I Hate Luv Storys Movie Review: Slick Luvly Flick!

Candyfloss love and candelight dinners, mushy matters and die hard romantics, all come under the cine scanner of 'I Hate Luv Storys', a rom com crafted by Karan Johar and Dharma Productions.

What's better, debutant director Punit Malhotra manages to impress with his maiden effort 'I Hate Luv Storys'. The beauty of this movie is that, on the surface of it, nothing much seems to be happening as the plotline is quite thin. Yet, there is something very endearing about this movie.

Of course, a major part of that comes from the charming presence of Imran Khan. Adding to the charm of the movie is the tongue in cheek humour and the constant digs at the candy floss romantic sagas coming out from the same production house that produced this film.

Without being too obviously clever, the film is a clever piece of work as it dissects the so called romance quotient of all that is conventionally considered romantic and yet manages to retain its own romantic flavour. In short, 'I Hate Luv Storys' is quite an interesting and enjoyable movie.

The film's male protagonist, Jay (Imran) lives by the credo that there is nothing called love and he hates love stories. He has much reason to do so as he is an assistant director to one of the leading romantic filmmakers of Hindi cinema, Veer, played superbly by Samir Soni.

Jay has to live day and night with filmy notions of love and cheesy one liners. Matters don't improve when he is assigned to help the art director of the film, Simran (Sonam Kapoor), a die hard romantic. Everything in her life is picture perfect and her own personal love story is as clich?d as it can get.

Her ideal boyfriend is called Raj (Samir Dattani), and definitely don't miss the pun on Raj and Simran, the ideal love pair from 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'. Though the two of them get off to a very bizarre start, things start getting better between these two diametrically opposite personalities. Jay's cynicism is like a breath of fresh air for Simran and vice a versa. The rest of the movie is about their not so perfect love story.

What really works for Punit's film is that he has managed to cast two actors, who are youth icons in a certain sense of the term and are able to play their parts with a lot of conviction. Of course, one has to confess that Imran has a lot more to do in the movie than Sonam.

But even then, what handicaps the film is its thin plotline. For a major part of the movie nothing much seems to be happening besides the usual tomfoolery. It's only when Jay realises that he has actually? fallen in love with Simran that the film seems to find its spark!

The end is predictable, but the journey, nonetheless, seems to be quite enjoyable from here onwards. One gets hooked and drawn into the love story. And the humour is definitely very today, very urban and hence so easy to relate to. The film dares to be very 'filmy' while at the same time managing to take potshots at everything which is so filmy.

This is facilitated by the premise of having Jay working on a film with a director who is making a romantic film; one which is full of every possible clich?! It certainly is a novel way of paying homage to your producer!

But what doesn't work for the movie is the slipslop manner in which the romance between Simran and Raj has been constructed. One is never quite sure of why they are in love with each other or when Jay manages to wriggle his way in. A little more attention there would have been interesting.

One only sees them colour coordinated most of the time, sitting down for dinner, or coffee or meeting under the sea link. There is no meaningful dialogue that takes place here. On the other hand, the director seems to be quite inspired in the scenes that take place between Jay and Simran, or Jay and his best buddy, or Jay with Veer.

The film's music, which has been composed by Vishal Shekhar, enhances the mood and feel of the film and is quite enjoyable. It may not have the popularity of Karan Johar's movies, but it certainly seems to be picking up well enough. The best thing about the music is that it manages to sound youthful and melodious. The cinematography has been handled by Ayananka Bose, who does a flawless job behind the camera.

Coming to the acting honours, Imran seems to steal the show. It's not about him being a great actor or having a terrific presence. In fact, one still feels that Imran still has a lot of work to do on his voice modulation and Hindi accent, unlike say a Ranbir Kapoor. But somehow this role of Jay is tailor made for Imran. He fits into it perfectly and is a sheer delight to watch.

Everything about Imran, his devilish good looks, his boyishness, his very urban image, his deadpan manner of delivering certain humorous lines, all of it works beautifully to his advantage in this movie. He totally overshadows Sonam, whose character is not so colourful or appealing. But she manages to essay her rather difficult role with a lot of ease. The two of them share a sparkling chemistry on screen.

Imran and Sonam are very well supported by the rest of the cast. Dattani's part may not have been very well written, but he manages to infuse it with a certain character and does a decent job of it.

Soni's take on a Bollywood film director is quite hilarious. He does a very fine job, managing not to make a caricature of his character, and is quite impressive. Television actors Aamir Ali and Pooja Ghai also manage to do a good take off on Bollywood actors.

Imran, in fact, has a little more meat in his role and manages to make an impression. Model Bruna Abdullah fits the bill, while Ketaki Dave and Anju Mahendru seem quite wasted. The only actor who really gives Imran a run for his money is Kavin Dave, who plays his buddy in the movie. He is an absolute scene stealer and manages to extract the maximum effect from his lines.

'I Hate Luv Storys' is quite an endearing movie, flaws and all. The thing about the movie is that it manages to makes its way into one's heart, without seeming to try too hard. It's definitely, a movie which the youth will be able to relate to and enjoy. A good effort by the young director. He shows skill as a director, though not so much as a writer. Yet, there's little doubt that he's headed in the right direction. Hah, quite.