Love U... Mr. Kalakaar!

If we put aside terrible male performances (nothing unexpected) and age old theme, this movie is still enjoyable. Why? I think because of the acting of Amrita Rao. Man, what lovely expressions she gives! Reminds me of Kiran Vairale. I loved her acting in Jolly LLB and Singh Sahab the great as well... basically every movie. It's just expressions. They show certain dignity, a standard. Hint at an undiscovered, unchangeable, not-for-sale personality that's her real life one. Such an aura can never be created by "commercial" actresses. Two more actresses of somewhat similar theme are: Swaroop Sampat & Sucheta Khanna

The movie is very sweet and genuine. It makes a point that it is not necessary for rest of the world to deal with issues from the stand point of the materialistic men of the world alone and artists have a unique perspective that has a validity all of its own. There is no reason for one stand point to give in to the other - there is a place in the world for both views. This is an ageless statement that is relevant to all generations. Another reviewer thinks that movies ought to be made to conform to the tastes of the new generation - if that is so it would be merely pandering to exploit the biases of a select audience. Instead - like a true and mature artist - the film maker instead tries to mold the view of the new generation to take a more thoughtful view. This is what art is all about - to be able to take a stand however unpopular and make it convincing - rather than to dish out mindless drivel that titillates for a couple of hours but is to be forgotten as soon as the movie is over.

Let's be honest... what do we like in a movie now-a-days? Salman Khan uttering dialogues with extreme attitude & high-octane bravado, Katrina Kaif glittering the screen with her diamond-white skin, Shah Rukh Khan stretching his hands out to call her reel-love... gravity defying action, brain-defying comedy and cloth-defying dance numbers! Why do we go for a movie? To get a lesson on honesty, sincerity and the crafts of being a good person? No... of course not! Then movies like Shool, Ghaath, Kurukshetra, Munnabhai MBBS would have made honest men out of us. We just like spending 3 hours watching something that doesn't put much pressure to our unused parts in the brain. Frankly, I like watching all the types of movies mentioned above. But, that doesn't stop me from taking chance with a movie, that actually has a soul... and that doesn't stop me from liking movies that doesn't meet the above mentioned criteria. This is the case with Love U... Mr Kalakaar! The day Tusshar Kapoor was signed in for the lead role, the movie's fate had a bold lettered FLOP written in it. Because, audience wants Tusshar Kapoor to only play a paranoid mute clown again and again. Well, who else would have done this role anyway? A movie about a genuinely good person, spreading his goodness like a virus - who likes that? Good is so overrated! People want their heroes to be bad! You will say - hey, we liked 3 idiots! Yes, of course, we are incapable of liking something until it's larger than life. Life isn't a colorful canvas - life is dull, monotonous, painful, tragic - for an average Joe, life is non-happening, uneventful, where he goes to a 9-12 job 5 days a week, sits on the same desk, does the same work and spends the weekend thinking maybe the next week would bring something interesting - but it doesn't. Love U... Mr Kalakaar is honest, straightforward film that never goes loud or overboard with its story or the acting. It doesn't do anything insane or shocking, it doesn't thrill you to bite your nails - it just looks at you into your eyes and tells - I may not be a very happening part of your life, I may not be as shiny as your exterior, I may not be stylish like your gel-dipped hair, I may not be able to flex like your biceps, I may not be able to impress people like your street-smart tongue... but eventually you will have to consider me, because I am the most important part of your existence - I am your soul. Anyway, my review is as follows - an honest & decent love story, that isn't just a mushy mushy tale of never-ending love. It's a story that every member of a family can like, if they give it a shot. I haven't seen Tusshar so controlled, since Khakee. Amrita is perfect as a bubbly, beautiful, smart & self-confident girl. Ram Kapoor adds a lot of glamour and weight to the movie with his opinionated father persona. And it's lovely to see Madhu after so many years, in such a weight-ful role. Among other actors, Prem Chopra & Yateen Karyekar stand out. The story is predictable, but the journey is still worth experiencing. If you still have the heart in the right place, give this movie a try - because it does.

Before starting on my personal opinion of the movie, it has been very long since I have seen an (almost) flawless romantic movie, as I am one of those "hopeless romantics". However, Rajishri Productions' "Love U... Mr Kalakaar!" is old wine in new packaging. Sahil Rastogi, a clean-hearted artist (Tusshar Kapoor) is a middle-income artist or "kalakaar" who falls in love with Ritu (Amrita Rao), the daughter of a rich and successful businessman. Due to past family mistakes, Ritu's father does not approve of her and Sahil's relationship and their love, and mainly of Sahil himself,because he is a mere "kalakaar" who doesn't pay tax, doesn't have a bank account,and is no match for his daughter, who is out of his league, in his point of view. The stubborn father who does not seem to change his decision, sends Ritu to her grandfather's house and meanwhile, tells Sahil that if he can prove himself worthy of his daughter by working at the company, he will get them married. The story is strictly okay and very typical. Tusshar Kapoor perfectly suits his role of the artist, though he should have been shown as a younger character. Amrita Rao is cute as the girl next door, though she should have worked on her outfits/makeup, as both of them do no justice to her beauty. The songs are bearable, the picks being "Sarphira Sa Hai Dil" and "Tera Intezaar", which are placed at good moments in the movie. Overall, a good watch, if you clean your memory of past Rajishri movies,and don't use your brain too much to make sense of the situations, and just accept it as the classic fairytale, the princess and the pauper.

It is a very common sight in today's tech savvy world when the Old Age people refuse to understand or learn about all the newly introduced electronic gadgets and just want to be as they are. In reality they either have a fear of not being able to understand the new things or they are just not willing to bow down to the changing trends due to their own reputation or ego. And that's exactly the case with Rajshri Productions Team, which refuses to bring in or adopt the new young styles of film-making in their own projects. As a result almost all their recent releases have failed to make an impact on the new-age audience and the current LOVE U MR. KALAKAAR is also not an exception to that outcome. The storywriter (also the director) has written a script taking his clues from the decades old bollywood plot of a love affair between a rich girl and poor boy. And therefore the audience feels 'The Yawn' right in the first few minutes of the film knowing its basic storyline. I wonder how this kind of highly outdated script was approved by the Production house in the first place. And then spending a whole lot of money on making a complete new film with some young known faces was further even more surprising. LUMK revolves around all superficial kind of characters who are too good to be real. The typical Indian Traditional values, the helping people with the changed hearts, the highly principled characters, and the innocent love between the lead pair, everything is there in the film as the trademark feature of a Rajshri product. However the only new addition in the script is the profession of Tusshar Kapoor who happens to be a Cartoonist i.e. a Kalakaar. But other than that, all the supposed to be new scenes of a love couple sitting in the company's board room and trying to raise some big profits look childish. In fact it also seems to be funny when Amrita teaches Tusshar-the Kalakaar, the basic principles of business with the help of his colours and other tricks. Musically the soundtrack is pretty ordinary with no particular worth remembering track in the film. Moreover the songs are only there because as per the Old School rule book, there cannot be a Bollywood movie made without some love and dance sequences. Similarly in the performance department too, you can't expect a lot from the actors when they have got nothing new to portray on the screen as per the script given to them. Therefore, no complaints from the star-cast as such. But yes, Amrita Rao should essentially work on her looks and dress codes because sometimes her beauty really gets ruined by the awful dresses she wears. In all, LOVE U MR. KALAKAAR is just another weak project coming from the reputed house of Rajshri Films. And the reason why it once again fails to make an impact is that Rajshri refuses to move away from its fixed pattern.

Good movie!

Good movie!