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.

Ishq is a good entertainer, with almost all genres mixed into one. It has romance, comedy, actions, drama, horror and a bit tragedy throughout the entire runtime. A good fun time entertaining film without compromising the loudness at all. The loud cannot be ignored which disturbs the mood if sitting for 2.30 hours, which is the film's length. That what bothers, due to which it's a 6/10.

Aamir, Ajay, Juhi and Kajol all acted well. Kajol is a bit matured than the rest who takes the lead in serious tones throughout. Ajay Samir and Juhi absolutely bought out the teenage restless lovebirds traits to screen. They also did preety good in acting the vengefulness traits of young lovers. Kajol is good as the victimised poor girl, Aamir too as the protagony who defends the poor against injustices of the rich. The comic plots are spotlight for the film and it will be remembered for that purpose. The dramatised parts are also engaging, has messages imbibed. The message of parent child relationships, the futility of wealth in building relationships etc. The presentation is also fast, not serene.

The story is good too. With some of the comic memorable scenes and horror themes the film presents the story of two poor people falling in love with two rich people. Then the troubles and adventures begins, which involves heartbreak, friendship being shattered and trust being broken. The scenes like monkey as 007 or garage scene imply a full fun time as well equally serious. But like usual fun film it ends with an optimistic note where families and friends being united again. For all its flaws and entertainment it's a 59/100. Though not for matured audience still a recommendable for entertainment.

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.

'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.

Indra Kumar's films are never original, nor they have anything new DIL was okay though too OTT, while BETA was too melodramatic but good RAJA was crap, ISHQ is good too nothing great

The first half is spend with slapstick OTT scenes which are funny mostly like the pipe scene is too much though stupid,

The love angles too have their fun The Exorcist angle is unnecessary and too much

The second half gets too melodramatic and things get boring but they are some good scenes like Aamir- Ajay clash and some more

Indra Kumar handles comedy quite well and drama too Music is very good

Aamir Khan has done comedy in AAA earlier and here he is in comfort zone and makes you laugh the most in the first half stealing the show with his one-liners and expressions Even in serious scenes he does a great job Ajay looks too silly in some comic scenes and overacts in some and is decent in some but excels in dramatic scenes and his chemistry with AK is terrific, i wish they work again together

Juhi acts very well in the mischievous role though she overacts at places but it suits well Kajol is unnoticeable in first half but decent in second half

Dalip Tahil, Sadashiv Amrapurkar are too loud and play the clichéd villains

Johny Lever is loud too but makes you laugh at places

Deepak Shirke, Tiku Talsania have some funny scenes