Hamari Adhuri Kahaani

Hamari Adhuri Kahani is a story about three characters, a rich and senstive man, Emraan Hashmi (Aarav), married woman Vidya Balan (Vasudha) and her psycho husband, Rajkummar Rao (Hari). Vidya Balan is trapped in a marriage with Rajkummar Rao who kept torturing her as a mark of his love, until he suddenly goes missing for five years. The plot of the film is good but it could have been better. Apart from the stars' performances, the film has some good songs which will connect with the audience. The movie includes some very exotic locations. First half of the film seems slow but the second half offers some memontum with the entry of Rajkummar Rao. All in all, this film fails to match the expectations it created after the release of the trailer and it should be watched by those who like cheesy dialogues and a lot of shedding of tears.

The film starts off with the old, tired and worn out Vasudha Prasad (Vidya Balan) who is almost on the verge of collapsing on the streets of Bastar district. On the other hand, her old and weak husband Hari (Rajkumar Rao) is pouring his heart out to a doctor emphasizing on the fact that Vasudha did visit him wearing a red dress, something that the doctor rubbishes as his hallucination. Amidst that time, he gets to know that Vasudha has set for heavenly abode. That's when he visits his son's home to do the last rites of his dead wife… As far as the performances are concerned, the film (rightly) belongs to the trio of Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan and Rajkumar Rao (in that order). While Emraan does put up a strong act as the protective, caring and sensitive lover, it is his eyes that do most of the talking. Vidya Balan, despite being such a talented actress, seems to be wasted in this film. This can be attributed to the poor way in which her character has been written. There are moments which make you feel the pain and the agony that her character is going through, but looking at her character cry helplessly after every few minutes makes you immune to her pain. Rajkumar Rao, on the other hand, has a small role and will be best remembered for his howls and shouts. The rest of the characters help in moving the film forward. On the whole, HAMARI ADHURI KAHANI is definitely very 'adhuri' on entertainment value and can be skipped.

All That Could Have Been is Mahesh Bhatt’s book version of the film Hamari Adhuri Kahani which he wrote and produced. And that’s the theme for our review of the tragic love story. Because all that it could have been is a real good film. I blame Bhatt and the director Mohit Suri for turning Balan, undoubtedly one of our finest actors, into a whimpering, crying mess of a woman. What the film could have been, and which it briefly is, is about a woman, who, despite her over-bearing reality, breaks free from tradition, follows her heart and triumphs. Instead, she stupidly walks with her suitcase into the sand dunes. No, this is not an incomplete story. It’s just a badly told one.

For a man, who has excelled in exploring pain and rejection with genius strokes in cinematic gems like ‘Saaransh’, ‘Daddy’ and ‘Zakm’, Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Hamari Adhuri Kahani’ fails to evoke any genuine emotion. Like most Bhatt movie franchise, this one also appears to be inspired by many tales from Hollywood and Bollywood. There’s glimpses of ‘Maid in Manhattan’ and Balan’s own ‘Kahani’ slipping in pointlessly. Even his female protagonist strangely echoes ‘Dabangg’ girl Sonakshi’s famous lines about how she’s unafraid of kicks and abuses, but not romance. If not for anything, go in for the laughs.