Cast: Kareena Kapoor, Imran Khan, Boman Irani, Ratna Pathak, Ram Kapoor
Director: Shakun Batra
Rating: 2.5/5
Extremely plain, incredibly slow... Not for Valentine's Day!
By Priyanka Ketkar
"Aww... It is going to be such a cute love story...", "I am so going to watch this one...", "Oh please, it will be the exact copy of What Happens in Vegas...", "Kareena's character I think is like Geet in Jab We Met..." The Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu team has made sure that everyone is talking about them, especially with Valentines' Day being just around the corner. But great timing, good cast and a terrific "inspiration" doesn't guarantee a great movie, right?
Opposites attract? Maybe...
A girl and a boy can never be "just good friends"? Most of the times...
Two strangers can get drunk and get married? Definitely not (except in What Happens in Vegas)...
Using the most basic and age-old formulas with a tinge of modernism Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu tells us the story of Rahul Kapoor (No, this Rahul is not SRK, its Imran Khan) and Raina Braganza (Kareena Kapoor). Rahul, the young, shy guy is well-mannered, well-bred and well...he is just perfect whereas, Raina is the exact opposite of him. So what, both of them meet and fall in love? Nope. Both of them meet and get married. For those of you who have seen What Happens in Vegas, parts of the story will come as no surprise but still, it has a different story from the usual run-of-the-mill movies. What happens later, makes up for the entire movie.
Extremely plain, incredibly slow. That is how one can describe this movie. There are not many ups and downs, there are no negative characters and there is nothing much to the story. In fact, nothing appears natural; the way they meet, the reason for them getting hitched, the way they decide to part ways, his reason for falling in love, her reason for not falling in love...nothing seems to be very convincing. It has its moments but they are few and far-placed. With its plainness (don’t mistake it with simplicity) and lack of imagination, the movie comes across as way too goody-goody.
Music can make or mar a movie and although the background score is really soothing, it is way too slow, reducing the pace of the movie. The movie picks up just after the interval but again it loses the speed. The only thing that keeps the movie afloat is the acting. The entire cast has done an effortlessly brilliant job. Kareena is beautiful & bubbly as always and Imran Khan has emoted for a change. Ratna Pathak and Boman Irani are fabulous. Ram Kapoor who also makes a small appearance, leaves an impact with his performance.
Just because there are biggies, the movie is going to work otherwise, had Shakun Batra decided to make this very movie with a batch of fresh faces, the movie would've been thrashed left, right and centre. So without being biased towards the biggies, and in spite of their great performances, I will be honest... Although for some, the beauty of the film itself might be in its slow pace, its simple story and the captivating picturisation, for others who expect a stronger story, a much more purposeful movie instead of a good-looking movie, this one is not it. And also a warning for all those in the "Valentine's Day" mood, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu doesn't bring out the spirit of the day, or spirit of love, at all.