In this Gautham Menon's remake of his own tamil film,Sachin, a young mechanical engineering graduate, now aspires to make it to bollywood. During all of these struggles, he falls in love with Jessie, the daughter of his landlord. Now Sachin tries to strike a balance between his career struggles and Jessie's situation. But Jessie belongs to a strict, conservative family, and not only that, she belongs to a different religion. The fact that this film failed at the box office is disappointing but not entirely shocking. A relatively new cast, slow pace, nothing over the top, nothing larger than life, the film came and went and nobody seemed to notice. The only real "popular" names attached to this film are those of the maestro "ARR" and the lyrical genius Javed Akhtar. However what really upset me was the fact that this film received a lot of bashing from the critics as well. That is what compelled me to write this review.
Even though the title of the film suggests that the efforts of the protagonist would be extravagant, it suggests that this film would be, just like countless other cinematic portrayals of love, flamboyant, and something which looks good on screen but would be very difficult to find in real life. However, in reality the film is simple, feel good, and quite realistic. The actions of the characters are inconsistent, but that is what makes it real. The characters are just those which each and every one of us can find all around us. A friend acting as a sidekick, middle class parents critical of one's career choice, a sarcastic dad, a confused girl, not really sure of what stance can be taken. Talking about inconsistencies, Jessie suddenly tells Sachin she doesn't love him anymore, previously she told him that she loves him immensely. Jessie can wear a sari, but at another day she can wear jeans. Sachin, who is mad for Jessie, doesn't want to leave her side for one moment, suddenly tells Jessie not to come to him, and wait for his shoot schedule to end. All these inconsistencies aren't the film's weaknesses, as what critics would think, they actually make the film realistic and believable. Because in reality we all are inconsistent with weaknesses, we all keep changing, our mindsets and attitudes. Sachin, even though a passionate lover, doesn't perform over the top acts like deciding to change his religion or his career for Jessie, just what happens in many other "epic" love stories. He, instead does what a sane person would do, try to balance things logically, and see what happens. Even the action sequences are simple and not overdone. A few punches and that's it, no blowing up of cars or "bhai's" punches. No taking off of shirts. It's simple. The cultural portrayals are good and mostly realistic. The Mumbai culture and lifestyle is shown appropriately. An office going girl and a "vela" wannabe film director boy, who has completed engineering probably due to family pressures, but whose heart belongs somewhere else. The scenes in Kerala are shot beautifully, the cinematography is brilliant. So the film, to a large deal is also filled with the ambiance of Kerala. This adds to the feel good factor of the film. Another thing which the critics tried to mock was the slow pace of the film, however it was essential, as the film wanted to show the journey, the entire path that the relationship of Jessie and Sachin took, from the point when they were strangers to the point they lived happily ever after. It is still cut down a great deal from the original Tamil version, many plot points being integrated in songs( e.g. the moving of Sachin's family to their own new house). These are small details, which add more meaning to the film, which the critics blatantly ignored or missed out. This film doesn't tell what hasn't been told before in cinema, there are countless other films which tread on the same topics and themes, e.g. parents not agreeing with marriage, an abusive brother etc. But what this film does differently is presenting all these things in a simple, feel good and realistic manner. There are a few weaknesses, e.g. a somewhat disjointed screenplay, from the moment Jessie leaves onwards. However, it is covered up as the film has a soul. The dialogues are crisp. Prateik puts in a brilliant performance, Amy Jackson is good. ARR is at his best, as both the songs and the background score are heart touching and magical.
Overall, don't look at the deprecatory critic reviews or the poor box office performance, give this film a watch, it deserves one.
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