivery has improved a lot from her Om Shanti Om days. No drama’s, no nonsense rone dhone wale scenes makes it tolerable. Has a quick predictable ending, though cute in the way it is brought.One liners are hilarious, keeps you laughing now and then. First half dedicated to the friendship and the second half goes entirely to the love story to develop. with no longing for the other(Surprise! Surprise! Deepika doesn't cage herself in her room and pour out buckets of aansoon after Ranbir leaves to chase his dreams. Different, I'd say!)

Farooq Sheikh is as usual mind blowing in the small role as Bunny’s father. Well, I would like to bring your attention to an interesting observation here. Have you seen Wake Up Sid? Yes? Cool. Remember Sid’s equation with his parents? Found similarities with Bunny-father equation in YJHD?That's because both the film’s director, Ayan Mukherji shared a similar relationship with his father Deb Mukherji in real life which has transpired on screen through his films.

 Focuses more on characterization than story. Not tampering with it and not complicating it unnecessarily. Garnished with scenic locations, it is a simple story with a simple plot,cast, and idea (well, I guess that's how his stories have been so far, read: Wake Up Sid)In the other half of the film, the scene where Ranbir is sitting a midst a quiet on-going party one can catch a glimpse of him (read: Ayan Mukherji) as a mute spectator on screen to fill up the frame (Just a smart observation, thought of sharing it with you :P).Comes as a surprise package is Kunal Roy Kapoor. Kunal does justice to the small yet cute, innocent and lovable character of the engineer, Taran. His entry scene in a swimming pool marks a brief screen space sharing between the brothers: Kunal and Aditya Roy Kapoor.The chase sequence in Manali is hilarious. Poorna Jagannathan(of Delly Belly fame) comes for a while.Unnecessary waste of talent in the form of Rana Duggubhatti who appears for a 10-second role.

Music
A highly misplaced song : Ghagra. The director’s effort with tampering with the storyline and situations to make space for the song is evident and poor. He himself confessed on a certain bollywood channel of doing so. Sadly hasn't come out well. As for the dance? Well, Madhuri is Madhuri. Need I say more? :) The Ghagra song has been smartly used by the makers for promotional purposes and making the film on the whole as appealing. You tell me, if you are a not a Ranbir-Deepika fan, wouldn't you still go to catch the movie for that one Madhuri song to get mesmerized by her infectious smile and to-die-for dance moves? One can easily find himself/herself amidst an attention seeking song after every regular interval of 20-25 minutes during the course of the movie. Madhuri’s Ghagra comes when you are just 10 minutes into the film. One or two songs are irrelevant to the situation like Dilliwali Girlfriend. But all said and done, all its songs are a hit. Another master piece by Pritam this time again.As I write this piece, this movie has already garnered 157 crores at the box-office in the domestic market. I personally feel, it got more than it deserved. But then, the audience is the king in this kingdom ;)

Final verdict
A feel good film. The film puts a smile on your face and a new zest for life. Just a one time watch. And why I say that ? Because I have suffered! Both financially and emotionally( this movie has proved heavy on my pocket simply because I watched it twice. Second time in the quest of feeling the same refreshing feel  but nothing like that happened.) So, if you haven't yet watched it (which I think would be rare), go with your entire family for a good 150 minutes of fine entertainment.

Quick Bytes  on Ayan Mukherji

• He is the son of Bengali film actor Deb Mukherjee. 

• His grandfather Sashadhar Mukherjee, was film producer, who established Filmalaya Studios in Mumbai, and produced films like Dil Deke Dekho (1959), Love in Simla (1960), Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962) and Leader (1964). The studio is still run by his extended family.

• He is also the nephew of Joy Mukherjee and the first cousin of Kajol andTanisha Mukherjee and second cousin of Rani Mukherjee and part of the larger Mukherjee-Samarth family. 

•  Mukherjee started his career as an assistant to Ashutosh Gowariker, who is his brother -in- law, on the 2004 film, Swades

P.S. Any suggestions for future posts? Feel free to send in your suggestions and requests here or on my e-mail id: aanchal.srivastava20@gmail.com . Hope to hear from you soon :)