Ishq

I guess that most Bollywood movies will strike western viewers as somewhat quirky in terms of storytelling structure and acting, but compared to other Bollywood movies I've seen so far, this one seems to be an exceptionally quirky one.

The story is fairly simple: rich boy (Ajay Devgan) and poor boy (Aamir Khan) are best friends, rich girl (Juhi Chawla) and poor girl (Kajol) are best friends. Rich boy falls in love with poor girl, poor boy falls in love with rich girl, and the two rich fathers will do anything to destroy the two budding relationships.

That's basically it. There is no real plot; instead there's a sequence of scenes where the two fathers devise a dirty scheme, which is promptly thwarted by the young lovers. On to another scheme, which again is not successful. The next dirty plan follows, which... you get the idea.

Still, the evil schemes become increasingly more devious, and their consequences more severe as the film progresses; along with this progression, the film makes its way through all genres that you can imagine: it starts out as a fairly silly slapstick comedy, turns into romantic comedy, then into romance, then into thriller and finally into a tragic melodrama. At one point, there's even a horror scene thrown in for good measure.

Plot holes and illogical character behaviour aplenty, but that's what you expect of any Bollywood movie, more or less.

As for the acting, well, don't expect stellar performances. Most of the supporting cast are somewhat annoying, especially in the slapstick scenes, although Johny Lever for once plays a fairly non-silly, likeable character.

The lead actors give solid performances, particularly Kajol and Aamir Khan, who manage to be funny (without overdoing it) in the comedy bits and believably serious/emotional (without overdoing it) in the tragic parts. Ajay Devgan has great onscreen chemistry with Kajol (they aren't married for no reason, it seems), but overall his character has a serious depth deficit and is just too gullible. Juhi Chawla is very pretty and good fun to watch, and it is her very energetic performance that drives the movie along much of the time. However, she is mostly really more of a pleasant diversion than a full-fledged character.

The music by Anu Malik has no real highlights and, like the film, probes its way around several genres. My personal favourite is 'Dekho Dekho Jaanam', a compellingly cute, slightly silly Kajol/Devgan love duet (sung by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik). 'Ishq Hua Kaise Hua', the corresponding Chawla/Khan duet (Udit Narayan/Vibha Sharma) is more romantic, much less successful, but comes at least complete with lots of Swiss Alps. The disco-inspired songs are, alas, not very inspired.

Overall, this is a 3-hour tour de force, an all-in-one package of all emotions and film genres that you can imagine; not really the best of Bollywood, but still fairly enjoyable. Not sure whether it's worth the trip to the cinema, but rent the DVD and watch this if you are in a quirky mood or if you have friends over for an Indian dinner.

I have watched this movie to the point where I have memorized it and am still enjoying it, which is surprising given how I feel about comedies. This is a Romance film, comedy film, a film about true friendship and family. In this one case, trust friends over family. Trust love and heart over bonds of birth.

Ishq is the story of 2 sets of friends Ajay (Ajay Devgan) and Raja (Aamir Khan) as well as Kajal (Kajol) and Madhu (Juhi Chawla). Ajay and Madhu are rich, whereas Kajal and Raja are poor. To complicate matters Ajay and Madhu's fathers hate poor people. They play dirty tricks to break the couples up and get Ajay and Madhu married.

The acting is heartwarming, it is rare to see a film with so many big names in it where egos do not come into play. Aamir and Juhi provide most of the comedy, with Ajay showing that he does have comic talent. Kajol, however, keeps the movie from devolving and the plot on track.

Great watch!

Ranjit rai(sadashiv amarapulkar) and harbans lal(dalip tahil) are two rich friends who hate the sight of poor. Ranjit is worried that his son ajay(ajay devgan) roams around with his poor friend raja(aamir khan) and harbans is worried that his daughter madhu(juhi chawla) roams around with her poor friend kajal(kajol). Fearing that their children dont marry any poor person both of them decide to make ajay and madhu marry without their knowledge. Both trick their children to sign the marriage certificate. But ajay falls in love with kajal and after several fights and pranks, raja and madhu too fall in love. The fathers initially use muscle power to separate them but when that fails, they play a dirty game by framing raja and kajal of having an affair and cheating on ajay and madhu for their wealth. Ajay and madhu leave them and the rest of the film is how raja and kajal's innocence is proved and they get united.

First half of the film is full of fun with lots of slapstick comedy. Aamir and Ajay's chemistry was also good to watch. Aamir was as usual brilliant in his role. Ajay devgan too gives him good support. Juhi chawla also performed well in comedy scenes. Kajol played a subdued role in this film. Sadashiv amarapulkar and dalip tahil were great as the evil dad. Johnny lever didn't have much to do other than the last hour.

Film was very nice to watch until the last hour which ruined all the fun. The last hour is melodramatic, sappy and boring. The way raja tries to prove his innocence was unconvincing and weird. The whole tone of the movie was loud.

On the whole, better skip watching the film after mr lova lova song.

'Ishq' is a wacky, off-the-wall, illogical romantic-comedy-cum-drama. It stands out purely because of the awesome cast assembled by Indra Kumar. Substitute any other actors in their parts and the film loses its appeal- substantially. Aamir Khan leads the cast with great gusto and charm typical of his naughtier-than-naughty streetsmart roles. Ajay Devgan provides a somber balance to Khan's antics, and he comes in strong in the second half when things go awry between the bosom foursome. Kajol is competent in her part, never really exciting to watch but gratefully present- her character is one of the plot points of the film. It is Juhi Chawla, however, who steals the show with her high voltage comic delivery that is, appropriately, screamingly funny. Even in the parts when Indra Kumar has seemingly asked her to 'stretch' to be funny, she carries the scenes off with aplomb and skill. Her chemistry with Aamir is undeniable and the most memorable portions of the film revolve around their I-Hate-You-But-I-Love-You relationship. It's kinda sad to say but there really is no other comic beauty in India currently. Juhi Chawla was, for the time being at least, the last.

The film is one of the best films of all time.All the characters steal the show.But the most beautiful comes when the ladies have a good bonding and handle each other. As brothers Aamir and Ajay are perfect.The scene when Aamir tries to escape the other is hilarious. The fights b/w Kajol and Aamir is also funny. The plot gets serious and Kajol is supported by Aamir as a best friend. There is plot and it is beautifully executed with super songs. The climax is expected but the change in the fathers minds is surprising. There is a friendship b/w each other and is also good because of the background scores. Each character get equal role in each segment. Overall a wonderful creation that makes us watch every time we see it.