Bachna Ae Haseeno

Anand's 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' is an improvement when compared to the rip-off 'Salaam Namaste'. Loosely inspired by 'Alfie', it tells the story of Raj and the three women at different stages in his life. The treatment given to the film is very formulaic and highly sugarcoated with songs appearing out of the blue and shot in exotic locations, expensive locations and outfits, melodramatic scenes, deja-vu romantic scenes, a very clichéd story and a predictable plot but there is something entertaining enough to make it worth a one-time watch. The soundtrack is below average. There are some okay songs and some horrendous numbers.

The three women form three stories. The first one seems to pay homage to 'Dilwale Dulhania Lejayenge' (Aditya Chopra was the director of that film and he is the writer of this film). Interestingly, it sort of gets the viewer to ask what if in 'Dilwale Dulhania LeJayenge': Raj's feelings for Simran were merely momentary, what if Simran married Kuldeep...and these questions, to an extent are answered here. The following two stories have a bit of 'Salaam Namaste'.

Ranbir Kapoor is plain okay. I don't see why his directors have to constantly remind us that he is Rishi Kapoor's (who wasn't even a great actor) son and Raj Kapoor's grandson. What was with that light flickering (from 'Bobby'), the title song and what not? Kapoor has to learn to stand on his own and has to make his directors promote his acting only, rather than his family background. I still do not see that star quality in him (that almost everyone else seems to be so sure of) and nor does he have what it takes to carry an entire film, yet.

He is clearly (and thankfully) overshadowed by his three female co-stars. A supercute Minisha Lamba is vivacious as the young Mahi and she is very elegant and brilliant as the cold-hearted wife. A ravishing Bipasha Basu does one of the best acting jobs of her career and a sassy Deepika Padukone does fine too. Kunal Kapoor seems to have replaced Jimmy Shergill as Yashraj's favourite supporting actor and even though he's not as good an actor as Shergill, he does an adequate job here.

Overall, it's not a classic and certainly not the best of Yashraj films but it makes for a decent one-time watch. Some heavy editing (because of the slow pace), a stronger male lead and perhaps less waste of money would have helped.

I absolutely loved this film. It was extremely entertaining and a lot of fun. I loved Ranbir and Minissha Lamba also did a fantastic job. A lot of people, like the reviewer hottomato , are going out of their way to say that this film is a lift off, almost as if they have a point to prove. First of all, this film couldn't have been ripped off from "Definitely Maybe" that released in the US on Valentine's day this year. Obviously these people don't know how long it takes for a film to be written, produced and released. Let me tell you that it takes longer than 6 months!!!!!!! Secondly - a lot of films have similar elements, especially romcoms. That's the genre. Boy and girl meet, boy loses girl, boy gets girl and lots of stuff happens before, during and after...Like that then, every rom com is a lift off except the first one that was ever made!!!! I would recommend this film to anyone has has ever been in love, had their heart broken, has been dumped or has dumped someone. Go watch it!!!!

Bachna Ae Haseeno is another modern Yash Raj fare. It is a romantic comedy at first and then turns into a... romantic drama. The film centres around the character of Raj, played by Ranbir Kapoor. Divided into three episodes each one presenting his relationships with three different women in his life, Bachna Ae Haseeno has a far stronger second half, but overall it's just another clichéd take on modern relationships. The movie shows the character of Raj as a guy who does not really take anything seriously but it aims to portray his growing maturity in life, and it partially succeeds. The first chapter presents a rather ordinary counter train meeting. It is a very cheesy episode which takes a lot from such films as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Jab We Met and actually does it admittedly. The second one is another meaningless portion portraying his relationship with an ambitious yet selfless aspiring model, and the third chapter shows how he ultimately falls in love with probably the wrong girl - an independent young lady who, among other jobs, works as a taxi driver and sees marriage as an obstacle. The first two episodes show Raj breaking the heart of two different girls, and the third shows how a girl breaks his heart. His heartbreak motivates him to try and meet his ex-girlfriends and ask for their forgiveness.

As one can see, Bachna Ae Haseeno has a very unoriginal script. Not that it copies a certain film, but it just takes inspiration from so many famous romantic comedies that it really gets on one's nerves from time to time and looks very ordinary throughout. It also has many annoying references to previous Yash Raj flicks. The second half takes more shape but it's not without its flaws either. Expectedly, it unfolds in episodes, mainly two, in which the protagonist tries to atone for his sins and clean his conscience. The first episode with that girl Mahi is handled pretty well, but come on, why would a girl lose her faith in love because she was lied to by a jerk whom she knew for one sole day? The fact she even remembers him after 12 long years looks totally awkward. The second episode re-meets him with Radhika, who was deeply in love with him and was abandoned by him on the wedding day. She is now known as Shreya Rathod, a popular supermodel whose attitude has become most cruel, malicious and evil, something which reminisces of Meryl Streep's Miranda in The Devil Wears Prada. This sequence is far more credible and it is perhaps the film's most entertaining. And then, after doing what he so longed for, he goes back to meet the girl who broke and heart. What happens next is something I believe anyone can predict.

Bachna Ae Haseeno is traditionally made, with songs, emotions and moments of old platitude, but then again, it has its pluses. The soundtrack by Vishal-Shekhar is very good. "Khuda Jaane" is the best number - well composed, performed and visualised on-screen. The casting is quite okay. The script does not really require some great acting talents to begin with, so it's passable. Ranbir Kapoor is plain okay as the main lead. He is generally well cast, but he does not register the growth in his character with total conviction. This kind of a role would have suited perfectly someone like Saif Ali Khan, whose superb comic timing is matched by his ability to mature as a person throughout a film. Ranbir is just not there yet, and although he is confident, that too is overdone at times. The girls are mainly there to look pretty, and they definitely do. Minissha Lamba is vivacious and cute, Deepika Padukone is extremely pretty, but both get overshadowed by Bipasha Basu who is so amazingly attractive that at times it's hard to believe anyone could leave her like Raj did. It looks like she gets sexier with every film, but besides that, her performance is probably the film's most convincing. Despite its flaws, Bachna Ae Haseeno is not that bad a film and it has its moments, which make for quite a decent one-time watch.

Just when you thought, Bollywood's first family Kapoor khandan is ready to hand over the title to Bachchan family, here comes a young, handsome, dude, who is here to stay. I never cared to watch Sawariya (from all its promos, it looked too wimpy). But this one surely is going to place him on the hot-stuff category! The three heroines are adequate, with spl mention of Deepika P. Though the character is bit unrealistic (who cares for realism anyways in commercial bollywood films?), but she definitely carries on the role of an independent, yet vulnerable character! Music is great, Khuda Jaane is going to the classics. You just can't get enough of it. Jogi Mahi takes time to grow, but when it does, it sticks. Lucky boy is yet another dhin-chak number with less substance. Shreya Ghoshal & Lucky Ali's Ahista Ahista is a lovely track, that takes time, but it becomes addictive. Another good note: thanks to Vishal Shekhar to have given youngsters some chance: Raja Hassan and Himani Kapoor are on the tracks, though very small contribution.

Cinematography: well, I really don't believe in going to nice locations, Australia, Italy, Switzerland to make a nice 'looking' movies, however cinematographer has made use of locations well. While the movie cinematography is alright, but song picturization is surely a winner! Loooove the long sweeping camera movements in 'Khuda Jaane', the camera rotations in colorful 'Jogi Mahi' or the 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' title track with the morphs, or the scooter-on-the-move sequences in 'Ahista Ahista'! The movie is a great watch. Very contemporary, even the languages and dialogues. The other casts, like Kunal Kapoor, and Sachin (isn't he Paintal Jr?) do a great job.

Overall, a decent watch. If you do have the DVD, watch the deleted scenes too. Kapoor is definitely going to become the next Hrithik Roshan (though real HR is not going anywhere).

Siddharth Anand is one of the brilliant young Director in Bollywood. Salaam Namaste (2005) and Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007)was purely entertaining movie, and so is BAH. I am really surprised to see Ranbir Kapoor. He has totally broken down the "Saawariya (2007)" image. Some of his expressions surely make you laugh. He was brilliant all over the movie. Minisha Lamba, Bipasha Bashu and Kunal Kapoor also did a great job. But didn't like Deepika Padukone very much. I think her role was not to strong here and performance was so so. The locations were great. Songs were not so bad. Every shot is brilliantly taken. If you want a pure entertainment, buy the ticket and popcorn.