Ek Mein Aur Ekk Tu Review

EK MEIN AUR EKK TU:

Fresh and filled with froth. The fizz is unpretentious and the fun good as long as it lasts. Debutant director Shakun Batra brings in a high degree of authenticity to a tale that is likely to go well with the popcorn you have just ordered. It is interesting that the film maker takes on a tested tale of opposites attract and how initial hesitation leads to love. Even the clichés come alive and that is truly what the Director brings on board.
The film has multiple factors to recommend. The cast bring in the right emotive mood, the energy and the commitment to their roles. In a film that largely works around just the two characters, the script depends largely on the delivery skills of the prime actors who are required to share a screen chemistry but yet required to keep short of being hot . This the two deliver with consummate ease. This contributes to the credibility of the film. Then there is Las Vegas where most of the story takes place until it shifts to a home in Mumbai. The cinematographer David MacDonald gets you to view a wonderful Las Vegas and saves you of the usual pics of the roulettes and the slot machines. The technical support the film maker gets goes a long way in making the film worth watching. For instance who would not want to sit through a fun and light hearted relationship story for just about two hours when it is also easy on your nerves. Special credit must go the script writer (Ayesha Devitre along side the Director) and to the Editor (Asif Ali Sheik) for keeping goings on in the realms of the relevant . There is also some lively music delivered by Amit Trivedi.
The boy meets girl story comes with a twist. The boy Rahul Kapoor (Imran Khan) is the stiff guy filled with inhibitions and self doubt. Aproduct of high society parents( Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah) . He has lived life on their terms and invariably fallen short of their expectations and thus an emotional recluse who is clue less and is drifting on the plans and decisions of his parents. The girl Raina Braganza (Kareena) is full of energy who has just ditched her nth boy friend and single. If there is one thing common to the two at the point of their chanced meet it is that they have been thrown out of their jobs –he ( budding architect) , she ( a hair stylist). Accidentally on Christmas eve they get married at a chapel and when the alcoholic led act leaves them they decide to annul the marriage. They however grow as friends and begin to live and enjoy each others company.
Back in India for a short while Rahul knows that this is love and props up the question. It is here that the film gains great momentum and the class with which the Director deals with the important twist to the script shows sure signs of our cinema coming of age. Finally our cinema is willing to head to a climax where the principal players do not have to take a keeps sake photograph.
Watch the film for the restraint of Imran and the vibrancy of Kareena. Watch it for you rarely get to watch such pure yet sensible entertainment from the mainstream corridors.

L. Ravichander.