Bachna Ae Haseeno

Finally I broke the jinx about which I had posted a few days back. I was chatting with my friend Ajaysimha, then suddenly an idea flashed about seeing the movie Bachna Ae Haseeno(BAH.) I immediately checked and booked tickets in Urvashi Cinemas's wesbite (which has an online booking facility now). I didn't called my other friends because the movie was yet to be reviewed by experts. If the movie turned out to be a bad one, I would have got blasting from my friends.

About the plot

• The movie is about a flirt guy Raj[Ranbir] and his three girls(hassenas) in different stages of his life. First is Mahi[Minnisha] whom he meets while touring Europe in 1996. Mahi is a die hard of fan of DDLJ, had seen the movie 17 times and was on a mission to find her own 'Raj of DDLJ' in Europe. On getting to know about his Ranbir ensures that the same sequences of DDLJ happen and Mahi falls in love with him. Then is a abrupt fullstop when Mahi discoveres that Ranbir is not so serious about her.
• Raj grows older and becomes an employee of Microsoft in Mumbai. This time falls in love with his neighbour and wannabe superstar Radhika[Bipasha]. Initial tussle turns into a live-in relation. But when Raj gets an onsite opportunity to Sydney, he ditches Radhika in spite of she being ready to sacrifice her career.
• In Sydney, he meets Gayatri[Deepika], a B-school student in day and a cabbie by night. Raj gets impressed by her attitude, dedication, knowledge and decides to propose her in contrast to his previous stories. But this time he gets into receiving end since Gayatri doesn't believes in marriages.
• Dejected by rejection, Raj goes on a mission to say sorry to the ladies whom he had hurt previously. Entire second half is based on this and the story goes on and ends in a jiffy. May be the director had taken movie duration very seriously.

Performances

• Playing the protagonist role Ranbir has played reasonably well. Eventhough having Kapoor Khandan's DNA, it too much for him carry a movie on his shoulder. He is there almost in all frames but fails to make a high impact in most of comic as well as emotional scenes.
• Coming to the ladies. Minissha is okay types, Bipasha is impressive but Deepika wins the triangular contest(implicitly) with her perfect-ten screen presence. She doesn't have much role and in second-half she's there in only one sequence. However I feel she gotta improve in emotional scenes. Her emotional dialogues reminded me of Karishma Kapoor's riverside monologue in DTPH.
• Others: Kunal Kapoor brings the house down in a special appearance. Hitesh Paintel does well but he has to fine tune his comic timing. It is very difficult to step into Arshad Warsi's type of roles.

Technically speaking the movie has decent cinematography shot in Switzerland, Venice, Italy, Australia. It could have edited better as it lacks pace in many places. Apart from title song and Kudha Jaane rest of the songs are not so good on ears. The title song comes in starting credits itself, so don't be late to the movie hall.

Overall a timepass movie, the story is basically good has some sort of message. But it could have been a better movie. Recent observations indicate that trailers of all Yash Rash movies have been good and have given a good build-up to the movie, but the actual movie doesn't match up to the expectations. May be something on which the movie factory should analyze and work

What Others Say:

• CNN-IBN: Masand's Verdict: 2 stars - Watch the movie with no expectations and you won't be too disappointed.
• Indiafm: Taran Adarsh's Review: 2 and 1/2 stars - BACHNA AE HASEENO has an interesting first half, but a weak second hour spoils the show. At the box-office, thanks to the hype built around the film, the opening weekend should be great, but beyond that, has tough chances of sustaining.
• Youth Curry: Rashmi Bansal : 3.5 stars - If a film does not make me squirm in my seat, make me wish I was elsewhere it will get a 3 on 5 from me. The .5 extra is for Deepika and well, more on that in a bit.