Ranbir | Katrina | Raj Kumar Santoshi | Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

After Andaz Apna Apna, Raj Kumar Santoshi makes a fairly successful return to comedy with Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. Ajab Prem is in fact more layered, and it’s many over the top comedy sequences are also interspersed with many sentimental and dramatic moments. Also, off late comedy in hindi films has relied on gags and slapstick, in Ajab Prem, the comedy has been fundamentally woven into the script. There is no great novelty in the plot as such, but the story very smoothly moves from one comedy sequence to another, and has us laughing along for most of the way.

But to begin at the beginning, Ranbir is a slacker who does not have a regular job but is the President of ‘Happy Club’. Intermittently we see carrom, chess, etc being played at the Happy Club, but otherwise Ranbir and his group of friends are essentially do-gooders who help aspiring couples to tie the knot. Enter Katrina Kaif, the adopted daughter of a christian couple, who Ranbir immediately falls for. After many twists and turns, how do Ranbir and Katrina get together? That is the story of Ajab Prem.

Frankly the plot is conventional, but a hyperactive script ensures that the comedy potential in even the most routine scenes is deliciously explored, and, there are enough dramatic sentimental moments peppered along the way too. The script also has some great characters like the father who happily repeats a dialogue when requested, the mother who temporarily turns into a seductress to divert attention from her son, the mafia don whose cell phone goes on the blink because his cronies do not refill it’s talk time, and so on.

Both the background music by Salim Suleiman and the music by Pritam are quite good, but director Santoshi places the songs a little clunkily and even though they are melodious, most songs slacken rather than add to the film’s pace. On the technical front, only the cinematography is average, else the editing, screenplay, art direction, etc are all very good. Credit must be given to Raj Kumar Santoshi for some excellently written scenes, and for directing this story so that while it touches on many contentious issues, it never takes itself seriously and remains consistently loony.

On the acting front, Darshan Jariwalla, Smita Jaykar, Zakir Hussain and Ranbir’s friends are all good, but expectedly Upen Patel dissapoints. But, on the acting front this is an out and out Ranbir and Katrina's show. In only his 4th film, Ranbir displays a great sense of comedic timing and he even has some 3-4 sentimental monologues that he effortlessly pulls off. And while Katrina is a distant second in focus, she also delivers a pitch perfect over the top performance.

All in all, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is an excellently written, over the top comedy with some good music and great performances. You will enjoy watching this movie at a theatre with your entire family, and once the DVD is out, it will make you laugh, every time you rerun it.On the whole, AJAB PREM KI GHAZAB KAHANI entertains majorly. At the box-office, the fantastic pre-release campaign coupled with the terrific chemistry between Ranbir and Katrina, excellent music by Pritam and tremendous appeal for youth should ensure a big start for the film at the ticket window. The business prospects seem excellent, thus ensuring handsome returns for its investors.

Another factor that goes in its favour is Pritam's music, who belts out a couple of lilting tracks.

On the flip side, the film could've done with a fresh plotline. When you talk of 'Ghazab Kahani', it has to be ghazab by all means. It shouldn't fall prey to predictability, but the second hour succumbs to mediocrity occasionally.