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Hindi cinema has, for years, survived - or rather thrived - on cliches, and "formula" films have been the staple diet for directors. That was then. Today, we live in a time when Hindi cinema is trying to steer clear of the formula and directors are consciously trying to break the mould. Ayan Mukherji, in his debut film Wake Up Sid, showed a young man's coming of age. That was a film devoid of cliches. But in his very next film, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, Mukherji picks up every possible cliche that we've encountered in romantic films - and gives it his own spin.
There's nothing exceptional about Yeh Jawani… - the plot and the storyline are something you've seen in several movies over the years. Yeh Kahani hai Purani could have worked as a great title for the film as well. The protagonists are stereotypical - the boy, an incorrigible flirt, and the girl, a plain Jane bookworm who carries Biology books on a trekking trip in Manali. She obviously falls for him while he doesn't have a clue and wants to "live life". While living life he forgets friends and family and has, by far, one of the most enviable jobs created in Hindi cinema.
The support cast boasts of the likes of Farooque Sheikh, the delightful Dolly Ahluwalia and Tanvi Azmi, who are terribly underutilised. So, with all this, shouldn't you give Yeh Jawani... a miss? Well, oddly no. Yeh Jawani…, despite its several flaws, holds on quite well.
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Ranbir Kapoor, undoubtedly one of the better actors of his generation, is frankly average in the film - except for the song "Budtameez Dil" where he is a delight to watch. The problem isn't that he's unable to capture the character. The problem is that he's so comfortable playing this character, having done similar roles in the past, that it's hard to appreciate the effort he might have put into it.
It is rare for Ranbir Kapoor not to steal the show. But this time, the movie belongs to Padukone, who as the shy and demure Naina, springs quite a surprise. She is assured and restrained in equal measure. Even when she sheds her shy image, she plays the part admirably. The chemistry between Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor saves the film where it tends to slip. Had it been another other lead pair, perhaps this review would have been different. Koechlin and Roy Kapoor, too, play their parts of secondary characters well.
There are, however, times when you feel the film has been stretched. At two-hours-and-thirty minutes, it feels long. But then, it's never easy to take a tried and tested formula and yet make it look fresh. Mukherji seems to have mastered this art. It's a film which should be watched even if to appreciate how, at times, even cliches click. The one formula he could have avoided? The item number. Madhuri Dixit, as good a dancer as she is, just doesn't work as the item girl and the song is perhaps the most pointless part of the film.
