I Hate Luv Storys

Seriously am I the only one who saw "I Hate Luv Storys" was a blatant copy of their own clan "Dil Toh Pagal Hain"? My Lord, allow me to present my case. The boy runs away from anything that is anything close to the word love. The boy and girl get to know each other on a creative project (musical/ movie set). The girl is already engaged to a fly-in- the-ointment and contemplating her decision with each passing reel. While in IHLS the cupid pierces the girls heart first as opposed to DTPH where the boy is blessed with illumination. So the verdict is clear, if you have missed the bus in 1997 then here is "I Hate Luv Storys" for you. Looks as good as new, completely refurbished and re-branded.

Sonam Kapoor:: Yes, she is the diva personified for the youth of today. Calling her character "Simran"? And Sammir Dattani "Raj"? Adi/Karan - there should be a tax for licking your own noses and never- ending innuendos to "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" & "Kuch Kuch Hota Hain".

Imran Khan:: Playing a quirky character doesn't come quite naturally for Imran, especially if you were to compare it with Shah Rukh in DTPH. This movie would be better remembered for Sonam Kapoor than Imran Khan.

Sammir Dattani:: Pity that he has stopped to such low level to accept such fun-poking characters. His counter-part in the 1997 version ie. Akshay Kumar got a decent/ dignified/ memorable role.

Since it comes from Johar/ Chopra camp, music is given due importance and the album has quite a few memorable/ hummable numbers from the house of Vishal-Shekhar. "Bin Tere" is wonderfully rendered by Sunidhi Chauhan/ Shafqat Amanat Ali (noteworthy is choice of word "khalish"). "Sadka Kiya", another favorite of mine has some good stanzas backed with vocals from Mahalakshmi Iyer. "Bahaara" sung by Shreya is very soothing.

No stone was left unturned by the marketing department (read that blaring in public).

The title plays up on how unbelievable love stories can get, and despite its ripping apart the classical romantic films by Dharma Productions and Yash Raj films in the opening, and throughout the film, ultimately this one proves to be quite hypocritical in a sense that it too cannot come to grips with its battle against cliché, and falls prey to the tried, tested and tired formula of a romantic comedy. As the saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.

However it has its youthful, eye candy cast added to its advantage as it plods through its rather meandering and cumbersome plot, involving J (Imran Khan), a production assistant who has worked on countless of romantic films by hotshot director Veer Kapoor (Samir Soni), and Simran (Sonam Kapoor), who is employed under the same production umbrella. To J, work means a constant rolling of the eyes because he just doesn't subscribe to nor see the appeal of formulaic romantic movies, even if his employer is the best in the business. And for Simran it's just the reverse, feeling privileged to be part of movie magic, as she expounds her own blissfully perfect relationship with fiancé Raj (Sammir Dattani).

So begins the clash of the believer and the non-believer, made worst when J is ordered to be working under Simran who is the new art director for Veer's upcoming love saga, Pyar Pyar Pyar, which I have to admit that writer-director Punit Malhotra managed to weave in a film in production within a film, that drew nice touches of parallels between J and Simran's developing love affair, until the final act which somehow had to conform to hammed up clichés. On one hand, I thought it was quite brilliant to get the audience engaged through two levels, one which is the reality the characters live in, and the other the ultra-hyped film reality which exists in Pyar Pyar Pyar, with extremely over the top performances and delivery used to elicit plenty of laughter, especially from fans of Bollywood romances.

We'd expect the usual clash of the opposites, where J the non-committal playboy unwittingly turns on his charm on the on-the-way-to-blissful-marriage Simran, who by the time the interval rolled by, is at odds with wanting to settle down with the man she thought will provide that level of stability through routine, or someone who's more of the livewire even if you started out hating the guts of the person? The story seems to play on the theme of close proximity having that big a role to play in demolishing stability, and like all nicely crafted clichés which you can see coming from a mile away, J and Simran inevitably fall in love, which takes one of them by surprise, leading to plot development reserved for after the interval.

If not for the young film starlets as the leads, it'll be quite hard to imagine how love can make them do silly things, with plenty of assumptions drawn up that the characters inevitably fall for. Nothing new gets added to the flavour of the story, and while it doesn't stand out, it also doesn't fall flat on its face as well, making this a simple, breezy romantic tale to sit through. Imran Khan pulls through his J quite effortlessly, since I suppose the easy-going, good natured guy is almost always easier to play as opposed to Sonam Kapoor's emotional Simran, who has ample opportunity to show her acting chops in what's only her third major role in her film career, compared to contemporary peers such as Ranbir Kapoor, or even Deepika Padukone.

Perhaps the only thread of interest here to sustain your attention will be the numerous film references from dialogues to sets and even downright spoofs, or if you're the incurable romantic, then yes, this film will be right up your alley.

If it were in 2021...it must have been a Netflix or Amazon prime webseries. This movie is good in its rom com genre and it's meant be like this.

The question arises "Why we're expecting a lot of story thing from a movie which is never made to impact a story." This was a new gen feel good RomCom movie with a bollywood touch. This film is meant to be cliche. So it's made more like a rom com teenager movie.

Even though it can be a one time weekend movie for you if you don't have anything to watch and if you're a music lover. This movie has the best songs from "Bahaara To Sadka Kiya" and much more.

This movie was something new in Bollywood. There're also similar movies of that time like "Anjaana Anjaani" "Dostana" n all. These supposed to be entertaining dramas nothing more than that.

So if you wanna relive the fresh air of bollywood you can watch this movie. You won't regret it.

...then don't bother.

First, the actors. Sonam Kapoor has the IQ of a paper bag. And that's when I'm drunk enough not to notice. It's so bad it actually shows anytime she's not flashing her perfect whites. First day in acting school: Don't make it look like you're acting. Looks like someone was absent. Imran Khan showed great promise in Jaane tu... Here he's a clichéd wannabe. The jokes are forced and everything else seems artificial. What the fungus, dude?

Second, the premise. Confused Boy + Girl. Confused Girl + Boy. And every single love story platitude thrown in the middle. That with the grating self promotional music everywhere. We get it, Mr. Johar, you're a fan. Of yourself.

Third, the bulls***. Do you really meet on strategically placed rocks every time you need to have a serious relationship talk? And Raj, are you FRIGGIN' BLIND? Also, why are beautiful women (read:Giselle) so irritating? Is there a law?

I'm a little sad that the quality of Indian Cinema has dropped to this level. I wish they'd start putting in a little more intelligence in their movies over simple polish. Would love to sit through a movie that didn't make me want to strangle defenseless rabbits in slow motion.

2 out of 10. 1 for the fat guy with the sexist humour.

'I hate luv story' seems like to make an attempt to make a cool film but it fails certainly. It has the same old story with no exceptions. A boring story can sometimes be compensated by good performances but it is not the case with IHLS. I was waiting for the film but it disappointed me. Some scenes specially seems like to be shot in a hurry. Scenes where Imran proposes Sonal were executed badly. Dialogue delivery was below average. Direction was average. I think Imran took it more casually as he can do better for sure. Sonal's acting was OK. With all these negative points, there were a few good comic dialogs and some good songs. That is it. Overall an average flick. I can say I hate I hate love stories.