Let's give Nitya Mehra some credit that she thought of a novel way to say the same old story. Spare a look to the little joys of life, live in the moment. Love. Laugh. Somewhere in her is a little girl who loves her frothy rom-coms and on canvas, she comes pretty close to whipping up a satisfying, watchable love story. Childhood sweethearts Dia and Jai have been inseparable since they met as tiny tots, holding hands and enjoying life like kids. She pops the question and he goes with the flow. Alas, that ends up becoming their entire life. Jai is a man child, shirking from responsibilities, commitment, socially awkward and a flight risk. He is Chandler Bing minus the sarcasm. The biggest problem with Jai is that he lacks personality. You bet his students won't agree because they clearly are more interested in seeing him jabber about formulas than in the knowledge he is trying to impart. He is uni-dimensional with perpetually perplexed look on his face. He doesn't know why he is in love with his girlfriend. Maybe that's because they have been together for so long that they have become an old married couple. She knows his favourite dishes - butter nan with butter chicken and extra butter. She is family, she is his cup of nice perfect coffee, his sunshine but somewhere he takes the love for granted. Typical? Well, totally. She, on the other hand is the bubbliest she has ever been, the most she has ever acted. What really works is the chemistry. It is amazing how two such non-actors manage to make you feel all mushy and gooey.
But such a story comes with its issues. The time lapses are exhausting and Sidharth, who looks lost in each scene does so with authenticity but doesn't try to further the story or add depth to the character. You don't feel his pain at all because his acting isn't exactly up to the mark. It takes a really fine director to bring out the best in him. We never sympathise for him but he is like the little puppy you go awww for. Katrina is marginally better than him because she has really acted. Her blank eyes full of pain is done beautifully but her character suffers from weak writing. We never know what really goes wrong between her and Jai. Yes, he is a negligent husband, fretting about his career and clueless about his personal life. But his passion for Mathematics doesn't come anywhere close to Ranbir Kapoor's fantastic fanatic craze for travel. He doesn't sell it enough to us and no wonder we don't connect with him. Similarly, Dia's pangs for her homeland and her Hanuman Chalisa chanting father isn't explored well enough. The supporting cast comprising the luminous Sarika, the talented Ram Kapoor, the sparkling Sayani Gupta and the forgettable Rohan Joshi was left unused.
But there is a major problem with the concept. While it is hunky dory to say that we are so busy chasing dreams that we don't care for our families but is it so bad to pursue your dream. The film's understanding of the work dynamics is skewed. Then why do I praise Nitya? Because she is bold, her sense of scale and gorgeous canvases is fantastic. Her ear for music is worth raving about. And of course, there is a certain Jasleen Royal whose music and voice leave a more haunting impact than the film itself.
If you view this as a film about two good looking people who are in love and in the price of a movie ticket, you get to see gorgeous locales in Thailand, Katrina in a beautiful pink bikini, a drop dead gorgeous man with dreamy eyes and trip to the future. Dude, the gadgets in 2043 do look slick. If you have to settle for a half-baked story for the sake of all this, I say it ain't a bad bet.
We rate the film a 55%
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