Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

बन्नो रे बन्नो मेरी चली ससुराल को 
अखियों में पानी दे गयी 
दुआ में 
मीठी गुधानी ले गई 

रे कबीरा 
मान जा 
रे फकीरा  
यूँ ना जा  
आजा तुझको पुकारे 
तेरी पर्चियाँ 
कैसा तू हैं निर्मोही 
कैसा हर्जाइयान 

~Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

~~ Amitabh Bhattacharya

I had been waiting for this movie to release for a long time. Simply because it just looked so good. Of course if Karan Johar has anything to do with a movie it will be visually appealing if nothing else.That man knows how to design a bollywood set! Anyway, it released last weekend and I hoped it would release in Singapore at the same time. I think I would have cried literally if all my friends in India watched it and I couldn't! 

So, when it finally did I was thrilled and vowed to watch it that weekend or the following week. I watched it last night. and loved it. You shouldn't take my word for bollywood movies, because I end up liking everything, but this one I loved ! 

​The mo​vie starts with a group of friends travelling to Manali on a trek organised by Make My Trip (note to self : check out make my trip deals!) : Kabir (Bunny : Ranbir) , Avi (Avinash : Aditya) and Adi (Aditi : Kalki). They've been friends since school and you can see their camaraderie. The trio makes it very very believable just like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Enter, Naina, their classmate from school, the nerdy one, complete with glasses et all. Naina decides to join the group on a whim and leaves behind a note to her mother explaining her impulsive decision to go on this trip. Notice how there is no drama, asking parents for persmission scenes. That's what I like about the movie, it's surprisingly modern. Parents are still important but you make your own decisions. 

Then there's the usual young drinking masti-walla fun in manali and during the trek. Naina initially regrets on how she has missed out on 'life' while studying medicine. And how the rest of the group seems to be living it up. Kabir and Naina have a few scenes where they discuss life and their expectations, hopes and dreams. Very believable. I have done it in the past. It's somehow easier to open up to a random stranger than people you know. And sometimes the best advice comes from folks who don't know your life in and out.  I have also fallen in love as easily as Naina does in the movie. And Kabir's character also makes you want to! He is genuine and has a 'no regrets and don't-want-to-have-any' attitude towards life. Doesn't believe in getting tied down to one place/person in life. What's interesting is the writer doesn't make us judge him for wanting more out of life, he still loves his father (Farooq Sheikh is lovely as Kabir's dad)  and enjoys being at home - you can be both things at once. Anyway, back to the story, Naina falls for Kabir and he doesn't. There is an interesting chemistry between Avi and Adi as well - she loves him and everyone but Avi knows it. When Kabir announces that he is off to Chicago to study journalism, there's a mix of emotions in the group. Naina loves him and almost confessed, Avi is losing his friend and knows that once off Kabir is never going to come back. Adi is happy he got what he really wanted but of course is going to miss the old days and carefree fun.

Right in time for intermission. By the way, in Singapore there is no intermission, the movie goes on. I'll have to get used to that. I want my refill of coffee/popcorn and somehow an interval makes you want to watch the second half more. Anyway shouldn't crib about what I can't change! 

The second half of the movie shows Kabir living his dream and travelling far and wide. He is offered to host a reality-travel show in Europe and he accepts. He then receives an email from Adi, telling him she is getting married and he needs to make it. Now comes with a super grand entry - the gala Indian destination wedding in where-else : Udaipur! The sets look awesome, but then it's a Ayan Mukherji- Karan Johar movie : if nothing else, it should LOOK beautiful. The following scenes are replete with north Indian wedding rituals : Mehendi, Haldi, Sangeet etc.

Adi is now the manicured-hands girl and has found love in Taran (awesome cameo by Kunaal Roy Kapur). Avi has a bar that is not doing well and needs financing or will need to be shut down. He has taken to excessive drinking and gambling. Kabir makes a surprise entry with Batameez Dil and looks oh-my-God-so-awesome, so much so that a friend I went with (guy, married) wanted to marry him. haha. But then I wanted to marry Deepika, so I guess it's ok. Everyone is crazy happy to see him of course, but  for Avi. He still resents Kabir going away to the US and worse for not keeping in touch. That combined with the bar not doing well makes him sour about it. 

​I have had those moments with friends. Friends from school who I used to be really close to when we were in the same city, but I lost touch with them when I moved cities and got too involved with my career, my new life, new home etc. Somewhere they've resented me for not keeping in touch and I've always brushed it off saying, Im just living my life and you can't blame me for that. ​ Kabir has lost touch completely. But his friends have continued to follow him and his work in a TV series. They've tried keeping in touch but didn't get any response from Kabir and so gave up. Disappointed.

The wedding also reunites Kabir and Naina. And they spend time together exploring Udaipur. Some of the movie's most best scenes come from the second half I think. Naina is falling back in love with Kabir and you can see Kabir feeling it too. Udaipur looks lovely, of course.

I don't know whether it's in my head but these scenes have to be Deepika's best after Love Aaj Kal. Both Naina and Kabir come across as very very genuine and Deepika and Ranbir share such awesome chemistry that it feels like they are truly in love with each other. Some of their close-up shots are just absolutely brilliant. It happens very rarely that you can get over how good looking the actors in a movie are and either their performance does not match their looks or the looks overshadows the performance. But here, both Deepika and Ranbir excel in their portrayal of Naina and Kabir and make them so believable, so every day. At some point in life we would all have felt what those characters are going through. You'll be able to identify with at least one emotion of kabir/avi/adi/naina. 

Coming back to the story, Naina falls in love with Kabir. Again. And this time Kabir does too. Of course with a little "what do you want in life" lectures from here and there. The movie has many many "life's little lessons" scenes. Again what I like is that they are both mature enough to realise that they want different things from life : Naina loves a normal life with family and friends close by, while Kabir wants life to be fast-paced. And decide to part ways  despite being in love, because they don't want to stop the other. Some of these scenes are very intense and beautifully done by Ranbir and Deepika.

I wont get to the end, go watch it yourself! 

But, here's the gist. The movie is fun, has some strong performances, lovely song and dance sequences and funny entertaining dialogues.  I like long movies, so I wished it was longer and had a little more substance (which for me is more scenes that make me cry), but then to each his own. For me if the movie can take me away from my everyday life and work and make me a part of it for 3 hours, i'm sold. Yeh Jawaani hai Deewani did. So I loved it. 

A lot of people have compared it to DDLJ and crticised it for sticking to the "simple girl-meets boy-takes a trip together-falls in love-separation-meets in an indian wedding- falls in love again" formula. But Hey! I love that ok! My favorite song from the movie is Kabira by Harshdeep and Arijit Singh

Go for the movie for a modern take on relationships and dreams, without losing the essence of Bollywood.

गुडिया रे गुडिया 
तेरा गुदा पर्देसियाँ 
जोडी आसमानी हो गई 
शगुन पे 
देखों शादमानी हो गयी 

रे कबीरा 
मान जा 
रे फकीरा  
यूँ ना जा  
आजा तुझको पुकारे 
तेरी पर्चियाँ 

रे कबीरा 
मान जा 
रे फकीरा  
यूँ ना जा  

कैसा तू हैं निर्मोही 
कैसा हर्जाइयान