Pyaar Impossible!

'Pyaar Impossible' is a surprise packet, in fact, this year's first decent film is in the form of this Uday Chopra flick. A film that truly springs a surprise! I enjoyed 'Pyaar Impossible' from start to end. It's a neat & clean film, that has it's heart at the right place. A simple story told in a simple.

Uday Chopra has done it all, he's written the story, the dialogs, done the acting. And thank god, he does well in every department. Jugal Hansraj's direction is neat. The cinematography by Santhosh Thundyil's is perfect. Music is good, so are the lyrics.

Acting wise, Uday does well in a role, that he knew he would do well in. Priyanka is very sincere; plus she looks awesome in both hairstyles. Dino excels as a villain. The talented actor should do such roles also, so that people finally give him his due. Anupam Kher, is, as always, excellent. The kid who plays Priyanka's daughter is first-rate.

Any minuses: Yes, the film could've done without a song or two. Otherwise, Na not much.

'Pyaar Impossible' is a film that I recommend you to watch.

First, this is a warm feel good movie much like pictures of kittens and puppies. If that is not your cup of tea, then skip it. The story of the geek winning over the girl has been done before, but the humor in this movie makes it a winner. Abhay's (Uday Chopra) social awkwardness is a winner here and Alisha's (Priyanka Chopra) roll as a sexy socialite oblivious to Abhay's geek world is perfect. The antics Uday goes through to win her and her monster daughter over is funny and the turn in the end is sweet and awesome. Some of the humor is dumb (including the bad wig on Anupam Kher's head), but fits right in. The music is catchy and keeps you taping your feet. There is a small underlying story of being able to see the world differently from another point of view and it is well done (Priyanka makes a hot geek!). Some of the dialog is a little boring and almost seems like the actors are ad-libbing some lines at times, but it is saved by the humor in the story. I will watch this again and again and is one of my favorites. A perfect family film for all ages.

This actually is a Decent Movie which has been ignored by many people. As you know the attitude of Indian audience - Most of them Prefer to watch their favourite actor's faces and not really bother much - whether the movie has good content or not. Uday Chopra has actually acted very well in this film. It is just unfortunate of him that people never saw him as an actor material. Other actors have also acted well in this film and it's a good time pass watch.

There are many reasons why I had opted to watch this film. First off, it's Uday Chopra, an actor whom I confess only having watch his comical sidekick roles in the Dhoom movies, so I was curious whether he can carry a film off on his own as a leading man. The answer is of course yes, as he plays the geek Abhay right down to the pat, a man who had been infatuated with the hottest girl in school for seven years, always afraid to open his mouth and talk to her, given an opportunity to do so when in pursuit of a software thief, he travels to Singapore and serendipity dictates he will bump into his infatuation, and even more incredibly get to work as her precocious, feisty daughter's nanny. Not to mention too that this story and dialogues are credited under Uday himself, so one wonders where he had drawn his inspiration from, whether he had actually pined for someone like his character did in the film.

Second, the other lead in actress Priyanka Chopra. There are plenty of naysayers to her credibility as an actress, but from what I watched last year from Fashion right down to Ashutosh Gowariker's What's Your Rashee (missed Kaminey!), she had shown her versatility and wide range, which the brickbrats would still like to point out in the latter film, was nothing more than a change of clothes and hairstyles, which I totally disagree. Her performance here as Alisha, the single, divorced mother and Abhay's girl of his dreams, would once again become a showcase of her ability, despite yet again looking great in the various outfits which would raise an eyebrow whether it's appropriate corporate office attire (and overheard from another audience member too that her outfits wouldn't pass). That aside, I would think that this "mum" role is probably her first (unless someone can point out to me that I'm wrong please?)

And one of the key reasons, is how Singapore gets portrayed in another Bollywood film, after the comedy De Dana Dan last year, which didn't really move around much other than for one of the song sequences and being stuck mostly within the confines of the Pan Pacific Hotel. Then there was Krrish which also starred Priyanka Chopra, making this at least her 2nd film foray to our sunny island. In this film, Singapore's good enough to become that substitute for California's beaches thanks to Sentosa, and I always get a good laugh out of how our cabbies get unwittingly portrayed as dishonest cheats who take tourists for a ride around expressways and the city area no thanks to the juxtaposition of scenes involving recognizable roads and landmarks. Or that this travel scene would become one of those sponsored tourism campaign videos.

While identification of landmarks use adds to the fun, such as the UOB skyscraper doubling up as the HQ of Pinnacle Software, and various shots in Challenger, Clarke and Robertson Quay areas, what I found more interesting is how, so far, there's rarely a depiction of HDB apartments in movies shot here by Bollywood. Everyone's pretty loaded in their ability to afford a swanky condo (at the Kallang Bay area, given the view out of their windows) in Krrish's case, or landed property in this one, that cost a few million dollars at the very least. So while local films tend to depict the accommodation here using what some 80% of the locals live in, films from abroad may, perhaps due to non-familiarity, opt to go by the more conventional (sometimes unrealistic) route of the "house" concept.

In any case, Pyaar Impossible is about the improbable love between a beauty and a geek, and Uday Chopra's story is rather straightforward, revenge of the nerd type, which somehow works fine as a magical fantasy romantic story that's kept simple and effective, without much fuss. There are essentially three story arcs, one which is the unattainable love that Abhay seeks, the second being Abhay as The Nanny / Butler / Confidant to Alisha's household, and the third giving cause for Abhay to visit Singapore, in search of the swindler Sidhu/Varun (Dino Morea).

With its catchy tunes and song and dance routine, it hit the nail on the head when the theme song succinctly dealt with the notion of how superficial it actually is when we talk about attraction, but always fail to admit so. In that respect, Pyaar Impossible laid its cards out on the table honestly even though it had to succumb to formula, and I'd pick this romantic comedy over any Hollywood one any day.

Here is another example of a reasonably fine movie presented with completely wrong promos and a misleading promotional campaign. And the strange thing is that the blunder is once again committed by the experienced Yash Raj Films who did exactly the same with their earlier project "Rocket Singh". Simply putting, "Pyaar Impossible" is neither a youthful movie about college life nor it talks about any campus affairs as prominently shown in its on-air promos.

Conversely, it is a simple story of a one-sided love affair, also featuring a girl child artist playing a prominent role in the script and has a story-line, which somehow seems to be less appealing for the younger audiences. So, if you are expecting a trendy, college campus love flick, featuring a geek and a beauty, then you are sure going to be disappointed big time. But the saving grace is that the movie still manages to impress the viewers to some extent, mainly through its engaging second half, where the plot actually starts moving at the much needed speed. Whereas before intermission, the narration has nothing great to offer and you just keep waiting for something more interesting to happen on the screen very soon.

Basically, I am still wondering why Jugal Hansraj (director) and Uday Chopra, who has also written the story, screenplay and dialogues for the movie, opted for such confusing promos for their project, which no-where talk about the real movie in the offering. In fact all the scenes in the promos on-air are just taken from the first 15 minutes of the movie and the rest is completely left untouched. To be precise, I couldn't figure out, what was the purpose of promoting the movie as a college drama, when its main lead female character is actually a divorcée single mother living alone with her kid girl. That was really a silly attempt to bring in the young crowd into the theaters to fetch a good initial. However, the move may turn against the movie, since all the youngsters are not going to find the content they were really feeling excited for. Jugal Hansraj once again misses the bull's eye with even Priyanka being there for him as a merit.

Nevertheless, apart from this publicity goof up, "Pyaar Impossible" is a decent movie with worth watching performances from the lead pair and the girl child. Priyanka Chopra once again leads from the front, with her stunning outfits and gorgeous looks. Her solid portrayal of a stylish and educated single mother, rightly proves why she is considered as one of the best talents we currently have in our Hindi Cinema. Uday Chopra as her silent lover, surprisingly gives a stunner performance in the role of a geek. He is simply not the same Uday, you may recall from his previous films. He has not only grown as an actor but also showcases his other talents of writing and scripting a story of his own. Advika Yadav, the kid girl playing Priyanka's daughter is a delight to watch and a talent to look out in the future. Anupam Kher is lovable in his few scenes and Dino Morea is quite impressive in his negative role.

Musically, the film has majority of its songs written partly in English which have a limited appeal. Music directors Salim-Sulieman have worked more on their song arrangements and less on the melody part of their musical score. Hence, though the tracks sound good but they don't stay in your mind for long. Cinematography captures Singapore's outdoor locations skillfully.

In a nutshell review, "Pyaar Impossible" is a good one time watch mainly for its performances, but it has nothing as suggested by its trendy and youthful promos. The movie is based on an urban subject revolving around computer software and its piracy which strictly makes it a multiplex movie and can work only in the metros. You can watch it for both Priyanka and Uday but don't expect any college romance out of it.