Teri Meri Kahaani (2012) Review by Shivom Oza – Promising Film Meanders In The 2nd Half

2/5 Stars

The film has been divided into three love stories between Govind- Ruksar in Bombay circa 1960, Krish-Radha in London of 2012 and Javed-Aradhana in 1910 at Lahore. The basic plot for all the stories is the same. Boy-meets-girl, the initial hesitancy, sparks fly, love happens, reality takes over and hearts break. Obviously, the reasons for the heart break are quite different for all the 3 eras. Although, there is nothing new about the way the love stories go about, the concept of imbibing all the three together in the same film was quite interesting. However, the implementation of the concept is very ordinary.

Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra deliver fine performances in the film. Shahid is first-rate as the aspiring musician of the 60s and the hip collegian of today, though his shayar act of the 1910s was quite abysmal. Priyanka too, is convincing as the big superstar heroine of the 60s, another uber-cool youngster living in London as well as the reticent village girl at Lahore. There are a few chinks in their armour, but the dialogue writers should take the blame for this. Prachi Desai is wonderful in her special appearance. Vrajesh Hirjee, who plays a scribe in the film (although, he has no dialogues) is brilliant in in his minuscule role! The rest of the supporting cast is quite miserable. They don’t look the part, nor do they act it.

The first half holds a lot of promise. The 1960s era is written very well. There is a semblance of Chaplinesque comedy, which does manage to overshadow the awful sets (Bombay of 1960 was recreated poorly!) Even the performances put in by the protagonists along with Prachi Desai, were brilliant, which along with the foot-tapping ‘Uff’ gave the film a rollicking start! London 2012 was a minor blip on the radar, which turns into a blot by the interval! Some of the scenes are charming; a few are cringe-inducing and a couple of them, laughable. The writing (Kunal Kohli and Robin Bhatt) was good in the first half, but abysmal in the latter part. The chemistry between Shahid and Priyanka is sparkling. You do see glimpses of Kohli’s brilliance in ‘Hum Tum’ in some parts; however the steam runs out by the time the film reaches the half-way mark. The film keeps meandering between being too cheesy and too serious, and hence, loses the plot.

The music composed by Sajid-Wajid is at best, passable. None of the songs in the film are extraordinary. ‘Uff’ and ‘Mukhtasar’ were shot wonderfully (Cinematography by Sunil Patel), and that’s that!

Interesting premise/plot, fine performances by the protagonists (Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra), however lacklustre writing lets the film down!

Watchable for die-hard Shahid-Priyanka fans! Even love story aficionados won’t be too impressed with this film. Tried really hard to like the film in the 2nd half, but couldn’t! (First Posted in MSN)

Shivom Oza