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Thursday, April 24, 2025
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BOLLYWOOD EK MAIN AUR EKK TU
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: *** 1/2
She is fun, feisty and ….well, full-on. He needs to loosen up. Urgently!! Son
of two stuffed-up high-society mannequins Rahul Kapoor is a repressed child
going into depressive manhood. Since this is a rom-com, and one sparkling with
vigour with warmth and what-have-youth, you know Rahul will meet Ms
Fun-Feisty-Full-On before Reel 1 is done.
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu(EMAET) comprises a series of elegantly-written,
confident but never in-your-face scenes about what happens when two opposites
meet in a city as all-embracing as Las Vegas. Of course, sparks fly.
But neither Kareena Kapoor nor Imran Khan is in a hurry to set off a combustive
fire. There is a whole lot of tranquility in the way the relationship between
the firebrand and the nerd is built. The rough edges are largely sacrificed on
the editing table. The progression of the relationship is seamless and smooth.
Unlike, say, Siddharth Anand`s Anjaana Anjaani where the on-screen
rapport between the protagonists suffered because one of the actors was
constantly trying to steal scenes from the other, here neither Kareena nor Imran
is in a hurry to hijack a single moment from one another. This is one of the
most immaculately cast romantic comedies in recent times.
Sure, Kareena has an edge. Her character is less passive than Imran`s and she
has some of the film`s best lines. The actress, back in form after two
marginalized mammoth odes to machismo (Bodyguard, Ra.One)
turns in a perfectly-modulated performance. Her character is not so much a
portrait of warmth and radiance as it is an illustration of perfect asymmetry.
Here`s a woman who enjoys the chaos that she creates in her universe. She lives
by her own rules. And before the film is done she teaches Imran Khan`s character
how to tell your parents to buzz off before it`s too late. Rules be stuffed down
the toilet.
Imran is good at playing the attentive, obedient, faithful boyfriend. He did the
invisible-halo act effectively in Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na,
Break Ke Baad and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. He does it
even better here, probably because of the company he keeps in this film.
There are episodes in this boy-meets-girl, girl-tweaks-boy`s-life saga that
leave you smiling for a very long time. Indeed EMAET is a high-concept ever-grin
mellow-drama. You just can`t stop grinning at the sparkling warmth and the cute
quips shared by the lead pair.
Curiously, debutant director Shakun Batra opts for an open ending. Finally we
only know that some day Rahul might win the feisty Rihana over. But here`s the
glimmer of hope. Even if he doesn`t win her over he gets to keep her company for
as long as they share a common ground.
Here is a film that doesn`t score high on ground-breaking ideas on romantic
relationships. Instead it weaves itself into commonplace ideas on love romance
and commitment and comes up with vignettes of terrific sincerity. A lot of the
film`s gently persuasive energy comes from the discernible respect that the lead
pair has for each other`s space as actors. No one-upmanship here, thank you.
Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah too are delightful as Imran`s la-di-dah
parents. They reminded me of Pran and Sonia Sahni in Raj Kapoor`s
Bobby. In comparison Kareena`s Catholic family comes across as too
casual to be real.
Within two weeks Dharma Productions has given us two diametrically opposite
genres of cinema from two debutant directors. If Karan Malhotra`s Agneepath
took us back to the grand formulistic revenge drama of the 1970s EMAET takes us
into the future of Bollywood where actors don`t have to sing. They don`t have to
act. They just have to be as normal as people in love tend to be.
This is a perceptibly urbane love story, told in a style shorn of gimmicks.
There is no attempt to capture our attention. The narrative gets us watching
without getting sweaty with anxiety.
A very chilled-out romcom indeed.
Karan Johar has never been hesitant about sharing his fall-out with Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan or disclosing his sexuality and in tune with the same the ace director has in his recent biography disclosed his 2002 spat with now best friend Kareena Kapoor KhanRead More
Imran capable of making good film: Shakun BatraImran Khan is set to shoot and edit a video travelogue for the promotion of his forthcoming film "Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu", Read More
RahulKapoor (Imran Khan), 26,
is on his way to become a carbon copy of his parents when he suddenly loses his
job as an architect in Vegas. Afraid that he has let his parents down, Rahul
decides to hide the truth and find another job. When by a twist of fate, he
meets Riana Braganza, a
quick-witted hairstylist, who is everything he isn`t.
A series of events lead them to meet on Christmas eve over a few drinks… but
like always, it`s never a `few`. Following this night of debauchery,
they wake up to discover that they`ve gotten married. Now, Rahul has more than
just his job loss to hide from his parents.
They both decide to get it annulled as soon as possible
and get an appointment from the court in ten days. Over the next ten days they
have their share of arguments, moments and laughs that results in an unlikely
friendship.
Will this friendship turn to love? Will her warmth and fearlessness give Rahul the courage to face a long-simmering confrontation with his parents? Will a marriage that started as a drunken mistake help two people find themselves?
Imran Khan Promotes Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu Movie