Indian cinema finally comes of age – albeit in a coy, held back sort of fashion. Neal N’ Nikki is a movie with an age-old story that’s been done to death. To put it in a nutshell – the story is DDLJ in reverse.
Uday Chopra – Neal is this fun loving, son of rich Punjabi first generation immigrants to Canada who agrees to get married to the girl of his parents’ choice but wants to spend some time in Vancouver to “get some action” before tying the knot.
Tanisha Mukherjee – Nikki is the only daughter of rich parents who is trying to “find herself” in – you guessed it – Vancouver. She is spoilt, rude, and saucy – in short – typical!
Well they meet – in terms of story it’s totally predictable. Nikki keeps coming in the way of Neal’s “conquests” and spoiling it for him. She also uses him to make her ex-boyfriend jealous etc etc.
The best part of the movie is the length. It’s a little over two hours long. The next best thing is the music – like all Yash Raj films. The two lead actors are adequate. There is not much scope for histrionics – it’s a fluffy love story – but Uday Chopra does a good job. Tanisha while being totally real – overdoes it a little whenever she tries to play an emotional scene! Some of the dialogues are hilarious.
The director seems to have got a little confused on whether he wants to make a family romance like DDLJ or an out and out teenage romance with today’s language – which ain’t “family”! The lines are risqué – some of them – at the same time there are solid traditional scenes like the one where Neal is playing Strip Poker with friends but he does not let Nikki join in!
The movie is very clearly made keeping the urban multiplex audience in mind. Half the movie is in English and the best lines are all in English. I don’t see this movie doing well outside of the metros.
There is a bit of a twist at the end – but all’s well that ends well. I don’t know if this review will make you guys go watch the movie – all I would say is – when I walked out of the hall I was smiling and I was feeling good. Isn’t that what entertainment is all about?