Gori Tere Pyaar Mein – Movie Review

The best rom-coms are the ones that have characters you can relate to and a fun-filled script that transport you to their world. Karan Johar teams up with his Director Punit Malhotra (the surprisingly successful ‘I Hate Luv Storys’) once again in this week’s ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’. He also casts Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor (Khan) once again after yet another successful (pretty well-deserved) ‘Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu’. In Karan Johar’s movies, the rich are rich and the poor are poor. He surely knows how to differentiate between the two but yes, in a shallow way. Rightly then, Diya (Kareena Kapoor) tells Sriram (Imran Khan) in a scene – “Don’t be so shallow”; the audience may want to opine as well – “KJo… Don’t be so shallow”!

Sriram (Imran Khan), a Tamilian but a complete misfit in the family is a rich spoilt brat who has all the time to party around and flirt. So busy is he in his whereabouts that he prefers not leaving a party to attend an aunt’s funeral. To put an end to his reckless ways, his family decides to get him married to a girl from their society (Shraddha Kapoor). The girl requests Sriram to call off the wedding because she is in love with someone else. The two speak and Sriram tells her about the most special girl-friend he had – social activist Delhi Punjaban, elder and mature Diya (Kareena Kapoor), a complete opposite to him. By the time he finishes reminiscing his past, Sriram realizes he is still in love with her and boy! It’s too late! He is sitting at his own wedding. He turns up and runs away from the wedding to bring back Diya only to be informed by her parents that she is in a remote village somewhere in Gujarat doing her bit of social work. How Sriram brings her back and comes of age in the process forms the crux of GTPM.

The Director does quite well till the interval. There are some genuinely funny scenes and it is pleasantly entertaining. But it’s a different movie in the second half. Set in a village in Gujarat, the pace dips not because of the rural atmosphere but because there are hardly any tender moments between its leads. Both Imran and Kareena shared quite a crackling on-screen chemistry in ‘Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu’. Here, they have less screen space together if you talk about the whole movie and the spark is clearly missing. The sub-plot outweighs the romance and by the time GTPM ends, you get a vague feeling of not really watching a delightful could-be rom-com. There are a few heart-warming scenes but they are too few and far between. Though I must say here Malhotra does a far better job than his directorial debut that gave me a migraine. Music by Vishal-Shekhar is in sync with the movie but just a bit above average. My pick is ‘Dil Duffer’ though the popular tracks would be ‘Chingam’ and ‘Tooh’.

Imran Khan is in his comfort zone. He has mostly done rom-coms so far and it comes naturally to him, all thanks to his boy-next-door image. The Director presents him in a similar way as in ‘I Hate Luv Storys’; Imran is likeable. But that doesn’t take away the fact that his contemporaries have moved way ahead of him. May be Imran can take a crash course in acting before he jumps into a different role. Kareena Kapoor looks very pretty (a huge understatement) and does pretty well as the ‘NGO-type’ girl. The problem is with the role. It hasn’t really been penned well and comes across as not too original. But her fans (one is me) will love her. She is here to stay post-marriage too; pretty much what she conveys through her understated performance here. Shraddha Kapoor is very much there in the first half and it is more than just a cameo. She looks fresh again and is okay here. Anupam Kher doesn’t really get a right role but is competent. Esha Gupta in a blink-and-miss appearance in the first song looks quite sizzling. The supporting cast is good.

Watch it or not: Worth a watch if you are in a mood for a lukewarm rom-com. Kareena Kapoor fans will not complain.

At the Box-Office: Reviews will range from average to good. Business will not be great but should end up as an average fare if not a hit.

• About the Author

About Abhirup Dhar

I don't watch movies... I live them! Let me introduce myself. Abhirup Dhar was born in Kolkata and is still being brought up in India. A banker by profession, he is filmy to the core and is passionate about reviewing movies and writing. He likes to live on his own… he likes to be blunt, sarcastic, famous, infamous, confident, over-confident, moody at times… he likes to be himself. He is imperfect because perfection is boring. His love for movies dates back to his childhood days when he studied in a boarding school. A three-month Winter Vacation every year… and he made sure he watched as many movies then. Parents thought it was a phase... he knew it was Passion and he knew it back then itself. The craziness to watch movies on the Big Screen began during the last two years of school when he literally bunked to town so that he could catch up with the new Hindi Movie releases. Some thought he was plain crazy. He confirmed it was Passion... yet again. The hard fact is that not always can you walk a path you are passionate about. You have expectations to fulfill and Life to be made. But Life gives you chances and you have to grab them. So... here is he... your friendly critic who will be giving you his Verdict every week so that you can decide which release is worth your moolah and which is not! See you at the Movies! Stay connected at Facebook and Twitter!