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.

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.

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!!

I was very disappointed by Raju Chacha (which was produced by Ajay Devgan) and I was hoping U ME AUR HUM will not go the same way.

And believe me I ended up enjoying the movie. Though I am not yet sure whether this a rip-off of some Hollywood movie, but was impressed with the cute love story, refreshing camera work, eye-catching colors, funny and enjoyable dialouges, good music (though it could have done with less songs) and last very very good acting by Ajay and Kajol.

After Amir Khan, its Ajay Devgan's turn to impress.

Strongly Recommended!!!

8.5/10

I must say I have been a fan of Kajol for years but I only recently have been a fan of Ajay's. This guy is awesome as a actor and am sorry to have found him so late. I am amazed by some of his past performances. Getting back to the movie.

I loved this movie. It is excellent. One of the best Bollywood movies that I have seen in long time. I am dying to get the DVD. Finally a mature Bollywood movie with a good plot and good acting and nice cinematography. I was not bored at all through out the movie.

First of all it seems a lot shorter than the other Bollywood movies I have seen. It's not 5 hrs but 2 1/2 hrs.

The Ajay and Kajol jodi is awesome together. I know it been a long time since this Jodi has worked but they are beautiful with each other. i would classify in the league of SRK and Kajol and Aamir and Kajol. They look real good like they belong to each other. The chemistry is smoking hot. You can see that there is a lot of love and comfort between them and finally it shows on scene.

Watch this movie for the performances,the direction and the story. It is hard to believe that it is Devgan's first direction. Ajay Devgan is really good at making romantic movies although I was surprised because I don't think of him in romantic roles. If this is his first direction than he is very gifted. It is beautifully shot. This movie has everything.

Both AD and Kajol truly deserve all the awards including the national award for their acting. Kajol has never looked more beautiful. Kajol is the only one of the current Bollywood actress that could play this role. She really gets in the skin of characters that she plays. Ajay also was truly amazing in his role. This guys really has the midas touch. These two are Bollywood's best actors by far. Ajay is as good as Aamir and maybe better. I think this guys is good at any role he plays. Although he is not the typical pretty boy, he is really attractive and you fall in love with his charm.

The story is excellent. There were several memoriable scenes that you were left with. It is both a powerful and gripping. The first half was funny and entertaining. The second half is when the movies really made it for me. I think what works is Ajay's intention that people leave with the right message. I appreciate what he has done. You leaving contemplating life and the issues that surround you. You will need lots of tissues in the second half. I think that if you are married or in a relationship you will appreciate this movie a lot more than if you are single. Finally a movie that brings families together than separating them.

I thought the music was very nice and it goes very well with the scenes. I was singing the theme song for days. The costumes were also very nice. I want to get my hands on some of them. I was also surprised by the humor in the first half.

My only objections is that it was not shot in the beautiful European towns like other Bollywood movies and the dancing limited. I guess I should expect the dancing limitation since the Devgan doesn't having the great dancer reputation.

If you have to catch one movie this year it is U ME AUR HUM.. It deserves that national award and should sweep the all awards. It is Hollywood caliber.

My rating is excellent. Must watch..You will not be disappointed.