Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu Review

One may conveniently end up terming this as a breezy and cool entertainer. Well, this isn't exactly the case here. If you are expecting the vibrancy of a 'Jab We Met' or a cool quotient of 'I Hate Luv Storys' then that's not really the case here. You would neither find more than a couple of really 'hee haa' moments nor would you end up getting all excited with an eye catchy song-n-dance routine. Moreover there isn't any overtly exhilarating sequence either that would make you come up with a euphoric cry. Still, it's the treatment and subtlety of situations that make you say 'yes' to this film which is truly experimental.

Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor meet, he is stiff, she is free willed, they don't quite fall in love but get married, now want the marriage to be annulled but (expectedly) end up liking each other, 'meet the parents' tale follows an expected line as well before a 'Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai' inspired ending ends up resulting in a 'perfect' culmination. Or does it? The film also revels in experimentation because it isn't every Friday that you see an Indian father asking his daughter 'Did you have sex with him?' in not as much threatening but instead naughty. Or a girl coming up with a tell-tale account of her sex tales, first kiss, six boyfriends and errr... asset grabbing, without sounding like a protagonist from 'The Dirty Picture'.

All of this also means that if one is looking for a film that entertains in a conventional manner, what with loads of laughter, fun, masti and mazaa plugged in then 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' doesn't really fit the bill. Also, the lovers of out and out mushy cinema can't be expected to turn all mushy here since getting overtly sentimental is certainly not first timer Shakun Batra's idea. Of course this does limit the prospects for an average Indian filmgoer and for an outing like 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' which was designed as a tale of a perfectly average man; this very fact is a tad ironic.

What isn't ironic though is to see a 25 year old young man fall in love with someone two years his senior. Believable and handled with good sensitivity, the graph of this love story in the making is steady throughout with no real high or low points. Here it is all smooth and steady and though an occasional 'Auntyji' could have been conveniently done away with (or at least replaced by a better song), you just go with 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu'.

Another major factor that makes this film a 'perfectly decent watch' are the 'perfect performances' by Kareena and Imran. She may have done a great job of looking fabulous in 'Ra.One' but when it comes to emoting, she moves ahead of her 'desi' persona and brings on a cross-culture persona quite well. As a 'desi' from Mumbai who knows how to survive in 'videsi' Los Angeles, Kareena gets the lingo, mannerisms, dialogue delivery and body language perfectly well, hence demonstrating all over again that she can be quite reliable without seemingly fake.

On the other hand Imran Khan, whom I feared was following the 'Break Ke Baad', 'I Hate Luv Storys' and 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan' mode way too often, is distinctly different in his act here. It was a thin line that he was crossing here since on the pretext of being different, he risked falling off the track. However manages well in taking you along in his journey and triggers that one clap worthy scene at the least when he finally decides to let loose at a memorable dinner table sequence.

'Perfectly average' is what Kareena Kapoor calls Imran Khan in the film. 'Perfectly above average Hollywood-isque romcom' is what I would term 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' as. Right from the opening credit title rolls to the framing to the sound to the background score to the way actors walk to the sets to the situations to the overall feel and then especially the end, this Karan Johar production follows the Hollywood romcom template. This is the reason why even though Shakun Batra maynot have come up with a perfectly great Valentines flick; it is still a perfect first attempt towards bringing such narrative in Bollywood.

Rating: ***