Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat (2023) :
Movie Review -
Anurag Kashyap finally enters a full-fledged romantic zone with "Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat," starring Alaya F and Karan mehta. The director has his own maverick theories of filmmaking, and I believe that he never cared about the box office. He has directed almost one and a half dozen films and is yet to deliver a single box office hit. His biggest hit gets an 'Average' verdict at the box office, but wait, we can't talk about the box office when we are discussing Anurag Kashyap. The man lives in his own world of films, which is highly intellectual, and I, as a quality cinema lover, adore him for that. There have been many directors in Russian cinema, Italian cinema, Turkish cinema, and nowadays, Korean cinema, but when it comes to Bollywood, I mean the current days of Bollywood, there's no one of his calibre. But somewhere down the line, I see the quality of his film decreasing, and it is hurting that true cinema buff in me. The Kashyap of Black Friday is lost nowadays, and when you see Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, you'll agree more. It is unbearable for such a maverick and unique director to go down like this.
Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat is a set of two modern-day love stories, and as you see in the trailer, there are double roles. It's not a generation gap like "Love Aaj Kal," but these are two stories running at the same time. Recently, Telugu cinema came up with an astounding masterpiece called "C/o Kancharapalem" (2018), which had multiple love stories linked with each other. Kashyap's film attempts a similar theme with a double role formula. Remember those old Bollywood films where one of the lovers is killed and then the love story will rise again with a lookalike? Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, for instance. Here we have a love-jihad angle sown into the modern age love stories of Harmeet-Aisha and Yakub-Amrita (played by Karan Mehta and Alaya F). One story is set in London, while the other one is set in Dalhousie, India. As expected, both stories are linked to each other, but how and why is all you have to find out in the film. It's not difficult, to be honest, but it's not effective either.
Anurag Kashyap's writing is outdated for this one, and I pinched myself twice before writing this. His doing remakes of Spanish films was okay for me if he was writing an original piece of this low quality. So many conflicts and turnarounds, but not a single clear motive. Just like Amrita's dialogue: "What are we doing? Just wandering. We have no plans, no money, and no Purpose!" Here, Anurag has less money and zero idea of what he is doing. The film lacks originality, creativity, common sense, and ethical values that are needed in "Mohabbat bhari pyaari love story". It is for the social media generation, which is immature and eager to fall in love and run away without any plans. It could have added a message there, like Nagraj Manjule's Sairat did, even though it ended up glorifying honour killing in the regional districts. Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat sees no improvement whatsoever in its narrative. It just comes, goes, and ends without any impact. One question to filmmakers: why do you have to make fun of law and order and the media in almost every film for no reason? See how law and media are misused and put down in the film.
Talking about performances, the film is balanced from both sides, negative and positive. Alaya F would look mature when it came to crying scenes and heavy emotional scenes, but would look like a kid or an intern while delivering normal dialogue. Karan Mehta has a long way to go, and this performance surely made me believe that. It's pretty shocking that both actors got double roles, which means so much versatility, and yet failed to make gold out of it. Vicky Kushal has an extended cameo, and how sexy does he look! He plays DJ Mohabbat, and what intellectual monologues he throws at you! You are going to be flat. The supporting cast is fine with no one playing any big roles, as everyone gets their small piece of cake.
Amit Trivedi has spread his magic again in "Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat. He knows the pulse of the young generation and delivers a social media-friendly music album. "Ghanghor Connection," "Netflix and Chill," "Duniya," "Maintenance," and "Mohabbat Se Kranti" are bonafide Spotify hits. Sadly, the visualisation is weak. In a couple of songs, you'll not see the faces of dancers, and one or two songs appear at the wrong time, so let us consider them a waste. By golly, what the heck was that "Maintenance" song there for? Completely out of context. The lyrics are crispy, though. The cinematography is strictly average, and the editing lacks tight grip. Anurag Kashyap's direction is far below his own high standard. It's a red card for him, I guess. Overall, Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat is almost a waste of your two hours and a couple hundred bucks you'd like to spend. Modern love can be far more intelligent and unique. This isn't just that.
RATING - 4/10*
