So YRF also did the dew!
The plunge of dare and win situation which has become oh! So a trend guzzling up the media, advert and showbiz quickly. Right choices, right timing and just the location which looks more plausible than a “sarson” or “tulip ka khet”. As the first and straight cut takes you from an intercity or a local crossing an“ishitihaar” on the wall, and gives the first breath of a small town locality with some random convent name scribbled on a school rickshaw and “they” mouthing abuses to each other.
They are Joya (Zoya) as he calls her and Parma. With many things in common including a Political Rivalry, a Caste Opposition and a Headstrong attitude ; they stand against each other’s gunpoints. In fact till interval the story not even looks close to being a romance or a sensitive movie, besides one soft number. Post intermission it struggles with two very independent headstrong identities realizing that they possess emotions for each other and yet there is never a moment of true mushiness. Egoes clash, individualities clash and yet very surprisingly they end up falling for each other literally!!
Parineeti Chopra definitely has a potential of sitting up and making herself notice. A firebrand image she creates of belonging to coming age I-always-speak-my-mind girl. But hope that she does not end up doing the non-glamorous , careless beauty kind of roles; coz its rare for Indian film industry to actually find an actress after Kajol and Konkona Sen Sharma albeit Vidya. Arjun Kapoor is a surprise package too!! And I can see the industry suddenly being flooded by dark stubble, dark attitude and not so on the right side kind of heroes. But beyond doubt , Arjun is here to stay.
Music keeps up the tone of the movie and Gauhar Khan’s item songs are definitely a fresh approach. The Pancham Da’s very apt racy tracks are back in vogue after a short stint in Ra-One !! The Script is crisp but with its usual loopholes. It does take a dip where they both share a screen space, a kind of uncertainty or restlessness visible in the air. Sometimes the audience gape at the speed of things! But then guess that’s probably where it would bring in the USP to the movie. Habib Faisal has typically done all his R&D before launching or must say taking such a huge risk!! Set on the typical UP backdrop , political framework and machinery, and of course very sarcastically and subtly slipped in “policewaale hi humaara encounter kar denge”; or that the Colleges are where Politics springs up from and gets it support. Shootouts, dark alleys, abuses, dangers lurking behind, the movie is not even close to being the usual YRF churned run of the mill stuff. No designer labels , no chiffon sarees, just a girl and a guy as they would belong to a small town. Hers of wearing second hand waistcoats of her MLA dad and dreaming to become one , his of living under a very influential grandfather , owing him one.
On and on Ishaqzaade walks on a tight rope with a lot of risk and dare attitude! Like its two characters Parma and Zoya!!