Bollywood comes to south India. No, i am not talking about Mr.Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan coming to Chennai. I am talking about 100 days of love. At each and every scene, the director brings in the typical Hindi film clichés. Starting from the extremely-identical-to-Barfi background score, which gives the movie a "lazy and loser (much like how the protagonist is shown)" feel. Next, the fatso best friend who provides moral support to the hero during thick and thin, this reminds us of Kunaal in i Hate Luv Storys. The hero getting mesmerized with the lady's smile,obviously this happens in every other movie!The rich businessman "Rahul" as the Mr.Perfect, whom the heroine is currently in a relationship with. The "3 idiots touch" with Romaanch Ramakrishnan as Balan's enemy no.2(not to forget the first day ragging scene). The sudden introduction of the hero's twin brother, a successful businessman again who constantly pulls down Balan's spirits.This particular so called twist in the tale soon disappoints us as the evil twin brother does not return again till the climax scene. The movie ending with a railway station scene where Nithya Menen wears a long-flowing white colour Salwar Kameez. Thus, the clichés go on.. At one point, i started wondering whether this is supposed to be a spoof movie as i saw the hero himself referring to the movie's storyline as a cliché-ed one. Alright, let us look at other aspects. Balan- a feature writer's professional life has come to a low as he is dismissed from his job, and his personal life has also hit a low as his ex-girlfriend finds a better catch. He meets a stranger inside a taxi and falls for her smile. She accidentally leaves behind her camera, an adventure for him. Everything goes well till here, the movie drags from this point. Too much of time goes into searching for the girl. The saving grace is the funny Ummar and his video game strategies. One gets impatient while we are provided with irrelevant clues about details significant to characters yet to be introduced. Even after they are introduced, they have hardly two scenes( the heroine's parents). Agreed, the hero takes immense efforts in finding the heroine's where-abouts and so he does not see her. But, why are we not shown anything about Nithya Menen till the intreval? Nithya Menen as "Sheela Ki Jawani"(that's just how the hero calls her) has done her part. Nithya Menen stops with just keeping Balan mesmerized, her presence in the movie which is capable of keeping the audience equally mesmerized could have been more. Dulquer on the other hand proves to be an all rounder. After watching the optimistic and energetic Adhi in OK Kanmani, he proves quite convincing as the loser Balan. He reminds us of Shah Rukh Khan when he enters into Sheela's house at night, funny with his antics and funny dialogs( a typical Kuch Kuch Hota Hai scene). Coming to the plus points, childhood flashback was good with enough reasoning for Balan's "loser-ness". The process how Balan learns to be an original, to stand on his own feet and earn his living with what skills he has, is excellent. The director clearly conveys the line between self-satisfaction and complacency. To be yourself, to do what you will be happy doing, loving yourself and staying contented. The message of choosing-your-soul-mate and settling-down-in-life-with-Mr.Perfect. The comical Ummar and his video games. Balan getting drunk. The beautiful PPT played in Sheela's parent's wedding anniversary celebrations, which surprises Sheela's parents, Sheela and all of us. For all those people who are spoilt watching Hindi movies for years, this is nothing new. For the others, it must prove to be a hilarious refreshing romantic treat.
Review of 100 Days of Love
