Hum Tum

on the surface, everyone's condemning it for its 'inspired' storyline. but then, even Shakespeare picked up stories from the common database. i am not comparing it to his work.. you could point a finger at its not so original storyline, but credit is due where it is due. the movie is refreshing in the treatment it gives the girl-guy thing. it incorporates a cartoon strip = animation smoothly. and, not only does the movie manage to stay restrained almost throughout without following the general "second half" drag, it also deals with more than just the "cover story" or theme.

at its base is this endearingly constant bickering and loving relationship between karan and rhea. but go a little deeper and you see the sub plots of the rishi kapoor-rati agnihotri marriage-that-didn't-work, and the lonely kirron kher. kunal kohli deals with the theme of loneliness, and puts his point forward subtly in their stories. no one can live alone. and finding a way to make relationships work - is in our hands after all - as rati says towards the end - god might not give us a second chance, but we have to find it for ourselves.

the movie is realistic enough - contrary to what some of the obtuse commentors have posted already. and definitely a complete whole structure. minor glitches notwithstanding, it's a delightfully entertaining and heartwarming movie.

I enjoyed Hum Tum. To no one's surprise, Saif and Rani did a superb job. I don't think anyone has better comic timing than Saif. He's a natural actor. Rani has always worked really hard. Songs were great. I especially liked the Mere Dil Vich Hum Tum track and the title song. Like all other Yash Raj films, this movie has a very fresh feeling. I was rather delighted to see all the guest appearances. I was completely unaware of that. I really am not a fan of Rishi Kapoor. I don't know why, but I find him really irritating. He just doesn't seem that convincing to me. The cartoons got really irritating. It's weird, in the middle of a real-people movie, to all of a sudden start watching cartoon characters. Thankfully, the cartoons died down a bit in the second half. It's also a bit annoying how the film spans over nine years. Every half hour it says "3 years later," "1 year later," "4 years later." Being a Yash Raj film, my expectations for this movie were super-duper high, but I still liked it. It's a fun-filled romantic comedy.

As in when Harry met Sally Bollywood style. And thank God Karan met Rhea because he was sure to have met something more like GONORRHEA or worse with the way he was girl hopping in this film (a trait that was clearly handed down to him by his dad).

Karan of course is played by the hilariously dashing Saif Ali Khan and Rhea is played by that class-act of an actress called Rani Mukherji. They meet aboard a plane heading to the USA from India and instantly sparks fly, but not the kind you're thinking of. They both irritate each other to the extent that they argue over the slightest things and everything becomes a debate or battle of the sexes. While in Amsterdam, in the heat of an argument, Karan kisses Rhea and when they arrive in NYC, she is soon to find out that they are going there to meet the same person, her college best-friend who happens to also be Karan's girlfriend. Karan gets the punishment he rightfully deserves and as years pass by he returns to India one day to find out that his mum, a wedding planner by profession is planning a wedding for none other than Rhea, whom he becomes reacquainted with. He realises during the course of her engagement and marriage that he is in love with her but can do nothing to stop it.

Oh and let me also add that there are cartoons included in between many scenes, hence the title Hum Tum with the cartoon characters on the cover. Hum Tum (You and I or Yours and Mine in Hindi) are Karan's characters from a column he does for India Times newspaper which is a big hit for him and in fact, the film starts off with him giving a speech at a press conference for a book about the cartoon characters which he has just written and is a best-seller. Abhishek Bachchan who appears briefly in the film seems to have carved out a niche for himself with these sort of silly, blink and you'll miss it cameo roles he loves to play (see his roles in Salaam Namaste, and Rakht) nowadays. But then again he's Jr. B so he can pretty much do whatever the heck he wants.

The premise of a philandering husband who deserts his wife and after 17 years he returns and she accepts him back is barbaric to say the least! Did the writer's expect the audience to side with or feel sorry for Karan's dad? That was a weak point within the film. Sob sub-plots like that (and I've seen many in a lot of Hindi films) make Hindustani men look bad.

The producers not only stole from the Hollywood classic When Harry Met Sally, for the cartoon characters, there was a scene in which they not only stole the "flying scene" from Titanic, they also stole the "My heart will go on" melody. Very shameless people, those folks at Yash Raj films! Anywho, I loved the music and backdrop for this film, Rani and Saif not only had great chemistry, they also acted well and in fact did double duty as playback singers for some songs in the film as well (Well done guys! you rock!), I however detracted a few points because the film was unnecessarily long. I detected up to 10 instances where the film could have ended and left to the audience to decide what would have happened next and let me just say that 10 endings is plenty too many!

Hum Tum is an extremely modern and lighthearted romantic comedy. It is very well directed, beautifully shot, and is interesting and entertaining. Kunal Kohli makes a very good job in depicting the world of young Indians who travel the world and live their individual lives with passion and independence. The portrayal of relationships between the characters in the film, particularly that of the main lead, Karan and Riya, is handled with a mind-blowing mix of comedy and emotional drama. The film moves at a steady pace, the animated characters of 'Hum' and 'Tum' are really fun, the music is suitably racy, the cinematography and editing are excellent, and the entire concept of following the hate-to-love relationship of two young people for a period of several years across many different countries, is refreshing and convincingly done.

Having mentioned its light mood and refreshing tone, Hum Tum, above all, has true heart and soul, and there's actual depth beneath its comic tone and pretty visuals. It's not a fluffy rom-com which is just enjoyable, it is actually an affecting human story. Part of what makes it so good is the freshness of the narrative, which is mostly conversational. The conversations between the two leads are first quite confrontational but later become interestingly philosophical and intellectual and, in time, emotional. As the story develops, you find yourself increasingly engrossed in the proceedings and familiar with the characters, liking them and wishing for a good resolution to their story. Karan, the male lead, is a particularly interesting character of a spoiled man who is always well-meaning and has his heart in the right place, but actually grows as a person throughout the film.

The film leans on a truly electrifying chemistry between the two leads, Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee. Mukherjee is very appealing and natural and performs brilliantly throughout the film, but it is Saif Ali Khan who steals the show big time. Playing a trendy, humorous, carefree yet gracious womaniser, Khan seems to be tailor-made for the role of Karan, which gives him ample scope to showcase his superb comic-timing but also capture the human beneath the mischief and register his personal growth. He completely inhabits the part, performing with natural ease, infusing it with the right amount of depth, wit and energy, and consistently appearing so real and effortless that it can be rightly concluded that no one else would have been able to do it as well as he did. This is an exceptional, unforgettable performance and, indeed, one of the greatest comic-dramatic acts I can think of.

In support, Rishi Kapoor is very enjoyable in one of his finest and funniest performances. Kirron Kher is outstanding and simply hilarious in an all-out comic part as the loud and loving mother. Rati Agnihotri is as beautiful as ever in a smaller part, and Jimmy Shergill and Isha Koppitar provide great support. The soundtrack, as already mentioned, perfectly suits the film's mood; the title song is particularly beautiful in both melody and screen visualisation. Please note, Hum Tum is definitely not a rip-off of When Harry Met Sally, as some people have suggested. There are some tiny similarities in the general concept but nothing more than just that, and it has pretty much a story of its own. Finally, Hum Tum is a lovely and memorable film. It is both very funny and moving, and is overall a heartwarming picture which can always be a great watch for the entire family.

Hum Tum literally means Me and You.

At a book review for the new little cartoon, Hum Tum, journalists ask Karan Kapoor (Saif Ali Khan)if his story is hidden in the story that he wrote. Someone asks him what his story is, and Karan agrees to tell them. He begins where he first met a girl named Riya (Rani Mukherjee) on a New York destined flight. They meet and on a long layaway in Amsterdam, they can agree on one thing. They loathe each other. Riya thinks that she will never see Karan again, but she is wrong. When she is to wed Sameer, she sees Karan again. Karan was the wedding planner's (Rati Agnihotri) son. They still loathe each other, but Karan starts feeling a pull towards her. They have a couple of other quirky meetings that may either end in love or misery for them both.

As the main story is going on, Karan's cartoons take life and basically form a subplot. Hum and Tum are, ironically, each of the cartoon characters' names. Hum is the boy, and Tum is the girl. At first, they aren't friends, and as Karan's story goes on, theirs goes on in a similar way. Will Hum and Tum ever get together and form the celebrated Hum Tum? Or will they also never ever fall in love?

This movie is a very cute, clean romance between two people. It is not one of the regular Bollywood formulas, there is no parental interventions, and it just shows that love may develop over time. The romance that develops between Riya and Karan is strong, that even after viewing the movie, the watcher feels that they have been given something different from regular romantic movies. I recommend this film highly for anyone who even thinks of watching a Bollywood movie. Yes, there are cartoons, but they in no way detract from the movie.