Review of 'I Hate Luv Storys'

With many reviews panning it mercilessly, I thought this above-average-and-entertaining movie deserved some support. It makes for quite an agreeable watch, and has much in its favour.

One, I like the name of the movie, and the chorus on the title track is peppy and catchy.

Two, the hero looks really good; Imran, stay with the stubble and the muscles.

Three, it is very amusing if you have watched several films of the Karan Johar or Aditya Chopra variety before. What makes this one fun is that this movie is a Karan Johar production skewering earlier Karan Johar movies, sending up everything from ‘DDLJ’ to ‘Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai’ to ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’. My friend and I collapsed into giggles everytime we spotted a famous scene from a hit SRK movie parodied, or when an actor strutting about in a song with the sweater casually flung around his neck leaned back a bit and flung his arms out in an oh-so-famous pose. At apt moments in the movie, we could hear the soundtrack from one of the mushy movies in the background and the effect was hilarious, underscoring some romantic-and-ridiculous phillumi circumstance or happening.

The basic plot is simple, hackneyed really; as the hero’s best friend expresses it during the movie - Simran falls in love with Jai, Jai rejects her, then Jai falls in love with Simran and Simran rejects him. In order to drag this out for two hours, the two character’s attitudes towards love are poles apart; Simran is the romantic who views the world and her place in it through rose-tinted spectacles, Soppy Simran inhabits a world of pink teddy bears, proudly carries the white flower that her boyfriend gives her everyday to work, and smiles sweetly at big red hearts with shiny red confetti on them. Jai is the cool and cynical guy who pooh-poohs romance, prefers short-lived liaisons, and barfs at romantic scenes in the movies he works on (oh yes ! both work for a Bollywood production house).

One interesting scene has the director of romantic films, Vir, getting exasperated with the cynical Jai and explaining that even he realises that the romances he creates are rubbish, but dammit, doesn’t the audience just love ‘em ! (Yes, Karan, we heard you address your detractors loud and clear.)

Unfortunately the romance between the lead pair in this movie is slightly thanda, but I was too busy ogling at Imran Khan to mind. The second half, when Imran undergoes a change of heart and gets all soppy is not as much fun as the first, except for portions where earlier romantic films are parodied. Imran’s acting was patchy towards the end - the worst scene of the movie was undoubtedly Imran’s phone call to his Mum.

Basically, think of this movie like candyfloss, if you want either a healthy meal or the masala of a dum biriyani, you’re going to find it disappointing; nevertheless it is attractive and tasty if you’re in the mood for it.

By,
Zenobia