Orrey, bhelcom bhelcom ebhoreebhaan to the bhaarld of Kolkata student politeeks! Udi Baba, aapka haamara shahar mein shwagat haay. Moni Rotnom has made such a beeutiphool pickchor on Bongalee politeeks that nobody should meesh it!
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The film opens with a scene near the Howrah bridge, where in the usual traffic, there are the three central characters who have apparently not met each other before. Abhishek is in a car, Ajay on a motorbike and Vivek hanging on the side of the bridge. When the three come in a straight line, Abhishek shoots Ajay…!!!
This is where the movie breaks off to narrate the individual stories of the three protagonists with every track taking up a quarter each of the entire film.
Meet Lallan Singh (Abhishek Bachchan) who is a youth on the wrong side of the law. He terrorizes people, extorts money, arranges crowds for political rallies and generally keeps going in and out of jail. His educated wife, Sasi (Rani Mukherjee in a brilliant performance) is at her wits end trying to change his wayward behaviour. Although their love for each other is passionate and intense, Lallan comes across as a wife abuser and a hard-hearted and brutal person. He gets hired by Om Puri the local politician to get rid of a student leader who is threatening to upset his electoral calculations.
This student leader is none other than Michael Mukherjee (Ajay Devgan) who is brilliant at academics, but is an idealist who wants to straighten out the political system. He has a fairly strong mass following among the student community. His love interest is Radhika (Esha Deol) the niece of his family doctor, who shifts bag and baggage to his house after an altercation with her uncle.
A completely unrelated link is that of Arjun (Vivek Oberoi) who is a westward looking, frivolous, fun-loving flirt who already has had 42 girlfriends. At a discotheque, he bumps into Mira (Kareena Kapoor) who stays in the girls hostel. While humoring his IAS father (Anant Nag) about following his footsteps, he has one eye firmly on acquiring a US visa. After numerous flirtations, he manages to actually fall in love with Mira, who unfortunately is on the verge of getting married into a rich Kanpur family. The romantic time spent between the two makes both of them re-think their decisions.
It is at this stage that we keep coming back to the original scene. Lallan shoots Micheal, who falls into the sea. Arjun rescues him and takes him to the hospital. Micheal’s supporters are grateful to Arjun for his act and he slowly finds himself drawn into the vortex of their movement. The rest of the movie is all about Micheal and Arjun with friends on the one side and Om Puri with Lallan on the other.
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Performances:
Abhishek Bachchan: does justice to a meaty role as an aggressive spoilt character with some soft touches during the romantic scenes. However, his characterisation is confusing as towards the end, it moves from grey to completely black. At a point, when Sasi aborts their child in frustration, it looks as though he is ready to turn a new leaf. But surprisingly it only gets worse. Had the director kept this in mind, this character could have turned almost into the central one in the film.
Ajay Devgan: although not as hard-hitting a performance as in Gangaajal, he is quite convincing. I was apprehensive about whether his age would show. But student leaders are known to be well past the “student” age, so this does pass muster.
Vivek Oberoi: actually plays himself, very natural, mischievous and fun-loving. This is almost the same character which he has played in films like Saathiya or Masti. His transformation to becoming a committed politician is not shown very convincingly.
Rani Mukherjee: the love scenes with Abhishek remind you of the ones she did with Kamal Hassan in Hey Ram – very natural. The romance is baffling- an educated girl marrying a rogue, but despite this, Rani manages a strong performance.
Kareena Kapoor: despite the obvious bleached hair on her face, she does look quite fetching and gives a sincere performance. Her expressions as she gradually falls in love with Vivek are brilliant. If she can get rid of her “Poo” hangover, she can certainly go a long way
Esha Deol: a short role and maybe the least developed of the six characters. But Mani Ratnam strips her not only of her oodles of usual make-up but also her irritating mannerisms. She looks different and acts quite naturally. Maybe if she keeps this up in a more central role, she could turn things her way.
Other actors like Anant Nag and Vijay Raaz provide able support. However, Om Puri is quite a disappointment as the evil Bengali politician. Somehow he does not seem to fit the part.
Music:
AR Rahman’s score is good but nothing worth remembering. “Kabhi Neem Neem” due to its repeated playing in the promos, does manage to catch your attention. Anjana is more of a visual experience (if those were the beaches of Kolkata, then I must make a trip there soon!) Dhakka Laga Bukka is a rehashed version of “Baar Baar Haan” of Lagaan, but comes nowhere near it.
Direction:
Finally, we come to the genius, Mani Ratnam. Well, can this be a product which the master would be proud about? I doubt it. Yuva is not a bad film, but coming from Mani-Sir, the expectation levels are raised much higher. The script could be much more tighter. The characterization, on which so much footage is spent, still has many loose ends. Maybe there were too many characters and too little time. Frankly, the heroines do not add in any way to the central plot, but in a way to round off the characterization of the heroes, they may be important. The fight scenes in the climax (on the Howrah bridge) with the computer generated traffic is quite tacky.
There does not seem to be any clear purpose of the film. If it was meant to send out a message of idealist student politics, it comes out quite superficial. If it was supposed to tell a tale of three romances, each of them come out half-baked. Yes, the energy of “Youth” is all pervasive throughout the running time. If you remain conscious of the fact that this is a Mani Ratnam film, you will be sorely disappointed. Try to look at it as a product by a first-time director, and you may appreciate it better.
All in all, this is not a masterpiece from the master!