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

Is Gori Tere Pyaar Mein worth seeing? Short answer: Yes. The long answer, is also yes. Though its not going to challenge you or make your uncomfortable or leave you gobsmacked, Gori Tere Pyaar Mein is definitely worth your entertainment rupee. The film begins with our 'No do, no care' hero Sri Ram Venket (Imran Khan) the son of a wealthy Bangalore builder. Of course the family decides to fix their son the way countless desi parents vow to...marriage. The very arranged meeting and engaging with Vasudha, (Shraddha Kapoor) with close-ups of banana leaves and teak furniture, are framed with both wit and sophistication. Yep, there are a bumper crop of Punjus playing at Tamil Iyers in this film. Through their engagement and flashbacks we meet his first love Dia Sharma, (Kareena Kapoor), a feisty fighter for those who cannot defend themselves. She does everything, fighting for parks, for children, for sex workers. Dia has left her Delhi home and is matter-of-factly introduced to our hero as being much older. The second half of the film ends up in a small village in Gujarat. Where Tamil is used for humour and confusion in the first half, Gujarati has its turn later. Astoundingly there are not foreign shoots or even foreign dream sequences. Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, writer-director Punit Malhotra's first film I Hate Luv Stories did very well at the box office. I didn't see that film, but Mr. Malhotra's became best known for being his leading lady Sonal Kapoor's boyfriend, which may have been a step up from being known as fashion designer Manish Malhotra's nephew. I think judging by the deft handling and American sitcom type setups of this film, Mr. Malhotra will soon be best known as himself. Imran Khan has become the desi version of Hugh Grant. He usually manages to elevate rom-com material. This is his second film with Kareena Kapoor and the second film where Ms. Kapoor is a rabble rouser. Both Mr. Khan and Ms. Kapoor are pros and this role required no stretching for either one. They essentially played appealing characters which they probably are in real life. Shradha Kapoor is lovely but she too had no scope to do much. The songs particularly "Shake That Tooh," have already hit the airwaves are being played at weddings this winter. Dharma gloss is evident in every frame and costume, but it does not overpower, just makes us understand that our protagonists are upper middle class. Thankfully, the giant homes with spiral staircases have been retired. The cinematography is bright and polished. The story by Punit Malhotra and television writer Arshad Sayed presents the rom-com scenario in quite a fresh light. The writers also played around with structure to make the film more interesting, though it took away some of the 'will they,' 'won't they' element required by successful rom-coms. Punit Malhotra's direction is deft with supporting characters in both cities and villages used to build the humour. Anupam Kher brings life to the villain who is funnily menacing. A lesser actor would have had trouble walking the fine line. I'm just curious whether building a bridge was actually part of the filming budget or whether they found a village where a bridge was being built. The situations of helping society are woven throughout the story in a way never seen before in a Hindi film. That is impressive as the weakness of most Bollywood rom-coms, was that characters did nothing but fall in love. Love is not enough, it is never enough. The lover too needs to be worthy. Gori Tere Pyaar Mein delves into the aspect of being worthy of love in humorous manner, but the stakes are never that high. That is the film's strength and why it will stay on your mind longer than the average glossy entertainer.

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

As soon as I saw the casting of this film, it immediately reminded me of Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu which I didn't like whatsoever, and unfortunately even though Gori Tere is better, it is not that far better.

Kareena is a seasoned actress and should seriously consider some more tasking roles. She plays the role of Dia with ease, but her character is just becoming too common and predictable.

Imran Khan is getting better and better with every film, and here he delivers a solid performance with some good comic timing, and decent romance with Kareena however he still lacks true hero material! Like, you can't put him in the same comparisons as Ranbir and Ranveer anymore.

Shradha Kapoor is pleasant and is very likable in her role. It's great to see Anupam Kher in a negative role after so long and as always, the legend delivers a perfect performance.

Overall Gori Tere is just average and nothing more. It lacks real content, and the story is way too predictable. The music is good, which does help the films cause however is not enough to save a sub standard film. My rating of 5 is more towards the acting performances than the script.

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