U Me Aur Hum

A story with a message - BUT the message is simplistically simple, the love story is INSPIRED by a few films (Notebook, 50 first dates etc.) and banal, and the dialogs are horrendous. I think a Kajol or Ajay fan can see it (I did). Ajay made this one so it feels exactly like the summary he wrote for IMDb – and that summary was worse than a grade school summary of a book or film. Even the tag line is lifted from the amazing Painted Veil. Unfortunately none of the quality of that marital strife film rubs off on U Me Aur Hum.

I really like Kajol, and thought she looked very good in the first half of K3G (a film I quite dislike) but then they choose to make her haggard in the second half and she has kept that look. What is with all that dark dark eye makeup? Does she want to become the Rekha of her time? There were a few moments when she looked great, but most of the time she was OTT with white lipstick and big black mascara. Ajay just looked dour most of the time and it did not help that the extreme closeup photography enhanced every blackhead, every pore, every wrinkle in the faces of the couple.

A couple of scenes engaged me, but the dialogs were bad beyond belief. The kid has to be named with an F, so F U dash dash E R is a great name? A long winded dialog about 'cutting the arm off' was so stupid I thought at first that I didn't get some profound statement that was being made. Ajay was great in HDDCS - he would say "You know something? Never mind!" and I loved him for that. But this is carrying a great dialog to silly extremes (repeated 100 times in UMAH) without the catch line, which was NEVER MIND and suited the character of Vanraj!

I can hum Dil Dhakda hai - so maybe one song was OK. But the lyrics for all the songs were horrific – here is a sample of lyrics from Dhakda hai! Dil laaya hoon, tang do khunti pe, sapnon mein aajaana, raat ko hoon duty pe!! That Phatte number was simply atrocious in lyrics, melody and choreography. The Saiyyan song - that was the most inappropriate insertion of a song into a situation EVER!

In summary, U Me Aur Hum is a most banal film. With a silly bottom line - if you love you wife/(mother/father) do not send them to an institution when they get Alzheimers or start failing. Forget the fact that most people cannot send them to that 5 star type facility she went to, and for others sending them to any kind of facility is not a financial option. The tragedy of the disease was never really explored was it? For that we still have to look to Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara.

As for the marital advice - I've seen better from Dear Abby.

These days in Bollywood, handicap (whether mental or physical) seems to be the trend. Even the popular 'Om Shanti Om' parodies this. After 'Black', 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara', 'Fanaa', 'Taare Zameen Par', 'Naina' etc, we have 'U, Me Aur Hum' and the only film that stands out is 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara' followed by 'Taare Zameen Par' to an extent. So what's wrong with 'U, Me Aur Hum'? Well, there's too many wrongs in this one.

The screenplay is inconsistent, imbalanced and exaggerated. The writing is just so bad that some of the dialogues make one cringe. The Ajay-Piya before-marriage love story is both unconvincing and uninteresting thanks to the terrible writing. The scenes on the ship are boring. It does remind one of 'Mann' (a movie which I liked except for the ripoff part) but the Ajay-Kajol chemistry does not match up to what Aamir and Manisha had (in addition 'Mann' had some very good dialogues). Most of the jokes and 'one-liners' fail to make an impression. While in the post-interval portion when one would expect things to get better as the story takes a drastic turn, things are too exaggerated.

The camera-work is both overused and misused. Why were scenes being shot from a strange angle? The close-ups were irritating as they were pointlessly in-your-face. The CGI is terrible AND it is excessively overdone. The songs are forgettable. Most of them are better forgotten. The salsa sequence is terrible (the horrendous cinematography does not help here) and some of the backup dancers were laughable.

As a director Ajay Devgan fails to put it all together. He should have hired a better writer and written something better himself (since he's credited as writer). His film looks very messy. As an actor he's average. Watch Jim Broadbent in 'Iris' to see an amazing performance and compare that to Ajay's (both are similar roles). Kajol too gives an inconsistent performance which is overall average. It does not rank among her best. The supporting cast don't leave a mark. Isha Shervani is there to say a sentence or two and to remind us of how flexible she is. Divya Dutta hams in the beginning but is gradually okay.

Devgan may have had good intentions and in some scenes it is apparent that he really tried to do well. Acting and directing is a tough task and only few talented people manage to pull that off. Sadly that isn't the case for Mr. Devgan. And why is it that in most (if not all) Hindi films, healthcare institutes are shown as this cold indifferent lonely place? Yes, support from family and friends is important but sometimes people do need to be admitted to institutes where they can be taken better care of because what others provide is really not enough.

There is not a long list of actors who also became successful directors. But first Aamir Khan successfully proved it and now Ajay Devgan also shows his sparks of direction.

His directorial debut is a sensitive and emotional love story of a married couple. The real life pair Ajay & Kajol both fit to their roles as a 'T'. A special worthy praise is deserved by Kajol for her lovable act and Ajay for choosing a difficult subject.

In simple words, U Me Aur Hum is not a family drama, it is not a film with bubbly valentine kind of love. But its intense, emotional and mature in content. Though it lacks in some departments but the overall impact at the end of the movie is quite touchy.

The first half starts with influences of "An Affair To Remember" and "The Notebook". But after the marriage of the lead actors, the film just moves on to a different unexpected platform. The story is about the wife suffering with Alzheimer disease and how the family and friends around, face this truth with love and courage.

No doubt a difficult subject to choose for a directorial debut. The only problem is that the viewers expected a good enjoyable love story with many lighter moments to share. But the film is more of a slow, heavy and mature love story. Still Ajay Devgan, the director, manages to extract brilliant performances and also visualizes some memorable scenes which can make your eyes wet. Specially the last hour of the film. It has some very emotional scenes to cherish.

The most lacking department of the movie is the Music. If only it had some soothing and melodious love songs, the impact would have been 10 times better. There is no slow & soft love song with meaningful lyrics which was a must according to the demand of the script as I see it. May be Ajay avoided that deliberately. Vishal Bhardwaj misses the train this time.

Performance wise Kajol is superlative and majestic in all her characters. As a smart waitress, as a girl ready to fall in love, as a lover, as a wife and as a mother. She slips into all shades of her character with such an ease and elegance. Unarguably one of her best performances till date. Ajay is soft and has underplayed his character, but he emotes well as a worried and caring husband. His performance in the second half is much better and impressive. Another gem of a performance is by Divya Dutta. She excels in her small role and makes her presence felt. The scenes where all the friends are together are well written and executed.

It can be said that after "Taare Zameen Par" this is the second movie on the theme of a disease and how the family copes with it. But there should be no comparison drawn between the two. "U Me Aur Hum" is more for the mature audiences and it may be treated as "Heavy" by the younger generation.

But the movie has the truth of life in it. Anybody can face this, as we all live in an uncertain life. And "U ME Aur Hum" teaches how to live life with love even when the times are real tough.

Go for it if you love intense drama and feel that Love is the way to live Life. (I really wish it had better music)

I was very disappointed by Raju Chacha (which was produced by Ajay Devgan) and I was hoping U ME AUR HUM will not go the same way.

And believe me I ended up enjoying the movie. Though I am not yet sure whether this a rip-off of some Hollywood movie, but was impressed with the cute love story, refreshing camera work, eye-catching colors, funny and enjoyable dialouges, good music (though it could have done with less songs) and last very very good acting by Ajay and Kajol.

After Amir Khan, its Ajay Devgan's turn to impress.

Strongly Recommended!!!

8.5/10

Last week i saw the movie..this is debut directional movie by Ajay Devgan..the one and only positive thing about this movies is Kajol is still in form and ready for rock.Honestly say this movie is inspired by Hollywood movies and also visual effects too..but some shots are really good and hats off to cinematography...its amazing!!! other star cast is fit to their roles.. music is not well just title song is good. if some song is deleted then it would be good.the story is good but due to poor script it goes waste. If you like the emotional movie with typical Hindi Masala then buy a DVD and see this movie,there is no need to go theater to see this movie. overall if you are the crazy fans of Ajay and Kajol then watch is movie!!