Saif Ali Khan overacts and Deepika Padukone hams her way through most of the film. But the new girl who essays the role of Harleen, brings some relief to this never ending, insipid journey parading as a new-age relationship.
Initially, we thought she was model Diana Penty aka her flawless complexion. But we discovered from the credits that her name is Giselle Monteiro. I told my pal Bips, that Giz must be a country cousin of mine from Loutolim, a very pretty little village in Goa, the home of several Monteiros.
But it turns out that she is a Brazilian model, playing a Punjabi village girl! But then Brazil and Goa are fellow Portuguese colonies. Kudos to the director for keeping her background top secret before the film. The rest of the film…not so much.
Having said that the premise isn’t so bad: love in today’s era versus love in the days of yore. But the treatment of the former is very…ummm…clinical…making the two protagonists seem robotic in the way their emotions and reactions, pan out. In a nutshell, love in today’s era is commitment-phobic, and young people have trouble expressing their true feelings, which is somewhat true, I suppose. But unfortunately, the exploration in the film is reduced to a series of clichés.
Chic clothes and fancy locales, don’t lend the plot any soul, though the films has a few moments that seem real.
Saif makes one heck of a sexy Sardar, and the older love story is endearing. But I’d say, watch this one on DVD, if you feel the need to watch it at all.
