Remember Hrishida's movies? We laughed with it, loved it, because he created the characters who we could relate. You look around, these characters are in one of your friends. Imtiaz Ali is in the same league. The characters, the shots, the sets, the train, the bus - we have been there! We have lived them.
And he creates a gem incorporating these elements. It is humour in pure form! It will brighten you up, no matter how grumpy you may be feeling! I think this is one of the loveliest movie of the year. Pure, unadulterated fun! The strength of the movie is in its script, and in its characters, esp that of Kreena Kpoor (try saying that, you know what I mean) - yeah - Ms Kapoor is in her elements. She plays the role of sikhni convincingly! The lingo, the body language, the attitude, she is 100%! Kareena Kapoor 2.0 (that's what I call post Chameli) rocks! Every movie, she surprises with histrionics, that is very few in current Bollywood can match! And what a transformation from Omkara's Dolly? That's real actress right there! Shahid Kapoor... mmmm, could improve in the acting dept. If I were to choose, I would choose someone like Shreyas Talpade for this role. Shahid has definitely matured as an actor from his chocolate-boy image, but still leaves something to be desired.
In my opinion, the comedy is one of the most difficult of the genres. To execute it well without sounding cheap, or going overboard, or cheesy, is not really easy. Imtiaz Ali, in this case does justice to two most important depts, Writing & Direction! A word about music: Pritam brings a fresh set of music, some of it grows on you after listening few times. Definitely I am not talking of the radio-friendly Mauja Hi Mauja, which is tailor-made for music video channels. Songs like Aao Milo Chalo, Tum Se Hi are real nice pop or soft-rockish tunes. Sandesh Shandilya shares the burden on Aaoge Jab Tum, and Rashid Khan does a fine job on the vocals. On Tum Se Hi, watch out for Ustad Sultan Khan's ever soulful crooning.
I still give it a 8/10 because Shahid Kapoor's acting has rooms for improvement, the second half has rooms for editing and making it more compact. But the movie is worth watching just for Kareena Kapoor's acting! Way to go Imtiaz Ali!
