Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009)

After the first five minutes I thought about switching this off. Juvenile jokes, which a 14 year might find slightly childish, were the order of the day. But I decided to persist with it. Silly me.After seeing 'Wake Up Sid' I had high hopes for Ranbir Kapoor. But he really needs to be a bit more choosy. If this movie was aimed solely for school children then fine. However I fear it was not.The film reached its nadir with the entrance of the Don character. Cue 'hilarious' misunderstandings and slapstick violence of the worst kind.Katrina looked cute, as she always does, but in acting terms there was not a lot going on from her. But in a movie such as this you can't really blame her.I fell asleep before the films conclusion, but I wish I had nodded off a lot earlier...

Rajkumar Santoshi has given the bollywood film industries a lot of serious films over the last couple of years for e.g Family: Ties of Blood, Halla Bol etc. But now he returns to make another comedy flick in the form of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. his early comedy film which was Andaz Apnaa Apnaa was a great hit and is one of my favorite comedy movies of all of time. The same however cannot be exactly said about APKGK but it is still a very good effort on the part of santoshi.Ranbir kapoor once again proves why acting is in his blood by giving another show stealing performance he play the character of prem so well that you will end up falling in love with the character by the end of the movie. Katrina Kaif also proves why she is one of the best bollywood actresses of this generation with her performance in this film and new york she proved that she can play both a comic and a serious role in a film. The supporting cast also does a fine job Upen Patel was decent he was not involved enough in the plot enough to get any big sort of recognition. Govind Nao was OK still feel like his character was completely destroyed in this film however the people who played Prem's friends and his parents still deliver good performances.The plot of the film is decent it is just another love story between a boy and a girl who meet, become JUST friends and the boy suddenly falls in love with the girl but can't confess, the girl loves him but she doesn't realize it and finally does after the boy leaves her forever and she misses him and feels lonely that is when she realizes that she really loves him. Well at least the plot is not a rip off of another romantic film which the bollywood industry seems to do very often.The comedy is silly and over the top but it will make you laugh and entertain you nonetheless. Santoshi proves that he will go to any limits to make his audience laugh and entertain them. It is very hard to make the audience of this generation laugh very easily, silly over the top comedy wouldn't work so well but this film will still make you laugh more than any other comedy film has done in the last few years. the romance is the film is only captured during two songs during the movie and the dream sequence between Ranbir and Katrina and by the end of the film. But the on screen chemistry between the lead couple is fantastic.ALl the songs in the movie are awesome apart from Prem Ki Nayaa which is decent. All the songs in the movie have beautiful lyrics and music and amazing singers like Javed Ali and Atif Aslam. The soundtrack of this movie is definitely one of the finest Bollywood movie soundtracks to come out this year.Overall APKGK is very good film which has a very good and funny first half but pales and drags in the second, the comedy is still over the top and silly but will still make you laugh, there is not much romance in the movie but the on screen chemistry lives up for that. So overall i would say despite its flaws this was a very entertaining and good movie and one of the better bollywood movies to come out this year.8/10

Given the hype and promotion surrounding the release of this movie, not to say anything about the rumors surrounding the lead pair; you would have to have been living in a cave for the past few weeks not to have heard about this one. So, what is this Kahani all about, and is it worth a watch? Prem(Ranbir Kapoor), a simple small-town guy, runs a Happy Club in the town with his bunch of cronies. He stays happy and lives life to the fullest, uniting distressed lovers and getting scolded by his father and shielded by his mother, something seen in countless Hindi movies. Prem's life turns topsy-turvy when Jenny (Katrina Kaif) comes to town and he falls for her immediately. As the two get acquainted with each other, a series of incidents follows, some humorous, others romantic. Just when Prem starts to think about settling down with Jenny, she tells him that her boyfriend (Upen Patel) is waiting for her. Heartbroken, he sets out to unite the two, as that is the right thing to do. There's nothing too 'ghajab' about this kahani, honestly speaking.The screenplay increases the quality of the product a little, embellishing it with dialogues and situations that sometimes make it hard for you to stifle a smile. Cases in point, the Saawariya spoof, the Katrina top incident and the ball dance.Raj Kumar Santoshi attempts a new genre in Ajab Ghazab, the rom-com. People have harkened back to Andaz Apna Apna, but the two films are as different as chalk and cheese. While Andaz Apna Apna was a slapstick comedy that would have gone wrong in a less experienced director's hands, this is a romance with parts of comedy that has been the main bread-earner of studios like Yash Raj. Santoshi slips into this mode effortlessly, and nowhere does it seem like this is his first attempt. The problem is, unlike the screenplay that did add to the movie, Santoshi's direction does not add to it. He just plays out what he got like how he got.Ranbir Kapoor is a class act. This is yet another movie where he performs brilliantly. He rises above the average story and actually makes it work. Be it the comedy scenes, the romantic scenes or the dances, he does it all with aplomb and charms the females in the audience while he's at it. It's fair to say then, that this movie would have failed without him. This Prem is surely 'Ajab-Ghazab'.Katrina Kaif has grown better as an actress with time. Watch her in APKGK, and compare it to her earlier works and you'll see the difference. She may not be the finished article yet as far as acting goes, but she's getting there. And she looks STUNNING! Sigh. The supporting cast, featuring Smita Jayakar and Darshan Zariwala as Prem's parents, Govind Namdeo as Upen Patel's father and Zakir Hussain as a madcap gangster, does a commendable job. Upen Patel expectedly disappoints, and you wonder if he was meant to.Pritam delivers another hit soundtrack with APK… The songs fit well with the narrative and don't jar on your ears. Main Tera Dhadkan Teri, Tera Hone Laga Hoon & my favorite, Tu Jaane Na are all chart-busters. The Salim-Suleiman duo does a decent job with the background score. Goofy and romantic sounds expectedly fill the background for most of the duration of the movie.The cinematographer does a good job of showing us the small-town. After all, there are only so many ways you can portray the same city on celluloid. The editing is good and consistent, save for one occasion when Katrina is suddenly shown to have been kidnapped. To be fair to the filmmaker though, it could have been deliberate. The visual effects, though present for only a short duration, are good.Final Verdict: Despite claiming to be a 'Ghazab' kahani, APKGK is a run-of-the mill rom-com that only rises above the regular product courtesy of the great performances and taut direction. The end result: it's a one-time watch for the excellent performances.

Having known that this was a romantic comedy, it was a bit of a let down. A no good for nothing son, who operates a club from his father's business premises, accidentally falls in love, while trying to help his friend.Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Upen Patel, Darshan Jariwala, Smita Jakar, Zakir Hussein and Mithilesh Chaturvedi, while Salman Khan does make a special appearance. This is directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi and is produced by Ramesh S Taurani while Pritam provides the music score.Ranbir Kapoor has, again, definitely shown that he is talented by attempting a good performance in romantic / comedy movie genre. He is like a likable rogue. Katrina Kaif, has made a good attempt in such a genre movie. But it is a bit hard not to imagine her from her previous roles. But never the less, she has made a good attempt at this. Salman Khan's appearance, though brief does create impact regarding the comic situation but I felt that there was no need for that as the director and the producer could have taken it from another angle.Many of the comic situations are predictable and therefore a bit of a let down there. But Pritam's music score is worth listening to as are some of the songs. This is a film that can be viewed with family members and is worth watching at least once.