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EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ***
If you`ve ever wondered what on earth is
on-screen chemistry, here`s your one-stop all-purpose encyclopaedia on celluloid
magic.
Fasten your seat belts as veteran filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi pulls out all
stops to do a wacky, goofy weightless comedy of characters who walk in and out
of frames, leaving behind fumes of old-fashioned comic acts.
"Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani" is a trapeze down the familiar romantic
lane. The starting point seems to be "Saawariya". A loud
interpretation of Ranbir Kapoor`s character in Sanjay Leela Bhansali`s on-screen
opera, Prem in "Ajab Prem`..." adores the girl next door Jenny.
But she loves someone else. No it`s not Salman Khan, though in a tongue-in-cheek
homage to tabloid realism, Katrina meets her idol Salman, who drawls to the
roadside Romeo Ranbir: "You`re behaving as if you`re making my girlfriend
your own."
As in "Saawariya", "Bachna Ae Haseeno" and the recent
"Wake Up Sid", a major part of the narrative becomes a showcase for
Ranbir`s skills as an all-purpose actor who can pull out any emotional response
to the most sterile dramatic stimuli.
In sequence after sequence, written to spotlight the young actor`s virtuosity,
Ranbir rises above the material given to him with gusto.
Even while mouthing corny, sappy dialogues about serving `moong-dal ke pakode`
to his beloved or plucking stars from the sky for her, Ranbir makes the trite
seem just right.
His phenomenal talent gets radiant support from Katrina Kaif, who gets better
with every film. As the waif with a face so vulnerable and imploring, Katrina is
at once haughty, feisty and flirtatious. She`s every man`s dream-come-true, so
why not Prem`s?
Would "Ajab Prem..." have worked as such a sleek showreel for the
besotted-boy-meets-absent minded-girl`s tale without the same lead actors? The
answer is an emphatic no.
The noticeably over-done comic situations include a cartel of goofy goons who
pop up towards the end to join the party. In one laboured sequence of
comicality, Ranbir has to wear Katrina`s bodice and pretend he wears such
clothes comfortably to avoid exposing Katrina`s concealment in his home.
The above scene is among the many that Ranbir and Katrina essay with ease that
makes "Ajab Prem..." a watchable potpourri of parodies.
This is a rare film that jumps over all the hurdles of cliched plotting and
corny dialogues on the sheer strength of its protagonists` charm and grace. The
film wears a bright, sunny look. The location is an obviously papier-mache town
filled with a benign bonhomie that doesn`t go beyond surface-level romanticism.
And yet, several individual sequences come alive to convey a sparkling potency.
Check out the sequences where Ranbir and Katrina stammer under emotional stress
both individually and separately.
Is there a better star-pair than Ranbir and Katrina in recent times? Maybe there
is...But who cares. This one just makes you want to cuddle them.
Director Anurag Basu says he is amazed to see the child within megastar Amitabh Bachchan is alive.Read More
I was quite a dreamer as a child: Katrina KaifGeared up for the release of her new film "Jagga Jasoos", a musical directed by Anurag Basu, Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif says she was a dreamer as a child, and preferred watching children's cinema rather than reading comic books when she was younger.Read More
Prem is ajab kind of guy. As life president of happy club, He`s always trying to make everybody happy, but somehow it always ends in disaster! He kidnaps Jenny by mistake. Big mistake!! BecauseĀ mow Jenny thinks he`s the worst form on earth. Ouch!!
But he thinks she`s beautiful...She`s vanilla ice cream...Yummy!! Love can make you do the strangest things... And if prem is ajab, his love is ghazab too!
He`s never worked in his life now he`s spending hours and hours churning out ladoos and frying jalebis in a halwai shop...sweat and slurr!! He`s always been a shudh vegetarian - now he`s putting tigers to shame with all the chicken he`s eating. Chomp chomp!! And as icing on the wedding cake, he even helps Jenny run away from her own wedding. Run baby run!!! With a furious father, frustrated bridegroom, greedy don and wily politician running after them...
What`s going to happen now?
Prem`s prem kahani had an ajab beginning, will it have a ghazab ending?