Deadly Date!

By MovieTalkies.com, 02 October 2010 3 / 5

On the face of it, there is not much of a story in director Siddharth Anand's 'Anjaana Anjaani'. The plot is quite predictable, but the film still manages to work because of the lead pair, Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor and the moments that the director manages to create during the course of the movie. Both actors share a wonderful onscreen chemistry and it goes a long way in enhancing the performances and adding to the romantic quotient of the movie. Of course, the premise is quite interesting with the lead protagonists meeting on top of a bridge one night in Manhattan, both with the intention of committing suicide. And then starts the tumultuous journey by two strangers, as an 'anjaana' and an 'anjaani' become friends, then lovers, go back to becoming 'anjaana' 'anjaani' all over again, before the finale, which but obviously, has a happy ending. The film's story is about Akash, a Wall Street broker, whose one wrong decision lands him and his company in the red and Kiara, who has had a heartbreak. Despite their best intentions of putting an end to their lives, they are unable to go through with their individual plans. They make a few other attempts to commit suicide but are equally unsuccessful. That's when they realise that they may have some unfinished business to take care of and hence make a pact to commit suicide together on New Year's eve and decide to spend the next 20 days together and help each other fulfill their dreams. The action now shifts from New York, as they embark on a road journey to Las Vegas. The inevitable happens and they fall in love with each other. This would certainly have not been an easy film to make as the action is only centered on these two characters with hardly any subplots. Other characters make their appearance but only to aid the story of Akash and Kiera. Hence, the focus is all on the chemistry between the lead actors and their performances. Thus, it seems doubly important for the audience to get to know them. The first half of the movie unfolds at quite a leisurely pace as the director establishes the two characters and their strange relationship. The second half of the movie deals with the road journey to Vegas and how they proceed to become more than strangers and a little less than lovers. Comrades in crime, they look out for each other and proceed to have a blast till Cupid strikes. The director throws in a spanner in the works with an ex boyfriend surfacing in the form of Zayed Khan. Of course, the director could have avoided a lot of clichés but the film manages to rise above these clichés on the strength of the performances. Both Priyanka and Ranbir are a treat to watch in this movie. Priyanka goes a little over the top in places but she manages to invest her character with a vulnerability which works very well. There is a certain freshness about her performance which makes her a delight to watch. As for Ranbir, he is a perfect foil for her exuberant, over the top self. This young actor has a marvellous range and he is always trying to do things differently in most of his films. Despite being just a few films old, Ranbir turns in a seasoned performance as the failure Akash. He is extremely expressive and there is a beauty about his performance which is quite overpowering. This scion of the Kapoor khandaan is truly a worthy successor to the legacy of Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor. Together, Ranbir and Priyanka make a lovely pair onscreen and one would certainly like to see more of them. In fact, where the Ranbir Priyanka jodi scores over the Ranbir Katrina Kaif jodi is the fact that in Priyanka, Ranbir finally has a co star who has enough ammunition to match him scene for scene. Anand manages to create some truly funny and memorable moments, beginning with the first meeting between Kiara and Akash. Their interaction on the bridge is quite funny as is the scene where they find themselves stranded in the middle of the Atlantic. Also worthy of mention is the scene when Ranbir, as Akash dances, to 'I m a disco dancer' at a gay bar and then finds himself abducted by a gay suitor. So yes, there are a lot of fun moments, moments which make this a movie which the youth should be able to relate to and enjoy. What weakens the premise of the movie is really their heartbreak stories, all quite predictable, stuff that we have heard of before. What really doesn't come across so effectively is why they needed to commit suicide? Of course, Anand tries to wrap at all up quite neatly with Tanvi Azmi's character of a doctor, who wonders what's wrong with the youth and why they have no value for their life. But that's hardly good enough. So, while on one level, it is a reasonably made film with some very good performances, the basic premise of suicide doesn't quite ring true. But, yes, it forms a good enough device which makes this romcom look a little different. So yes, the trappings have been very well done indeed by the director and his writer, Mamta Anand. On a certain level, 'Anjaana Anjaani' works very well indeed. It has wonderful actors, beautiful locales, lovely music and is a love story. But one feels that the director could have done a more complete job by fleshing out his characters as he never quite justifies the despair that they are supposed to be undergoing. The romance in the movie is brought out wonderfully by the songs, which have been composed by Vishal Shekhar. The numbers seem to make a stronger impact as one watches the movie and the composers have done a good job. The cinematography by Ravi K. Chandran seems to lift the movie to another level altogether as he gives it a grand look. The manner in which he has captured Manhattan, Las Vegas and the heart of the United States is quite wonderful. In the final analysis, 'Anjaana Anjaani' works quite well as a romantic saga and Anand has managed to tell his story quite coherently in most places, except for a few hiccups. It has good performances, humour, romance, some sizzling chemistry, good music and has been excellently shot. In short, it is quite an endearing love story.

Anjaana Anjaani: Strangely Limited!

By MovieTalkies.com, 14 September 2010 3.5 / 5

Director Siddharth Anand is back with his next venture, 'Anjaana Anjaani', which has been produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. The film will see current heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor team up with glamour girl Priyanka Chopra. It remains to be seen whether this couple will manage to generate the same kind of rage that the Ranbir Katrina Kaif 'jodi' managed to do. The 'first look' of the movie looks quite promising. As for the film's music, it has been composed by Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, while the lyrics have been penned by sundry writers like Neelesh Mishra, Amitabh Bhattacharaya, Anvita Dutta, Kumaar, Irshad Kamil, Kausar Munir and the composer duo as well. In fact, many of the songs see lyric writers collaborating with one penning the chorus, and the other, the main song. The musical album of the movie has some nine tracks, of which seven are original. The album begins with a rather peppy sounding 'anjaana anjaaani ki kahani' which has been sung by Nikhil D'Souza and Monali Thakur and has been written by Mishra. This number kind of serves as a prologue to the movie and seems to lay the premise for the movie. The number has a happy feel to it and the singers manage to do justice to the number. It makes for a pleasant hearing but one is not likely to revisit this number. The second number on the album, 'hairat' has been written by Vishal and sung by Lucky Ali, who makes one of his rare appearances as a playback singer. The number does not begin very promisingly, but as it unfolds and the refrain of 'hairat hai, hairat hai' makes its appearance, it manages to hooks the listener. Not an easy song to sing, Lucky does a very good job with the number and manages to bring out the emotional content very well. The third number 'aas paas khuda' has been written by Vishal and Shekhar and has been sung by Rahat Fateh Ali. This number has an unplugged version as well. It is with this number that Vishal Shekhar reveal their genius in this album. Unlike the previous two numbers, this Sufi styled number manages to bring about a certain kind of 'therav' to the proceedings. Much of that, of course, has to be credited to the singer, Rahat, who excels in this genre. He does full justice to the number and uses the full range of his vocal chords. An emotionally charged number, 'aas paas khuda' also sees the singer taking some lovely 'sargam tans.' The chorus in the end brings about a sense of completion to the number. It is by far the best number in the album. Its unplugged version sees Shruti joining Rahat and managing to create a very different kind of dynamics, adding a wonderful new dimension to the number. Shruti is quite wonderful in this number with her soft whisperings standing in direct contrast to Rahat's high pitched meanderings. The fourth number on the album, titled, 'tumse hi tumse' has been written by Bhattacharya and Dutta, while the additional English lyrics have been written by Caralisa Monterio, who has also sung the duet with Shekhar. A simple romantic ditty, this is a pleasant number, made even more so by Shekhar soft vocals. The English portions by Monterio don't really add any value to the number, which just manages to stay in the pleasant category. The next number on the album, 'tujhe bhula diya', which has a remix version as well, has been sung by Mohit Chauhan, Shekhar and Shruti Pathak and penned by Kumaar and Vishal. This is number which is has a 'quawwali' base to it and has a very promising beginning, with Shruti's husky vocals making their entry first. One must say that her voice seems to suit Priyanka very well indeed. Mohit and Shekhar follow Shruti into the number. A sad number, it builds up very well indeed and calls for repeat hearing. Its remix version, (Abhijit Vaghani), manages to carry much of the same magic and is quite well done. The next number, 'I feel good' has a similar repeat value. The track has been written by by Vishal who also lends his vocals to the number along with Shilpa Rao. It has a soft rock feel to it and Vishal excels with the vocals. He is extremely well supported by Shilpa, who matches him in vocal power and energy. The two singers come together once more in the final track of the album, which is also the title track and has been penned by Munir and Kamil. This is a number which is again quite similar to its predecessor. It is also a soft rock number and has both singers, Vishal and Shilpa, playing the same roles that they did in the previous number. But yes, this particular track is catchier and the strains of the 'aas paas khuda' making an appearance in the middle of the number, adds to its appeal. It has been sung with more feeling by both vocalists, who complement each other very well indeed. With 'Anjaana Anjaani', Vishal Shekhar have composed a score which covers a decent range. It is a rich score but somehow none of the numbers, except for 'aas paas khuda' have the extra special 'winner' quality about them. Hence, despite providing some lovely listening moments with numbers like 'tujhe bhula diya', and 'anjaana anjaani', it stops short of being a chartbusting album. Of course, the music is sure to be enhanced when one can one see it play out before one's eyes, that is, when the film releases. One is sure the visuals will add to the impact of the musical score. But till then, one has to be happy with Rahat's 'aas paas khuda'.

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