Youth is a many splendoured thing. An alive, fresh vibe dominates Ayan Mukerji’s Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani invigorating you through it’s entire run. The story is not novel, but the treatment is A-grade. Ranbir Kapoor(Kabir Thapa aka Bunny), Deepika Padukone (Naina), Kalki Koechlin (Aditi) and Aditya Roy Kapur (Avi) go on a trek. While Bunny, Aditi and Avi have always been close, Naina, the staid, studious girl is a last minute addition to the group. The group just wants to live life king-size. Early enough in the film, Bunny announces—marriage at 25, children at 30, retirement at 50 and then waiting for death—is not how he sees his life playing out. He wants to travel the world, he wants to be free. Aditi and Avi share his thinking to a degree. But Naina is different. She is studying to be a doctor, believes in family and is a rooted young lady with traditional values. The first half of the film is a fun-ride. Watching Madhuri Dixit do a ghagra number with Ranbir is a ceeti-moment. At intermission point, the film rightly leaves you yearning for more. The first twenty minutes of the second half is mundane. But the action comes together again at Aditi’s wedding. Against the backdrop of the big, fat Indian wedding in picturesque Udaipur, the friends unite for the festivities. But the chinks in the armour show by way of their mixed ideologies and changed priorities. Of course there’s no battle big enough that friendship cannot surmount. So, between tears and cheers, Bunny, Naina, Aditi and Avi forge equations that are more real with one another and with the audience. Ranbir is delectable and a true-blue superstar. This pedigreed actor dances like a dream, looks terrific and emotes effortlessly. Watch out for the scenes with his father Farooque Shaikh. Deepika is first-rate as is Kalki. Evelyn Sharma and Kunal Roy Kapur provide humour.Read more

Picture this: Sid of Wake Up Sid is a few years older from where we saw him. Still scared of commitment, still wants to be the free bird but now he has a steady job for sustenance. The all-important factor of mush floats in with the film's heroine who is, of course, his polar opposite - focussed, respects family values but leads a claustrophobic life. Ayan Mukerji's second film is exactly the second film you would expect from director who made his debut with Wake Up Sid, driven by the pros and cons that come in the wake. You have here a slightly more mature Ayan as storyteller, and technically his craft is a few notches higher too. Yet just like Bunny, the funnily named protagonist played by Ranbir Kapoor, Ayan's cinematic idiom still seems trapped in a happy-go-lucky teenage universe. Ranbir (and Deepika) fans are bound to find that bit cute. The film has packaged its lead duo smartly to live up to its jawaani-deewani tag. It's more of jawaani than deewani, though. The joys, hopes, angst and despair of youth are all served with a designer-perfect punch through the story of four youngsters. But the film seems to lack a certain passion and guts to push the envelope while portraying today's youth. If Ranbir Kapoor has come to define GenNow Bollywood for most, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is packaged almost entirely around its hero. At the same time a rom-com, a road movie and a coming-of-age trip, Ayan's new film should keep its target audience - the urban multiplex crowd - happy. Ranbir's Bunny is a videographer for a TV travel show while Deepika plays Naina, doctor in the making who takes off on a trek trip to Manali to let off steam. Their few good traits will evidently rub off on each other. Tagged along are Bunny's buddies, the drifter Avi (Aditya Roy Kapur) and the tomboy Aditi (Kalki). Naina joins the wild trio and is obviously the odd one out. The holiday ends, the foursome parts ways, only to reunite years later at Aditi's marriage (yes, it's a K.Jo production so we won't miss the scope for the shaadi naach gaana). What follows is meant to twist the Bollywood romance. It doesn't, quite. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, lovable as it is, simply refuses to move beyond box-office diktats. Well-penned roles are in order for Aditya and Kalki, although they get restrained footage. Both actors impress despite staying in Ranbir and Deepika's shadows. Ayan scripts a fantastic scope for chemistry for his lead duo and Ranbir-Deepika live it up. The sizzle they share remains the film's highlight. Ranbir fans in particular would invariably notice how he smoothly continues growing as an actor-superstar. And yeah... he does well to match Madhuri Dixit's groove step for step, doesn't he?Read more