For a long time, I have been waiting
for an old-fashioned, romantic film. I really love them. In recent times, we
hardly see pain and heartbreak getting their due credit in penning a love
story. Either the passion with which these stories are made goes missing or the
film-makers fail to induce soul into their characters. Nee Jathaga Nenundali
has been touted as a poetic retelling of Aashiqui 2, which in turn
was a remake of the classic A Star Is Born. Though it manages to pool in
all the old school tricks that go into a conflict-ridden story, it leaves you
wanting for more in terms of a better structure and resolution.
Raghav Jayaram / RJ (Sachiin) is
an alcoholic rock star whose career is on a decline. He bumps into Gayatri (Nazia),
sees his mirror refection, spots a talent, and breaks all hell loose to make
her a singing sensation. A misunderstanding here and there distances them, but
finally they bond together and Gayatri touches the pinnacle of glory. RJ
realizes that Gayatri’s uphill climb should not be curtailed by his
self-destructive mode, so he tries to go away from her. Here, the film takes a
cyclic pattern of the girl struggling to help the guy, but the latter indulges
in his own world of conflicts. The climax gets a tweaking, from the original, to
accommodate ‘a star is born’ culture prevalent here.
The story is not bad, just the
way it is told in an unconvincing way is. The screenplay meanders as it
progresses and doesn’t move you by an inch. We know that RJ is a ‘rock’
sensation but never get to see his heydays, and what the real problem that made
him an alcoholic is. And for God’s sake, why can’t he leave it and try to
resurrect his failing career. A few independent scenes stand out to showcase
the male psyche and its incapability to deal with downfall. However, they fail
to stitch together the emotion and the true intent of this story. Also, the
chemistry between the lead pair never graduates to a level where they can make
such sacrifices.
The performances are dismal with
Sachiin’s wooden face eclipsing others. Some scenes look believable to an
extent, but the dialogues are far-fetched. Every dialogue has been written to
paint a mawkish picture, but they are atrocious and make you laugh in
disbelief. Nobody speaks like that, even in the utmost cinematic constructions.
Again, nobody knows about the hero’s father who plays an agony aunt, err, dad
and is restricted only to telephonic conversations!
The music is the saving grace,
but for how long. We watch a film for lot many things rather than just the music.
The songs and background score are recreated from the original and few soulful
renditions become repetitive after some time. Like Gayatri who always stays with
RJ and never thinks of getting him admitted into a rehabilitation centre, the
director also focuses only on a strong sense of visual style and leaves the
script and execution in the lurch. A couple of intense scenes and the famous
‘jacket’ moment couldn’t save this film from slipping into the crevices of a
tiresome, syrupy tearjerker.
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