Teri Meri Kahaani

Kunal Kohli's 'Teri Meri Kahani' is A Decent Flick, that offers some great moments in the goings-on. This Episodic Romantic Flick isn't path-breaking from any angle, but it surely is a smooth one-time watch. Also, Lead-Star Shahid Kapoor pitches in a Marvelous Performance!

'Teri Meri Kahani' highlights the idea of soul-mates. The story transcends three eras and reinforces the belief of made for each love. Its the story of two souls meant to be together in every life but are separated by circumstances only to be reunited by their undying love for each and destiny.

'Teri Meri Kahani' unfolds in 3 chapters & each chapter has merits. Although none of them are flawless. Kunal Kohli's Story has some great moments & it presents love from 3 different time-lines adequately. However, the Screenplay could've been tighter, especially in the second-hour. Kunal Kohli's Direction is passable. Cinematography & Editing are fair. Art Design is superb, the retro look has been re-created very aptly. Music by Sajid-Wajid is foot-tapping.

Performance-Wise: Shahid is up for top honors. He's marvelous in all the three roles & oozes versatility. Its his best performance in years. A very commendable performance! Priyanka Chopra, also cast in three roles, does well. The On-Screen Chemistry between Shahid & Priyanka, is good throughout. Prachi Desai & Neha Sharma deliver efficiently.

On the whole, 'Teri Meri Kahani' is a decent watch.

The movie was good in parts. The ending was very linear without any ups n downs which makes the climax not as good as the rest.

The 1960 era Mumbai was beautifully recreated with VFX. 1910 era was also fun. 2012 era was OK. Top notch cinematography by Sunil Patel. Some nice dialogs and shayaris by Kunal Kohli. Shahid was awesome as Javeed and Govind. Priyanka was good as Aradhana and Rukhsar. The movie didn't do justice to both their talents. Cool music by Sajid-Wajid. Nice costumes. Overall it was a hard work effort, presentation wise by Kunal Kohli, but unlike Hum Tum and Fanaa, it doesn't connect.

In the end, the movie confuses you whether it gives any message regarding love or its just 3 love stories! Its a feel good one time watch rom-com.

Kunal Kohli has been associated with 'All Inspired Films" since his first venture & working on the same formula, he once again comes up with a film based on another borrowed idea, this time taken from a Taiwanese film called "Three Times" or "Zui Hao De Shi Guang". Reportedly Imtiaz Ali was also inspired from the same film for making his "Love Aaj Kal". But then he didn't blindly follow it and his script talked about the different eras as part of flashbacks related to his few key characters. Whereas in TERI MERI KAHAANI, Kunal adapts the concept as it is from the original giving it his own Indian touch in the three different eras.

Now where the original deals with 1911, 1966 and 2005, this present version deals with 1910, 1960 and 2012. But this time Kunal really works upon the inspired concept and majorly re-shapes it with his own vision converting it into a marginally interesting one. Honestly, I neither liked the Taiwanese film for its lifeless content nor I really loved the present unclear version of Kunal Kohli. However I would like to mention one big difference here, in the way a story can be conceived by two different directors making it more realistic in their own ways.

In TMK, when the script moves into 1910 we get to see the era depicted by colourful sets, people from different religions, British police officers and freedom fight struggle going on in the country along with few peppy songs. But when the Taiwanese film goes into the year 1911, its narration suddenly becomes mute as a silent movie….Why….because obviously it was an era of silent screen communicating with the audience through the running captions. And that's the difference between the vision of a creative director and a commercial one.

Talking about 3 distinctive love stories happening in 3 different eras in TERI MERI KAHAANI, it basically looks like a direction less project taking you no-where. As it begins with 1960s everything is fine and you enjoy watching the lively era without any major development in the story. But when the same keeps happening in the other two eras too then one becomes restless and starts looking for the basic purpose behind showing all this. In fact till the last 20 minutes of the film, both the viewer and the director remain clueless about what is happening on the screen in a strange manner. And when all the explanations are given in the final reels, one doesn't feel convinced or interested at all in the way it is depicted.

In short, the first era of the 60s remains the best out of the 3, whereas the representation of 1910 remains the weakest. In between these two, the 2012 version of the love story never rises above the average. So, where the initial 40 minutes of the film are refreshing, the rest showcasing the other two time periods simply give you nothing. And in the end, it really makes you think that why on earth Kunal chose this inspired subject when he never knew what he is going to do with it on the screen. The director also remains confused in his re-creation of the past, both in the sequences of 1910 and 1960. For example, he shows a big flex hoarding being displayed in the year 1960 whereas there were only handmade hoardings or multiple-sheet paper posters used in that time for publicity. Moreover, he takes too many liberties in depicting the complex 1910 era when India was still struggling under the British rule. But here the silver lining in the dark is that probably TERI MERI KAHAANI is the first film ever which takes the British rule over India in such a positive and cool manner. And I seriously wish this was done in a more appealing way because it could have actually turned the film into something interesting.

Technically, though it was quite cosmetic in looks but still I enjoyed watching the 1960s graphical representation (Set Designing & Cinematography) on screen and loved the spirit in this particular part of the film. But the same cannot be said about the 1910 era as its recreation was in fact way below the mark and not competent at all. In the performance section, both Shahid and Priyanka frankly had nothing to do in the script except looking good and keep smiling. The story doesn't give them the opportunity to display a wide variety of emotions and they both majorly remain the same throughout the film. Yet TMK can easily be called a Shahid's film more than Priyanka's. The pair does well particularly in the first half of the film but frankly I liked Prachi Desai's small cameo a lot better than Shahid-Priyanka's complete two hour act put together. Neha Sharma is OK looking quite different from her looks in CROOK and Vrajesh Hirjee is as usual fine in his role of a reporter or detective.

In all, the only merit of TERI MERI KAHAANI is its soundtrack which gives you some good foot tapping numbers keeping you engaged in its otherwise uninteresting storyline. Sajid-Wajid can easily include this film in the list of their better works as the duo's music truly remains the only hero in TMK unarguably.

So you can go for it, in case you love watching your favorite actors doing the same routine song-dance-drama on the screen in a feel good script without any basic storyline. It does have some cool, lovable moments in its 3 love stories happening in 3 different eras. But at the same time TERI MERI KAHAANI is also one of those unexplainable films which strongly forces you to think that 'How could a lackluster script of this kind get approved by such renowned and image-conscious Stars of the current times?" or "Do these actors ever read the script on which the film is supposed to be made or not?

The only truly decent thing to say about Teri Meri Kahaani is that the lead actors performed their roles well. The film actually encapsulates three stories in one, and therein lies the problem. There are three main issues with the film that make it unsatisfying in every way.

The main problem with the film, and where the whole premise falls apart is that there is no true thread to tie these stories together. Without some common theme (aside from a very loose boy meets girl connection), the only thing that differentiates these stories is the time period (Set in the 60's, present day, and 1910). The second major problem is that despite trying to flesh out three stories entirely in two hours, Kunal Kohli does not give enough flesh to any of the stories in order to make you really enjoy them. The only story with any meat in it as well as having characters who are not completely reprehensible (the one set in the 1910's) is given as much or less screen time as the boring tale set in the present day. Finally, the movie fails in a big way as, with the little character development that we are given, we are urged to loathe or at the very least not care about most of the characters involved. Either Priyanka or Shahid's characters or both are cast in an unfavorable and somewhat confusing light in each of their various avatars, and, despite being so horrible and with so many issues, their stories just abruptly end in a way that is extremely unsatisfying to the viewer. The two rays of light for this picture are the beautiful Urdu poetry segments and songs and the refreshingly able Prachi Desai who shows in only a few minutes worth of screen time that she has true acting talent. That, however, is not enough. I would strongly recommend passing on this one as it will likely leave you completely unsatisfied.

The first thing that sprung to mind when I heard about the premise was that this could be like Hou Hsiao Hsien's Three Times, with three love stories presented in short story style, set in three different eras, and starring the same actor and actress as would be lovebirds. It's the quintessential love story in each of the short films presented, with little narrative links between the tales. And quite unlike a typical Bollywood film, I was surprised when everything came to close in just under 2 hours, succinct and to the point, exploiting the boy-meets-girl- loses-girl formula with success, three times over.

Written and directed by Kunal Kohli who helmed films like Fanaa and Hum Tum, the stories presented were uncomplicated in style and presentation, and is absolutely charming, being an automatic and excellent choice as a date movie. Each story is based on serendipity between the couples, with each chance and debut encounter being nothing short of memorable, developing into something a lot more, before a roadblock gets in the way which curiously almost always being the fault of the guy. And with each cliffhanger comes the hope that everything gets resolved with a fulfilling positive ending, not just because the writing and characterization make us root for the lovers to be together, but that Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra share this remarkable chemistry opposite each other, that doesn't betray the point tat this is only their second pairing after 2009's Kaminey.

And Teri Meri Kamaani starts off with arguably its best segment set in the 1960s, where impressive CG gets combined with old school styled movie sets to bring out not only a believable blast from the past setting, but to add a unique flavour to the way films in those days get made in studios as well. Rightly apt for this tale is Chopra playing Rukhsar, a movie star who meets Kapoor's Govind onboard a train, sharing a trip to Bombay and then sowing the seeds of what could possibly be a start to an unlikely romantic relationship between someone famous, and an in-between jobs musician. Complicating matters is Govind's neighbour Maahi (Prachi Desai) who got utilized to try and shake off a persistent tabloid journalist, with a cruel twist set into the narrative.

Then we move into London 2012 at Stratford Upon Avon, with Kapoor's Krish having broken up with his girlfriend Meera (Neha Sharma) on his birthday, and began on the wrong footing with the stranger he bumped into, Chopra's Radha, but after a day and night of partying, and a semester of modern day instant messaging flirting and maintaining a long distance relationship of sorts, trouble comes when Meera decides to embarrass Krish online by posting less than flattering private photos of Krish, and for his tit-for-tat action really throwing a spanner into the budding relationship formed with Radha.

1910 Lahore forms the final part of the trio of stories, with Shahid Kapoor playing the Casanova Javed, who uses his charms on unsuspecting women around his village and gains a notorious reputation. Here he chances upon Chopra's Aradhana while escaping from soldiers in colonial India, and amongst the lot, this story dwells a little bit on the political climate of the time, and a more conservative courtship between the lovers. Gone are the fancy song and dance, or modern day conveniences, and in comes poetry which the characters recite in playful repartee, which I'm quite certain the nuances in remarks exchanged were sorely lost in translation.

Tackling multiple roles in a film isn't something new for Priyanka Chopra, having played 12 different characters in What's Your Rashee, and adopting 7 different personas in 7 Khoon Maaf. Once again she showcases her versatility and justifies why she's at the top of the game, and being one of the best Indian actresses amongst her generation, combining glamour and striking poise when they're called for. Aradhana allowed her to showcase a lot of restraint in a more conservative time period, while a more bubbly nature shone through as Radha. Shahid Kapoor does what he does best, and comes to life as Javed, the only character here who had to undergo tremendous transformation, although the other less flashy role of Govind probably served as the more interesting of the three he had to tackle. And together, the Kapoor-Chopra pairing proves to be once again something that probably movie goers will not get enough of.

Kunal Kohli has a winner in his hands, opting for something straight-forward and direct, and having a wonderful cast bringing life to his stories. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it a bit more if the stories are linked more than just thematically, although this may be sticking to the same old formula already done to death by cinemas from around the world. Still, Bollywood has its usual song and dance sequences which work extremely well here, and has technology to thank for in recreating sets of 1960s Bombay that's impressive, with its slight rawness and less than pristine rendering adding to some charm of that era. Highly recommended!