Love,
as
the
sages
say,
is
a
many-splendoured
thing.
You
can
look
at
it
as
an
occasion
for
stress
and
heartbreak
(which
is
why
we
fall,
never
rise,
in
love).
Or
love
can
be
a
celebration
of
life.
Director
Prem
Raj's
debut
film
Main
Aur
Mrs
Khanna
took
a
quaint
capricious
look
at
love
during
times
of
adultery.
On
this
occasion
(Ishkq
In
Paris)
he
takes
flight
in
a
Parisian
paradise
where
two
strangers,
both
single
attractive
and
commit-phobic,
spend
the
night
together.
No,
not
doing
what
you
think
in
your
dirty
minds.
They
roam
the
cobbled
mysterious
pleasurable
lanes
of
Paris
in
pursuit
of
a
good
time
and
then
decide
"never" to
meet
again.
If
you've
seen
how
Kareena
Kapoor
affects
the
sober,
staid
and
repressed
Shahid
Kapoor
in
Jab
We
Met,
you'd
know
that
feminine
exuberance
is
a
hard
aphrodisiac
to
resist,
specially
if
you
are
a
closet-romantic
like
Akaash
(Rhehan
Maliek)
who
in
no
time
at
all
(first
five
minutes
of
this
crisp
and
delightful
slice
of
love-life
comedy)
is
eating
out
of
Ishkq's
lovely
hands.
Ah,
Ishqk!
She
is
that
kind
of
a
girl.
Half-French
and
fully
desi,
Ishqk
fills
up
the
frames
with
an
unbridled
joie
de
vivre.
I
can't
think
of
a
role
better
written
for
Preity
Zinta.
Missing
from
the
screen
for
a
couple
of
years,
she
bounces
back
with
a
performance
that
derives
its
zing
and
sparkle
from
the
actress'
inbuilt
zest
for
life.
Preity
takes
her
character
Ishqk
beyond
her
own
personality.
From
frame
one
we
see
Ishkq
as
a
girl
trapped
in
self-deceptions
that
leave
her
unnecessarily
wary
of
relationships.
Ishkq
hides
her
real
emotions
in
romantic
nonchalance.
This
is
not
the
first
time
Preity
plays
a
repressed
character.
In
Nikhil
Advani's
Kal
Ho
Naa
Ho,
Preity
had
to
make
a
'spectacle'
of
her
character
Naina
to
bring
out
her
commitment
phobia
in
the
absence
of
a
father,
who
abandoned
her
when
she
was
young.
Here
in
this
Parisian
homage
to
all
things
romantic,
Preity's
character
blossoms
before
us
without
props
and
yet
looking
immensely
fetching.
It
is
a
non-accessoried
performance,
very
basic
and
liberated
from
humbug.
Preity
brings
out
the
highs
and
lows
in
her
emotionally
awash
character
without
taking
flamboyant
leaps
of
on-camera
conceit.
It's
a
beautifully
written
and
directed
part,
replete
with
restrained
resonances
that
give
the
actress
a
chance
to
show
her
skills
in
subtle
ways.
Rhehan
as
Preity's
'other' gives
the
actress
just
the
right
cues.
Confident
and
yet
not
cocky,
Rhehan
seems
poised
for
a
satisfactory
innings
in
Hindi
films.
Looking
at
how
well
Rhehan
partners
the
screen-filling
Preity
on
the
screen,
one
wonders
if
this
big-hearted
romantic-comedy
would
have
worked
with
any
other
two
actors!
These
two
may
not
be
mad
for
each
other
(at
least,
not
until
we
leave
them
at
the
end
of
the
film).
But
by
Cupid,
they
are
definitely
made
for
each
other!
Prem
Raj
allows
the
couple
plenty
of
space
to
let
their
feeling
breathe
freely
and
easily
into
the
narration.
The
two
protagonists
may
be
in
a
hurry
to
get
somewhere,
the
film
is
not.
The
exquisite
camerawork
by
Manush
Nandan
sweeps
languorously
through
the
neon-lit
seductive
night-life
of
Paris
and
the
daytime
bustle
of
the
streetside
cafes
without
getting
into
touristic
awe.
One
shot
where
Preity
treats
Rhehan
to
the
wondrous
sight
of
all
the
lights
coming
alive
in
the
Eiffel
Tower
stays
with
you.
If
only
love
could
be
captured
and
frozen
in
its
most
majestic
manifestations!
Interestingly,
the
narration
is
fashioned
like
a
fable
with
the
legendary
French
actress
Isabelle
Adjani
telling
us
about
Ishkq's
brief
encounter
with
Akaash
and
its
aftermath
without
letting
us
in
to
her
own
role
in
the
romance.
It's
a
cute
little
secret
kept
away
from
us
for
a
while
in
a
film
where
the
main
protagonists
play
out
their
emotions
in
full
view
and
with
disarming
transparency.
Preity,
Paris
and
Prem
Raj
whip
up
a
souffle
romance.
Fresh,
frothy
feel
good
and,
yes,
look
good,
and
with
a
solid
undercurrent
of
emotional
frisson
to
guide
the
love
story
to
its
heart-warming
culmination
Ishkq
In
Paris
makes
you
thankful
for
that
thing
called
love.
The
tone
of
narration
is
unmistakably
European.
Welcome
back,
Preity.
And
yes,
bon
appetite
to
all
moviegoers.
Go,
tuck
in.