Dammit!
It's
that
man-woman
thing
again.
This
time
the
rom-com
goes
in
to
so
many
directions;
you
wonder
what
happened
to
those
good
old
films
where
Boy
Met
Girl...and
they
lived
happily
ever
laughter.
Laughter,
there's
plenty
of
it
in
Anjaana
Anjaani.
Raucous
laughter,
bitter
laughter,
silly
laughter,
goofy
laughter...The
couple
Akash
and
Kiara
are
portrayed
more
like
two
beer-swigging
buddies
on
a
road
trip
through
the
USA
(shot
with
shimmering
restlessness
by
Ravi
Chandran)
than
lovers
staring
at
the
moon
and
dreaming
of
the
ever-after.
This
is
that
1940s'
Bette
Davis-Clark
Gable
county
upgraded
with
plenty
of
pub-texts
where
love
emerges
from
the
verbal
skirmish
between
two
people
thrown
together
by
fate.
There
isn't
much
plot
propensity
on
display
here.
Once
we
know
that
the
two
suicidal
protagonists
are
together
for
the
rest
of
the
movie
the
only
mystery
that
remains
is
why
such
vibrant
lives
would
want
out.
The
drama
of
death
as
defined
by
the
rituals
of
daily
living
are
rather
elaborately
sometimes
engagingly
other
times
tediously,
mapped
in
the
plotline
which
is
slimmer
than
Priyanka
Chopra's
waistline.
Regrettably
for
an
interactive
rom-com
the
dialogues
are
not
always
as
savvy
sassy
and
seductive
as
they
ought
to
be.
Many
times
you
feel
the
dialogues
are
translated
from
the
English
rather
than
conceived
in
the
spoken
language.
Then
there
are
the
songs.
Sigh.
Tediously
carpeting
the
soundtrack
of
the
second
more-pointless
half,
Vishal-Shekhar's
music
just
seems
to
be
creating
a
dimension
to
divert
our
attention
from
the
two
belligerent
characters
played
by
two
very
engaging
actors
who
quite
often
seem
to
be
inventing
pretexts
for
their
characters
beyond
those
provided
by
the
plot,
character
and
the
lines
they
mouth.
Priyanka
Chopra,
incontestably
the
most
complete
and
watchable
actress
of
her
generation,
makes
you
forget
the
film's
obvious
blemishes,
mainly
lengthy
self-indulgent
passages
of
pedestrian
passion-play
written
in
a
tone
that
attempts
to
be
flip
but
fails
to
grip.
With
every
film
Priyanka
grows
in
stature
as
an
actor
even
when
the
space
offered
is
meagre
as
in
Kaminey.
Given
a
wall-to-wall
character
to
perform
in
this
film
she
has
so
much
fun
digging
into
the
crevices
of
the
person
she
is
required
to
create,
you
end
up
watching
only
the
character
and
the
actress,
in
that
order.
Perfect
timing
in
the
comic
scenes,
skilfully
and
subtly
seductive
in
the
bed
roomy
interludes
and
boisterous
when
in
a
drunken
rage
Priyanka
takes
over
the
show
from
her
first
inebriated
appearance
on
a
bridge
where
she
spots
our
hero
trying
to
jump
to
her
death.
Ranbir
Kapoor
in
comparison
is
surprisingly
subdued.
It's
partly
to
do
with
the
nature
of
his
character
(an
arrogant
misguided
soul
with
little
control
over
his
ego).
But
you
suspect
Ranbir
just
decided
to
sportingly
play
the
backseat
boy
this
time
because
on
Priyanka
he
had
finally
met
his
match
on
screen.
Zayed
Khan
as
Priyanka's
heartbreaker
gets
little
space.
But
he
makes
sensitive
use
of
the
meagre
playing-time.
With
more
support
from
the
dialogues
and
an
elaborate
supporting
cast
(the
people
who
get
a
voice
are
largely
stereotypes,
the
preachy
lady
doctor,
the
hero's
supportive
friend
and
his
chirpy
wife,
etc)
the
very
fine
lead
pair
would
have
been
better
able
to
express
their
exceptional
skills
as
actors.
Anjaana
Anjaani
is
a
film
that
sets
off
a
tender
saucy
engaging
trip.
It
somewhere
loses
its
way.
But
still
gets
to
its
targeted
destination
because
of
the
lead
players
who
appear
to
know
all
the
signposts
and
U-turns.
By
heart.
Story first published: Monday, October 4, 2010, 16:25 [IST]