Tired of the time-old ’ek ladka - ek ladki’ fare churned out by Bollywood? Then this flick, a directorial venture of Kunal Kohli that offers a ’boy versus girl’ concept for a change, is all for you. Well, at least most of it is. Hum Tum essentially brings out the differences between the ideologies and thinking of a boy and a girl, through the characters of a slap-happy guy and a bit serious femme, and how they get along, over a quite lengthy period of 9 years.
Karan Kapoor ( Saif Ali Khan) is an easy-going cartoonist with a great sense of humour, who believes that girls are like buses..if one goes, the other definitely arrives! His main pastime is flirting, ’n doesn’t believe in love, committment or planning of any kind. HUM and TUM are his cartoon creations : Hum, a typical young man who doesn’t believe that boys and gals can ever be good friends; Tum, a typical young girl who often gets confused ’n angry with Hum’s comments.
Ria Prakash ( Rani Mukherjee) on the other hand, has her own principles and convictions to uphold in life. The two of them meet each other for the first time on a flight to New York...then go sight-seeing together in Amsterdam ( sounds like a usual movie? well, wait ’n watch) but part in New York, each having not a very good opinion of each other.
What follows is a series of the most unexpected meetings between ’em at various places : New York, Delhi ( after 3 years) -at Ria’s marriage, Paris ( after 3 more years) where Karan learns that Ria’s a widow , and finally Mumbai. During each of these meetings, both undergo a change in the attitude towards the other...what life has in store for both of them forms the remaining film.
Saif’s done full justice to his role..I doubt if there’s anyone who could’ve done it better. His character suits him perfectly, all the more so after Dil Chahta Hai, and Kal Ho Na Ho. Here he’s proved that he can handle a film on his own....with his spontaneous humour and ever-grinning face, he wins everyone’s hearts. Rani’s strikingly beautiful....’n with her well-balanced performance, has once again proved her mettle as an able actress. The squabble between both of them about the ’ladki - ladka’ issue is quite amusing.
A great many special appearances : Abhishek Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Jimmy Shergill, Isha Koppikar...whew! Rati Agnihotri as Karan’s mom, who’s a wedding planner is apt, and Kiron Kher as Ria’s mom, with her ’’ good luck to you, ji’’ and ’’ aap mujhe bobby bula sakte hain, ji’’ and of course, her impeccable Punjabi, cannot but bring a smile. Rishi Kapoor, Karan’s rotund dad equals his
son in flirting ( ’yeh aisi hai, to iski ma kaisi hogi’!).
The music is great, set by Jatin-Lalit duo...all the numbers linger in your mind, especially ’Ladki kyon’. Shakeel Khan’s camera has captured great sights in France, but only for a second. Saroj and Raju Khan’s choreography is very good in the number ’ye gore gore se chore’.
The first half of the film is much more interesting...the second is a bit predictable. Though beginning with a somewhat different formula, it seems Kohli has chosen to end with the typical Bollywood style..well, we can’t help it - aakhir dil hai hindustani!
On the whole, a feel-good film.