Nur Dir zuliebe - Gori Tere Pyaar Mein

Rom-com flicks are one of genre which has not been experimented in Bollywood much lately. Gori Teri Pyaar Mein is refreshing change for Indian audiences who have witnessed an overdose of masala films in 2013.

Sriram Venkat(Played by Imran Khan) is good-for-nothing architect working in his dad's firm who has no respect for any relationships. Dia (played by Kareena Kapoor) is a social crusader who wants to help the needy. They fell in love only to break-up. However, Sriram travels to a remote village to build a bridge for the local people to win back his love at any cost.

From the director of "I Hate Love Story", Puneet Malhotra does a fine job in trying out something different. Though the love story is predictable, it is the treatment of subject that makes it set apart. The first half is hilarious, fun and has moments to remember. Second half begins with a bang but the climax makes it a spoilsport. How I wish it could be handled with maturity and overall it would have been a good rom-com to watch. Screenplay looses the steam and insertion of songs breaks the momentum of the film. Music by Vishal-Shekhar is a let down. Cinematography is eye-catching. Art direction is good. Dialogues are believable. Kareena Kapoor is the eye-candy of the film. She does an awesome job playing the social activist role with aplomb. Imraan Khan is good but still has to work on his expressions.

Overall, I liked the film and found it to be surprisingly fair entertainment. Good 3/5

Certain films raise not one or two but several questions in your mind about the team behind its making and their basic thought structure before going ahead with such tasteless, ridiculous and uninspiring kind of script without giving it a second thought. So instead of writing a usual review, here I would like to share my conclusions after watching this 'quite hard to see' romantic comedy, wherein I neither found the romance nor any comedy as calmly promoted by its makers with a pretty bad song.

1. "You are a born film-maker!" Now this phrase can be interpreted in two ways. One when a person has a great, gifted talent of film-making in him, which he has developed through his own efforts and hard work, working in the field for years before being called a Film-maker. And Two, when a person has simply got born in the family related to film business or movie-making and therefore obviously becomes a Film-maker by default. (And the same theory goes for the actors too in many cases)

2. Sometimes a project just gets all the needed approvals from a corporate house without any objections raised, simply because of the big names backing it from the front, even when there is no script, storyline or an idea shared about what actually they are approving and putting their money in.

3. In such ventures, even the actors don't know what they are actually being signed for, since the script is yet to be given a thought after finalizing the entire schedule and dates.

4. And when the need of the script arises, they just mix and match few of their senior's famous films hurriedly, as if there are only fools coming to the theater and they can be served anything in the name of a film with some glossy faces and songs.

5. Such projects try to incorporate everything which is trending around without any set vision. So if Punjabi is the in-thing, they get a completely insane and horrible song written around a Punjabi word used for the 'Bums' and just don't care to enquire about its actual use in the language at all! (And it was this song, questionably written as "Tooh", which simply left me with jaws open in disbelief and disgust like never before in all these recent decades honestly. In fact I cannot remember a Hindi film song falling to this sick and ridiculous level ever to say the least.)

6. Normally in the first day shows of a film, all the theater attendants, caretakers and torch-men are also very much interested in watching the new film, standing quietly along the wall with their eyes on the screen. But in a film such as GORI TERE PYAAR MEIN, even they walk out of theaters after an hour or so and never return back even post intervals.

7. When film-makers who perhaps have never been to any real village or remote areas, try to show a village in their film as per their forced-in script demand. Then it's pretty obvious that it turns out to be completely artificial, senseless and fake, since they haven't got the vision to portray such earthy elements on the screen in reality. And that is possibly the reason why GTPM truly becomes unbearable in its second half as it shifts into a fake village wherein a bridge is to be built in a pure LAGAAN or SWADES style by the star architect.

8. A film like GTPM does teach you a valuable lesson of life too, that sometimes even when there is everything available on the table to make a delicious dish, the cook still may make a silly mess out of it due to his over-confidence or no fear of a failure at all (read no-work) in the near future.

9. Lastly, GTPM strongly makes you wonder that did its makers really knew that for whom or for which target audience they were actually making this film and Why?

To end with, if a newcomer (or a struggler writer) would have gone to any of the production houses related with the film, with this SCRIPT in hand to make a movie on. Then either he would have got the rejection right away in hours or the script would have been thrown in the bin as soon as he has gone out of the office after reading only its few opening pages.

Anyway, searching for the only silver lining in this black cloud, there are 10 odd minutes of beautiful Shraddha Kapoor in the film, which are watchable. And in case you are too serious to watch her on the screen post AASHIQUI 2, then just see the film at a lower cost ticket before the intermission and simply walk away.

Imran Khan is in a rut. Much like Rishi Kapoor during the late 70s and early 80s, the only kind of movies that he can get by with his limited acting skills are light hearted romantic flicks. He has not moved up an inch since his debut in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Pappu could not dance in that movie, but Imran is worse than Pappu- he cannot dance, or act, or even lip sync properly. He is not even good looking, and the only thing still getting him movies is probably his star kid status. For inspiration, he just needs to look at Ranbir Kapoor- similar star kid, started off at around the same time as himself but immensely more hardworking, with the balls to experiment, and the drive to excel.

Sorry for digressing- this is not a post about Imran, but about his latest act in Gori Tere Pyaar Mein. Another time Imran does his Imran act- dress well, try to dance to hummable numbers, provide some comic relief and woo girls all without any change in facial or voice expression. Here he Sriram, is an Audi loving, shallow to the point of being non emphatic South Indian in love with his polar opposite played by who else but the perennially hyper ventilating Kareena Kapoor, again played herself, or Geet from Jab We Met. Yeah yeah, the age gap. No, Imran is not new competition to Saif, and the disclaimer is right when Kareena enters the story- that she is way older than him. The first half of the movie is about how their love story ended the first time round, while the second part of the movie is how Sriram wins her back again, in a Lagaan type setting, still not letting go of designer clothes and Wayfarers. And to think they would have had the second round of romance if a pet crab had not died. Go figure.

In between there is a lot of drama around the building of a bridge, some nefarious polity, a couple of land deals and a couple of laughs, some catchy songs and loads of racism, and an ending that felt a long time due. This is a movie that is a new low for Dharma Productions, and makes you search hard for positives- maybe it was Anupam Kher's too little screen time, or a luminous special appearance by Shraddha Kapoor, or the fact this was 50% of the term "clean entertainer"- as in not entertaining, but at least not crude. Not even worth a DVD watch, and Imran- please take a break from acting. Just because you were a Khan does not mean this is your cup of tea- 4/10

Punit Malhotra's 'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' is strictly time-pass entertainer, that sums up best as a one-time watch.

'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' Synopsis: A selfish shallow guy from a cosmopolitan city falls in love with a girl, who turns to be a social activist. Fun follows...

'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' has a breezy first-hour & a fairly okay second. The portions based in the cities are sparkling, but the portions in the second-hour, based prominently in a village, are plain ordinary. However, luckily, the film never gets boring.

The Screenplay appeals in bits & pieces. A stronger second-hour wouldn't have hurt. Punit Malhotra shows marked improvement over his debut film 'I Hate Luv Storys'. He has handled the film well. Cinematography is rich. Editing is average. Music by Vishal-Shekhar is excellent.

Performance-Wise: Imran Khan does a fair job. Kareena Kapoor Khan is just perfect. The immensely talented actress displays each emotion with great confidence & control. Shraddha Kapoor is passable. Anupam Kher entertains as the manipulative villain. Esha Gupta sizzles in a song.

On the whole, 'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' is watchable.

Does Kareena have some kind of sadistic pleasure by torturing her fans? Or can't she just handle the happiness of her fans from last year and thinks it's absolutely imperative to consistently follow-up a great year, with a terrible one? First Satyagraha pakao film, and now Gori Tere Pyaar Mein. Another terribly PAKAO film. No, I didn't have great expectations from this film (it was Punit Malhotra directing it... I mean seriously??) but the promos were rather enjoyable and the stars really did manage to sell their product and entice the audience. Add to that that it's a Dharma Production (Karan Johar makes sure to associate himself with entertaining cinema) and that it was coming off the supremely likable (and one of my absolutely favourites) hit from last year year, with the same jodi and same production house.... I did expect to have a good time. And that's exactly what the stars promised - a clean, feel-good, full-on paisa vasool light entertainer. Well, they all fooled us.

Gori Tere Pyaar Mein has been made with honest intentions, but I could care less how noble they felt while making this. I paid 8 euros and I expect to enjoy myself, not roll my eyes until they got stuck up there. This film was reminiscent of those 90s films.... and fair enough, if you want to revisit the past and pay a homage to the (good)-old style of film-making, but for God sake, package it differently!!! This was old wine.... in an old bottle. Even Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani was like a renewed version of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, but everyone loved it.... because it was refreshing. It offered something new. The direction was different, and offered a new perspective. Gori Tere Pyaar Mein fails on many levels, despite a young director, because it lacks punch. The film is devoid of anything that would make you sit up and be interested in the proceedings. And I entirely blame the director and writers here. How could they come up with such a regressive script?? And didn't they have any sort of inclination that things were getting..... really bad.... in the second half?? The whole Bridge nonsense had me fuming :fume: .... to such an extent that I wanted to leave.

I just didn't enjoy the film, overall. There were a few good moments. Some really funny sceness/diaogues... and the middle portion of the film, right from when Imran ''sells'' himself (hilarious) to the wedding fiasco (brilliantly executed) to the second half, with the initial village scenes, was good stuff. But the film goes downhill there-onwards and completely crashes. The songs are nice and peppy, but the film doesn't do justice to them. Chingum Chabake pops up randomly, and it's a shame because it's such a good track. I hated Naina, because it was all about the damn bridge. Dhat Teri Ki is Imran's introduction and sets the mood for a fun, zany film (which it was not). Tooh was OK. It got boring. Moto Ghotalo was funny... while Dil Duffer was pointless.

Punit Malhotra isn't made to be a director. Period. I'm baffled as to how some reviewers could even say that he's a solid competitor for Ayan Mukerji.... say whaaaaaaaat?? I wasn't much of a fan of I Hate Luv Storys, but that film was overall very watchable, and in my opinion, better than Gori Tere Pyaar Mein (and this says a lot). I know that Karan likes to give complete freedom to his directors, but he really should have stepped in for this one. What a terrible mess he could have avoided.

Imran Khan - an actor who has slowly been proving his mettle - doesn't try too hard over here. He's decent and does shine in the sparse comic moments, but is wooden for most part. I have absolutely no clue what Kareena Kapoor Khan is doing in such a stupid film, with such a BLAH character? :hmm: Someone slap me, but she found this more interesting than Ram Leela? Ram Leela was no great shakes either, but that film had so much more to offer, in terms of everything!!! Kareena does well, but honestly, this role doesn't demand anything. Even a newcomer could have done this. After Satyagraha, this is another uninspired performance. I'm disappointed. Chemistry-wise, they look good together, but what a poor follow-up and HUGE let down after Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu.It's good to see Anupam Kher but again, I don't understand why he picked this film? Shradha Kapoor looks stunning and performs well.

I've a headache thinking about this film. It was seriously a pakao film... the kind that you watch and mutter '''what rubbish''. I feel like I should stop watching films in the cinema.... This is the 4th time that I've seen a film in the theatre and either disliked it or felt it was below expectations* (Besharam, Krrish 3, Ram Leela*). It was really on the same level as the other regressive films of the year like Phata Poster Nikla Hero, Ramaiyya Vastavaiyya, Krrish 3.... At the box office, this is definitely going to bomb big time. I'd advise you to just wait for an online print. The Gori isn't worth it this time, not even for her tooh. Poor