Mausam

Despite the fact that I am a die-hard fan of the Living Legend, Pankaj Kapoor from almost two decades, I am sorry that I am unable to praise his first film as a director with the same spirits.

The major reason for my dissatisfaction from MAUSAM remains its unexpectedly weak script having such strange sequences of co-incidences where the lead couple, suddenly meet each just like that both within India as well as abroad. And the most bizarre sequence among these was the foreign one (Switzerland), where Shahid is sitting in a train and he discovers Sonam standing there alone in the middle of snowy mountains with her packed bags and she is not even standing on the exact Station platform in a very questionable way. In fact throughout the film, they both keep bumping into each other, as if there is someone truly desperate to write their eternal love story from the sky above. At first they meet in Punjab, then Scotland, Switzerland and then towards the end, finally in Ahmadabad again. Particularly the shift from Punjab to Scotland puzzles the viewer hugely as there is no explanation given for that in the film itself.

The second big factor which works against the film is its near 3 hours long duration which is too lengthy considering its unimpressive story build-up. The whole first hour of the film says nothing except showing the culture of Punjab with some childishly executed comical moments focusing on a particular sect. Truly speaking, I never expected Pankaj Kapoor making fun of few SIKH characters in his self-directed film quite purposefully. As I felt the entire first half of the film could have been easily wrapped up in only 30-40 minutes which eventually could have saved it from getting so uninteresting and even boring. Post intermission too the story has nothing new to say other than the usual plot of misconceptions and gap of communication between the loving couple which becomes the only cause of their separation.

Frankly, in a romantic film, there is a basic requirement that the viewers must feel the love flowing between its lead couple and everyone should be able to relate with their heartbreaking departure from each other. But here, either the proceedings are too dead slow or they just jump from one point to another which never lets the viewer connect with its emotional storyline in the desired manner. MAUSAM is a pure love story of two innocent characters coming from distinctive religions, that's fine. But the entertainment factor remains completely missing throughout the film, which really becomes painful after a while. Neither the AIR FORCE PLOT insertion (which is only included to bring in the KARGIL event), nor the reference of various communal riots, suffered by different countries is able to pull the viewer in. However, the music does give you some soothing moments in this tiring never ending saga but sadly the soundtrack is again not "anything exceptional" from Pritam. As usual I also felt traces of the song "Om Shanti Om" from KARZ in the track "Tashan Mein Rehna".

The film is hugely over-length and tends to go on and on with more deliberately created situations in the plot (within a span of time of a decade), where the lead couple meets repeatedly after many long gaps. And one of these absurd co-incidence comes right in the end where they both meet each other once again in the middle of "Gujarat Godhra Riots" all of a sudden. This weakly written and unconvincing climax is also one of the major drawbacks of the film which tries to bring in Shahid as the only Savior Hero to save the Girl in the end and it simply doesn't justify their decade long love story from any angle.

Performance wise, both Shahid and Sonam have really worked hard for their respective roles having various shades and character transformations in the script. Shahid is surely better in the second half and looks like overdoing it in the Punjab part of the film. But Sonam is the real winner here since she perfectly underplays her role, exactly as required by the script. Probably this is her best performance till date, contrary to her fashion Diva image in the Industry. From the rest of the cast only Supriya Pathak and Manoj Pahwa register their presence impressively and Anupam Kher simply remains wasted.

In the end, I would like to share, that it strongly seems Pankaj Kapoor had only a one line idea before writing the script of MAUSAM, which must have been "A Love Story written around all the major Communal Hatred Events happened in India and abroad in the last two decades." Since he couldn't start with the Sikh Riots in 1984, so he begins from PUNJAB itself, with his Hero mentioning the BLUE STAR movement and its aftermaths in his dialogues. Talking about the homeless issue of Kashmiri Pandits, he then moves into the Babri Masjid Issue, followed by Mumbai Riots, Twin Tower Attack in America, Kargil Warin India and then ending it all within the Gujarat Riots on a positive note.

So, giving an extra star for this brilliant thought alone, I wish to give my best wishes to Pankaj Kapoor for his next directorial project, moving ahead of this forgettable first attempt called MAUSAM.

The positives: Shahid Kapoor - one of his best performances; Sonam Kapoor: definitely her best performance; Cinematography: remarkable visuals; Music: some beautiful melodies; Dialogues: some wonderful lines, especially between Shahid & Sonam

The negatives: Editing: especially, in the second half - the film could have easily been cut by 30-40mins; The captions of each place really distracted from the movie & made it feel disjointed; Writing: could have been much tighter

I'd recommend it if you're a true blue romantic, who would want to invest time & emotions in a film.

The story line was boring to say the least. The acting did not connect with the audience on any level.The immaturity of Shahid and Sonam Kapoor was evident from the onset of the movie. Even the content wasn't captivating to keep the audience remotely interested. So much so that I even heard a few snores in the theatre. Pankuj Kapur is a good character actor but direction isn't his forte. One irritant is that the movie abruptly jumps from one end of the world to another losing the flow that should have been there. Veteran actors like Anupan Kher have been side lined and under utilized.Except for a couple of musical scores its been a dull affair. I wouldn't advise watching this movie unless you looking for some shut eye.

" Mausam "could have been an artistic beauty but it ended up being an erratic Screenplay binding sequence of events which never looked in direct connection with the Characters in the movie and could well have been avoided. The only good thing about the movie is its Art Direction/Camera Work but when it comes to integral concepts of Script & Screenplay it fails on all notes. The other weak point in the movie is the Editing part and painfully slow pace with absolute no beauty in the dialogs & the chemistry between the protagonist & his beloved.

The first 40 Min's in the movie displaying the rural Punjab was the best part in the movie which will impress most of the audience with bunch of light moments of humor and the art direction as well. But when there should have been raising the bar & intensity , movie falls apart on all accounts. Pankaj Kapur has been one of those greatest actors which not only Indian cinema has been blessed with but he has equally stunning with his roles in TV Serials as well. But as they say " Not all Great Players make for Great Captains the same way Not all Great Actors make for Great Directors " although this is TOO early to say. Great Players or Actors always have Great concepts but what remains is the execution of those concepts in practical world.

Concept behind "Mausam" was to show how the chronological sequence of disasters all over world influences the bonding between two people in love .

Riots in Kashmir brings the girl (Sonam) to Punjab at his aunt's place where Shahid falls for the girl. Sonam teases Shahid to meet her in the morning at aunt's bakery to know her YES or NO. Now suddenly Babri Masjid demolition the same day makes entire family to move out of Punjab to Mumbai without notice which i believe was not in connection at all . I mean you can be seriously hurt with your sentiments but there was NO impact in the place you are living then WHY you need to move out of that place which looks much more safe for you then any other place in the country. And this was first bizarre change in "Mausam" rest of the movie from here on brings very erratic & irritating changes in "Mausam".

Suddenly next frame camera location changes to "Scotland" 1999 where both meet again , alas ! destiny my lord has all the privileges reserved for the movie characters !! Shahid is in air force now & Sonam family has settled in Scotland. Sonam calls Shahid to meet her father for marriage and the same day Kargil war breaks and Shahid leaves without notice. Girls's father dies & she moves to Punjab to check for Shahid with no luck and then moves to Ahmedabad and then back to Scotland. In the meantime Shahid calls her sister to meet Sonam and convey his message when Sonam is not there. And this Hide & Seek continues with frequent changes in Mausam like next 9/11 World Trade Centre and finally with 2002-03 riots in Gujrat . I seriously thought this movie will go till recent Delhi Blasts .

Climax looked be in shades of Maniratnam's "Bombay" with Gujrat riots in backgrounds and finally Shahid meeting Sonam but again looked unnerving and nothing intense to get in your minds , in fact that riot looked to have no effect on the ongoings between Shahid/Sonam. Movie fails to build connection with the audience and after such series of drastic events you do not even feel sympathy for any character in the movie and WHY should you ? Were any of them really affected by those events ?

Mausam (2011) - 40%

A Perfect Example Of How A Beautiful Story Can Be Ruined By A Boring Screenplay... Pankaj Kapur's "Mausam" Had Everything Which Could Have Made It Among The Top Romantic Films Of All Time, But Too Many Subplots, Weak Acting From Sonam Kapoor & Uninteresting/Unconvincing Premise Makes It A Dull Fare... Although The Soundtrack Is Fabulous & All The Songs Are Very Much Enjoyable, But They Can't Carry A Poor Film For Long & Eventually, Crash Landing Takes Place After Sometime... Shahid Kapoor, Supriya Pathak & Anupam Kher Perform Well & Save The Film From Being An Absolute Mess... Also The Film's Beautifully Shot With Several Eye-Catching Locations.