Purani Jeans Movie Review: A Well 'Ironed Out' Affair

'What a pleasant surprise' - This is what you exclaim at the interval point of Purani Jeans. By the time the film starts marching towards its culmination, you do end up saying - 'This is a heart-warming and emotional affair indeed'.

Purani Jeans - A film made of largely newcomers with a debutant director (Tanushri Chattrji Bassu) at the helm of affairs is one such film which does hit the right chords when it comes to the emotional quotient of the narrative.

The film in fact hits the right note at the beginning itself. With Tanuj Virwani's initial portions set in New York, the film starts off on a classy note that lend an altogether different texture to the film, something that the promo hadn't disclosed. In this aspect, the start reminds one of the likes of Dil Chahta Hai, Love Aaj Kal and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara which had started off on a somber note too. By the time the opening credit rolls are through, Tanushri succeeds in hooking you on to the film.

This is the reason why you experience a setback of sorts when the portions thereafter, once Tanuj starts narrating the flashback, get into the clichéd zone. A bunch of friends, most of them being stereotypes, forming a 'Cowboy' gang, promising lifetime of togetherness, singing and dancing, falling in love and flirting with girls, rich-friend-middle-class-friend, family problems - everything just about follows the beaten path. The entry of a girl in the scheme of things, Izabelle Leite, doesn't spice up the proceedings either and the love story that develops isn't enticing too.

Not that anything turns out to be a put off but then there isn't much excitement either as most of the scenes just go through the motions. Thankfully, Tanushri manages a good classy look to the proceedings and the film generally looks lively, as a result of which at least visually your interest is sustained in the film.

However, things start changing once Aditya Seal's love story starts developing. The youngster makes sure that he doesn't fall into the trap of a clichéd 'rich boy's romance' zone and the moment entire 'pregnancy' episode comes into the scene, the film's graph starts changing for the better. The story starts taking a good shape and with the frequent back and forth between 1996 and the current times, you indeed want to know how Purani Jeans eventually irons out. Pun intended.

There is a shocker set well around the interval point and the golden rule of a Hindi film works here, which is that if you rush back to the auditorium in a jiffy before the second half begins, rest assured the director has generated good curiosity. This is what works for Purani Jeans as Aditya and Tanuj not just push their act to a different level but also contribute quite well in pacing up the entire affair. Yes, Izabelle does have rough edges and that shows too. However, Tanushri does well in keeping the drama centered primarily on the boys and the reunion that happens in the current times does grab your attention.

This is also the part of the film when songs along with background score and the whole shot taking with some good editing holds your attention better than before. The graph only continues to grow and the last 25-30 minutes are the most arresting as the emotional quotient takes over. While Aditya shines in some of the key dramatic scenes (his dialogue delivery and voice reminds of Hrithik Roshan in this part of the film, especially in the scene where he confronts his mother Sarika), Tanuj underplays his part quite well and shows good promise. In fact their friends too show a different facet of their personality as grown-ups.

Eventually, the film turns out to be a dramatic affair about two friends and their life and times, something which fetches your attention for a good span, especially in the second half. Occasionally even managing to bring on a tear in the eye and a lump in the throat, the film turns out to be a surprise indeed in the times when so many high profile films in the recent times have failed to deliver.