Classic Bollywood love stories have created clichés that we have come to adore. Now when any star runs through a meadow of yellow sunflowers, you immediately think Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
And of course, you can't imagine any snowy Swiss mountain without a chiffon sari-cladded actress and turtle-necked sweater-on-shoulders Shah Rukh Khan in his signature arms-wide-open pose.
As much as we now yawn at these use and abused formulas, ultimately this is what we, the audience, had once in time appreciated, and enough so for them to become a part of Bollywood norm.
But we all know, this is far from reality. That is exactly what debutant Punit Malhotra film I Hate Luv Storys is all about: love in Bollywood versus love in reality. Is there a difference? And to help him out, he has Bollywood's favorite chocolate hero, Imran Khan and the desperately-in-need-of-a-hit Sonam Kapoor. Oh, and add Karan Johar, the producer of the film and voila! You have yourself a winning combination…or I think at least. I walked into the First Day First Show of the film with my entourage consisting of six young students. One came because of her undying love for Imran Khan, another because everyone else was and the rest had various reasons. My solo male student forewarned me, "Roshni if it's boring, I'm walking out!" And so this became my prime concern. Would I Hate Luv Storys be entertaining enough for him to sit glued? You're about to find out. Enter Jay Dhingra aka J (Imran Khan), Assistant Director to Veer Kapoor (Samir Soni), director of cheesy Hindi love stories (read: Karan Johar?). Oh before you ask why Jay prefers being referred to as J? Apparently, and we are told this numerous times, he finds his name very uncool. Preferring to date and have fun, J doesn't believe in love or the movies Kapoor makes, he is in the business to add credibility to his resume and has no bones in admitting it. On the flip side, there is Simran Sharma (Sonam Kapoor). Happy in her perfect world, as the perfect Art Director, dating the perfect investment banker Raj (Sameer Dattani). Life couldn't be better for Simran and Raj (yes, this is intentional). Hell breaks loose when J and Simran meet by chance while watching a film. And while they believed their paths would never cross again, fate has other plans for them. Simran lands up being the Art Director on Kapoor's next film. J lands up having to work closely with Simran. Before you know it, Simran has fallen for Mr. Wrong. However, J doesn't feel the same way only to realize later that he too has been hit by a bug he has been avoiding oh so carefully: the love bug.
Alright, so for a film that attempts to defy Bollywood love stories, it sure does begin with one! Check out the main cast and crew: Imran Khan, nephew to Aamir Khan; Sonam Kapoor, daughter of Anil Kapoor and director Punit Malhotra, nephew to Manish Malhotra (who has done a fab job of dressing the cast; they all wear some great stuff!) And while some of the clichéd scenes were required to demonstrate Kapoor's "dedication, if you choose to call it that, to Bollywood love stories, after a while, it got tedious. The re-enactment of famous love scenes became far too monotonous. The problem with IHLS is that it does not engage the audience. For starters, the music which is beyond fantastic, complete power to Vishal-Shekhar, has not been utilized correctly. In fact, they have been clamped so close to one another that before one ends, the other one begins. There was a point in the film where a viewer behind me actually exclaimed, "Not again!" Ouch. Once again, Imran finds himself in an airport at the end of the film where he finally decides to declare his undying love for his heroine. Yawn. Punit, have you seen Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na?
The film in itself is a fresh attempt by Punit Malhotra however, has Karan Johar written all over it. Honestly, it looks feels and sounds like Johar himself has directed the film. Good first try for sure! The dialogues are fun and honestly, there are scenes which have you in splits. Watch out for the "vagera-vagera" portion as well as the ones where Imran is given a number of signs that point him in the direction of love. A lot of the film has been derived or borrowed from other popular films. For example, Dattani's constant daily flower offering to Sonam is derived from a similar situation in Dil Chahta Hai. And that is just one of many!
Imran Khan is actually pretty decent in IHLS or rather he tries super hard. As an actor, he has moved up the charts and he works as the Casanova in the film. That said, he does tend to ham in a number of scenes. He looks hot and dances well in the title song. In fact, however clichéd this sounds put (pun intended), he rocked the song! Sonam Kapoor is average. She is better now than she has been in her previous films and so A for effort. But beyond that, there has to be an acting gene in the girl somewhere. She needs to find it desperately. Okay here is the problem: there is zero chemistry between Imran and Sonam and their pairing should not be repeated again. They looked like friends and that its: just friends. I couldn't for the life of me, find a spark that made me go YES! They could potentially light up the screen together. They lack the SRK-Kajol, Aamir-Juhi, Akshay-Raveena sparkle. It just wasn't there. The supporting cast lends good support to the film. Samir Soni is great as the exaggerated director. Samir Dattani is average and after a while becomes a bore.
So here's the deal. My sixteen-year-old male student didn't walk out of the film. And so, that tells you one thing: I Hate Luv Storys is definitely catered for the younger crowds who will aw and gush over the cuteness it harbors. And it has buckets full of it! As a complete package, I Hate Luv Storys is nothing short of a cheesy chick flick which manages to entertain. It doesn't aim to make a difference in Hindi cinema and it doesn't. You will not walk out feeling gooey inside nor will you walk out feeling inspired. You should watch IHLS if you are an ardent Imran Khan fan, this film is his shining glory or if you are a Sonam Kapoor fan because she looks phenomenal. Hate it or love it, sorry luv it, I Hate Luv Storys is simply put, paisa vasool.
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