U Me Aur Hum

Ajay Devgan's U, Me Aur Hum is an imperfect film. It will never be taught in a film school. Intellectually, you can make a laundry list of the flaws in the film. Cynics will like to point out the similarities between this and some Hollywood films like The Notebook, Iris and Away From Her - all films involving Alzheimer's and memory loss.

There are some who have even pointed out that Devgan should have done a scene-by-scene copy instead of a thematic one. I wish you had a magnetic cynic-o-meter at the theaters for these cynics so they would not be allowed to watch the film.

U, Me Aur Hum is the realization of Devgan's belief in his film and his conviction in telling a story his way. It is an emotional film and in that sense a very good film. It works because the drama is genuine and Ajay and Kajole are seasoned performers who have great chemistry.

There are some who say that Ajay and Kajole have gotten old. Those people are not only cynical but superficial as well. Such people should perhaps invest their money in a copy of Maxim or FHM instead of this film.

To the passionate independent filmmaker U, Me Aur Hum would be very inspiring. Devgan has put everything into a story he believed and then put a team of people together who may or may not be the who's who in Bollywood, but who are nevertheless talented. These people have obviously bought into Devgan's vision and what has translated on screen is very genuine, very from-the-heart and very moving.

Co-writer Robin Bhatt, co-producer Kumar Mangat, cinematographer Aseem Bajaj, composer Vishal Bharadwaj, supporting cast Sachin Khedekar, Divya Dutta and gang are all to be applauded for their efforts. Special mention to new lyricist Munna Dhiman - seems like another Prasoon Joshi in the making.

Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan - apart from being actor-director-producers - have something else in common: they have always been original in their thinking and tread their own path. They are superstars aspiring to be and remain artists. The coming years in Bollywood are going to be very exciting. The size of the film will not be based on budget or star power, but ideas and heart. Ajay Devgan will also have his part to play in these new 'big' films.

All I had seen of this movie was a lot of promos and nothing much else. But I was rather surprised with the content of this movie and was very pleased to see one of my favourite actresses, Kajol, back on the screen.

Ajay goes on a cruise with a couple of friends where he meets Pia, a waitress and for him its love at first sight but for Pia, she follows her heart and watches Ajay, who is a Physchiatrist, make a fool of himself by getting drunk. The next day, she has the pleasure of handing him a massive bill to pay for. However, everything goes well and the two get married until one day, Pia tells Ajay that she can't remember much.

Starring Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Divya Dutta, Vishesh Didwani and Robin Bhatt, this is a good debut for the "Top Gun," Ajay Devgan for his directorial debut. He has done a good job of it and more so as he has highlighted a disease - Alzheimers, which is affecting countless people in this world. Not even the late President Ronald Regan, of the United States, where, as well as in the other countries, a lot of money has been spent on research, could be saved from this. Kajol's acting, and not just because she is one of my favourite actresses, is good, but because she has managed to carry her part extremely well. The romantic part, is not for Ajay Devgan. Its may be because I am use to watching him in action roles. But I felt it was not for him and may be it should have been handed over to the likes of Shah Rukh. And what was most annoying was the amount of times the character kept on saying: "You know..." I am sorry but if this was in an examination, the writer would have failed for repeating countless times - I lost count completely. In fact the last count I remember was 12.Also, the first half could have been shortened a bit and some scenes could have been edited as they were making the first half a bit dragging. There were moments, where I felt like going to sleep or doing something else.

U, Me Aur Hum is definitely a movie that is one of the best that have been released so far this year. The credit for a good directional debut is definitely for Ajay Devgan and this is a movie that is good to watch.

A story with a message - BUT the message is simplistically simple, the love story is INSPIRED by a few films (Notebook, 50 first dates etc.) and banal, and the dialogs are horrendous. I think a Kajol or Ajay fan can see it (I did). Ajay made this one so it feels exactly like the summary he wrote for IMDb – and that summary was worse than a grade school summary of a book or film. Even the tag line is lifted from the amazing Painted Veil. Unfortunately none of the quality of that marital strife film rubs off on U Me Aur Hum.

I really like Kajol, and thought she looked very good in the first half of K3G (a film I quite dislike) but then they choose to make her haggard in the second half and she has kept that look. What is with all that dark dark eye makeup? Does she want to become the Rekha of her time? There were a few moments when she looked great, but most of the time she was OTT with white lipstick and big black mascara. Ajay just looked dour most of the time and it did not help that the extreme closeup photography enhanced every blackhead, every pore, every wrinkle in the faces of the couple.

A couple of scenes engaged me, but the dialogs were bad beyond belief. The kid has to be named with an F, so F U dash dash E R is a great name? A long winded dialog about 'cutting the arm off' was so stupid I thought at first that I didn't get some profound statement that was being made. Ajay was great in HDDCS - he would say "You know something? Never mind!" and I loved him for that. But this is carrying a great dialog to silly extremes (repeated 100 times in UMAH) without the catch line, which was NEVER MIND and suited the character of Vanraj!

I can hum Dil Dhakda hai - so maybe one song was OK. But the lyrics for all the songs were horrific – here is a sample of lyrics from Dhakda hai! Dil laaya hoon, tang do khunti pe, sapnon mein aajaana, raat ko hoon duty pe!! That Phatte number was simply atrocious in lyrics, melody and choreography. The Saiyyan song - that was the most inappropriate insertion of a song into a situation EVER!

In summary, U Me Aur Hum is a most banal film. With a silly bottom line - if you love you wife/(mother/father) do not send them to an institution when they get Alzheimers or start failing. Forget the fact that most people cannot send them to that 5 star type facility she went to, and for others sending them to any kind of facility is not a financial option. The tragedy of the disease was never really explored was it? For that we still have to look to Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara.

As for the marital advice - I've seen better from Dear Abby.

There is not a long list of actors who also became successful directors. But first Aamir Khan successfully proved it and now Ajay Devgan also shows his sparks of direction.

His directorial debut is a sensitive and emotional love story of a married couple. The real life pair Ajay & Kajol both fit to their roles as a 'T'. A special worthy praise is deserved by Kajol for her lovable act and Ajay for choosing a difficult subject.

In simple words, U Me Aur Hum is not a family drama, it is not a film with bubbly valentine kind of love. But its intense, emotional and mature in content. Though it lacks in some departments but the overall impact at the end of the movie is quite touchy.

The first half starts with influences of "An Affair To Remember" and "The Notebook". But after the marriage of the lead actors, the film just moves on to a different unexpected platform. The story is about the wife suffering with Alzheimer disease and how the family and friends around, face this truth with love and courage.

No doubt a difficult subject to choose for a directorial debut. The only problem is that the viewers expected a good enjoyable love story with many lighter moments to share. But the film is more of a slow, heavy and mature love story. Still Ajay Devgan, the director, manages to extract brilliant performances and also visualizes some memorable scenes which can make your eyes wet. Specially the last hour of the film. It has some very emotional scenes to cherish.

The most lacking department of the movie is the Music. If only it had some soothing and melodious love songs, the impact would have been 10 times better. There is no slow & soft love song with meaningful lyrics which was a must according to the demand of the script as I see it. May be Ajay avoided that deliberately. Vishal Bhardwaj misses the train this time.

Performance wise Kajol is superlative and majestic in all her characters. As a smart waitress, as a girl ready to fall in love, as a lover, as a wife and as a mother. She slips into all shades of her character with such an ease and elegance. Unarguably one of her best performances till date. Ajay is soft and has underplayed his character, but he emotes well as a worried and caring husband. His performance in the second half is much better and impressive. Another gem of a performance is by Divya Dutta. She excels in her small role and makes her presence felt. The scenes where all the friends are together are well written and executed.

It can be said that after "Taare Zameen Par" this is the second movie on the theme of a disease and how the family copes with it. But there should be no comparison drawn between the two. "U Me Aur Hum" is more for the mature audiences and it may be treated as "Heavy" by the younger generation.

But the movie has the truth of life in it. Anybody can face this, as we all live in an uncertain life. And "U ME Aur Hum" teaches how to live life with love even when the times are real tough.

Go for it if you love intense drama and feel that Love is the way to live Life. (I really wish it had better music)

Last week i saw the movie..this is debut directional movie by Ajay Devgan..the one and only positive thing about this movies is Kajol is still in form and ready for rock.Honestly say this movie is inspired by Hollywood movies and also visual effects too..but some shots are really good and hats off to cinematography...its amazing!!! other star cast is fit to their roles.. music is not well just title song is good. if some song is deleted then it would be good.the story is good but due to poor script it goes waste. If you like the emotional movie with typical Hindi Masala then buy a DVD and see this movie,there is no need to go theater to see this movie. overall if you are the crazy fans of Ajay and Kajol then watch is movie!!