Gori Tere Pyaar Mein!

Director Mr. Punit Malhotra work is good. His approach towards a love story is convincing. Director and Arshad Sayed has written it. Story is very simple. Screenplay is fresh and good. Dialogues by Arshad Sayed, are witty. Few scenes are very good, i.e the first meeting of lead pair, black comedy at the time of funeral, hero interview with heroine father, interval scene. All these scenes are well written and well executed. Credit goes to director and writer especially. Even they try to convey some message, which is extra advantage. Movie slows down after interval for sometime otherwise it remains on a moderate pace throughout. Performance wise Imran Khan is OK. Kareena Kapoor is very good. Shardha Kapoor in brief role is fine. Vineet Singh is noticeable. Anupam Kher is very good. Music is not up to mark, which is usually required in a romantic movie.

And the film has two-two and a half clichéd points to make. You can only imagine how bad the movie and the cast performance are when the characters themselves are required to enlighten us about who the hero is. Terrible!

Not accounting to Punit Malhotra's previous & future blunders, this film strikes few brownie points here and there. The best thing was to cast Shraddha Kapoor as Imran Khan's fiancée and boy, does she do good. Kareena Kapoor, as an aunt figure, is passable. The hero (a bad moniker) should stay away from Tinseltown.

As to the story, it has nothing new to deliver. Just an hypocrite environmentalist who travels to make a point just because his ex pointed it out. Then the camera turns to how the good guy tries to woe his girl Friday in front of a village by bridging the gap with a pool bridge by fighting the corrupt state of affairs. Whoa! for the second part of the film, I just stared into the screen wondering why the hell did they make this movie? And when such an expression is born, you know what the verdict is. Poor attention to details, poor cinematography, poor editing.

BOTTOM LINE: First part will make you laugh 3-4 times and for Shraddha Kapoor, I rate it 4.2/10. Songs make up 30 minutes and there is not a single reason why you should spend 300 bucks for this stupidity.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Sex/Foreplay: No | Nudity/Porn: No | Violence: Mediocre | Gore: No | Smoking/Alcohol: Mild | Drugs: No

Punit Malhotra's 'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' is strictly time-pass entertainer, that sums up best as a one-time watch.

'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' Synopsis: A selfish shallow guy from a cosmopolitan city falls in love with a girl, who turns to be a social activist. Fun follows...

'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' has a breezy first-hour & a fairly okay second. The portions based in the cities are sparkling, but the portions in the second-hour, based prominently in a village, are plain ordinary. However, luckily, the film never gets boring.

The Screenplay appeals in bits & pieces. A stronger second-hour wouldn't have hurt. Punit Malhotra shows marked improvement over his debut film 'I Hate Luv Storys'. He has handled the film well. Cinematography is rich. Editing is average. Music by Vishal-Shekhar is excellent.

Performance-Wise: Imran Khan does a fair job. Kareena Kapoor Khan is just perfect. The immensely talented actress displays each emotion with great confidence & control. Shraddha Kapoor is passable. Anupam Kher entertains as the manipulative villain. Esha Gupta sizzles in a song.

On the whole, 'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' is watchable.

Imran Khan is in a rut. Much like Rishi Kapoor during the late 70s and early 80s, the only kind of movies that he can get by with his limited acting skills are light hearted romantic flicks. He has not moved up an inch since his debut in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Pappu could not dance in that movie, but Imran is worse than Pappu- he cannot dance, or act, or even lip sync properly. He is not even good looking, and the only thing still getting him movies is probably his star kid status. For inspiration, he just needs to look at Ranbir Kapoor- similar star kid, started off at around the same time as himself but immensely more hardworking, with the balls to experiment, and the drive to excel.

Sorry for digressing- this is not a post about Imran, but about his latest act in Gori Tere Pyaar Mein. Another time Imran does his Imran act- dress well, try to dance to hummable numbers, provide some comic relief and woo girls all without any change in facial or voice expression. Here he Sriram, is an Audi loving, shallow to the point of being non emphatic South Indian in love with his polar opposite played by who else but the perennially hyper ventilating Kareena Kapoor, again played herself, or Geet from Jab We Met. Yeah yeah, the age gap. No, Imran is not new competition to Saif, and the disclaimer is right when Kareena enters the story- that she is way older than him. The first half of the movie is about how their love story ended the first time round, while the second part of the movie is how Sriram wins her back again, in a Lagaan type setting, still not letting go of designer clothes and Wayfarers. And to think they would have had the second round of romance if a pet crab had not died. Go figure.

In between there is a lot of drama around the building of a bridge, some nefarious polity, a couple of land deals and a couple of laughs, some catchy songs and loads of racism, and an ending that felt a long time due. This is a movie that is a new low for Dharma Productions, and makes you search hard for positives- maybe it was Anupam Kher's too little screen time, or a luminous special appearance by Shraddha Kapoor, or the fact this was 50% of the term "clean entertainer"- as in not entertaining, but at least not crude. Not even worth a DVD watch, and Imran- please take a break from acting. Just because you were a Khan does not mean this is your cup of tea- 4/10

Rom-com flicks are one of genre which has not been experimented in Bollywood much lately. Gori Teri Pyaar Mein is refreshing change for Indian audiences who have witnessed an overdose of masala films in 2013.

Sriram Venkat(Played by Imran Khan) is good-for-nothing architect working in his dad's firm who has no respect for any relationships. Dia (played by Kareena Kapoor) is a social crusader who wants to help the needy. They fell in love only to break-up. However, Sriram travels to a remote village to build a bridge for the local people to win back his love at any cost.

From the director of "I Hate Love Story", Puneet Malhotra does a fine job in trying out something different. Though the love story is predictable, it is the treatment of subject that makes it set apart. The first half is hilarious, fun and has moments to remember. Second half begins with a bang but the climax makes it a spoilsport. How I wish it could be handled with maturity and overall it would have been a good rom-com to watch. Screenplay looses the steam and insertion of songs breaks the momentum of the film. Music by Vishal-Shekhar is a let down. Cinematography is eye-catching. Art direction is good. Dialogues are believable. Kareena Kapoor is the eye-candy of the film. She does an awesome job playing the social activist role with aplomb. Imraan Khan is good but still has to work on his expressions.

Overall, I liked the film and found it to be surprisingly fair entertainment. Good 3/5