Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu: Not everyone has to fall in love

Spoiler alert: this is a boy-meets-girl story that has a happy ending, but not the one we are used to seeing.

If there’s one film that will immediately launch a heated debate between boys and girls, it is Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu.

[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSR4OqSxP1U]]

Imran Khan plays the role of Rahul, a 25-year-old nice guy who has recently lost his job as an architect in Las Vegas and whose only real ambition in life is to please his parents. The parents, played by supremely-talented actors Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak-Shah, are a business couple who love their only son and have provided him a luxurious life. They are, however, perfectly comfortable with imposing their views on him and almost blackmailing him into doing things that would help their business and social lives.

Kareena Kapoor plays Riana, a 27-year-old unemployed hairstylist who is so eccentric she can bring light into anyone’s life with just a single smile. Her family is the exact opposite of Rahul’s. Everyone, including a senile granny, is crazy; so crazy that Riana’s by-mistake marriage with Rahul and its annulment are dinner table conversation.

The pair, in their Christmas night drunken revelry, end up marrying each other, only to wake up the next morning and realise what an awful mistake they have made. Rahul knows Riana is never going to fit into his life – or the one his parents expect of him – and Riana, who has jumped from one relationship into another since she was 15, just wants to be alone. But it’s Christmas time, and all official work is on hold. So, Rahul and Riana are man and wife until the Americans roll back into work mode. In that one week, they become best friends. Reminded of What Happens In Vegas, right?

[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJGAsbcfuRs]]

Well what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas because that’s not what happens in EMAET; he falls in love with her but she does not and that is that! Here comes the point of contention between men and women: Kapoor, who is a natural at playing the character of an irresistibly adorable girl (Geet in Jab We Met) who is free as the wind, plays it phenomenally well in EMAET as well. And Khan, taken in by her charm, construes what she believes are friendly gestures as romantic overtures.

Every girl and boy who have ever been close friends have, at least once, had this conversation. And that is what makes the film so real. They are made for each other – her strengths are his weaknesses and vice versa but, as is common in real life, that isn’t enough. They have their lives and their goals, and sometimes the time is just not right for love. Every loving gesture that a woman makes is not supposed to be interpreted as an advance for romance.

In short, this is a boy-meets-girl story that has a happy ending, but not the one we are used to seeing. The film, despite being too reminiscent of Jab We Met and Anjaana Anjaani, holds its own.

Khan, who I believe should consider a career in something else because of his absolute lack of entertainment ability, is surprisingly good in the film. This is probably his only film that I have walked out of feeling thoroughly entertained. And though most of the credit for that goes to Kapoor, Khan deserves some too – at least for looking the part that he has played.

Overall, this is a film I recommend to everyone for a nice, soft romantic comedy night out. And if you’re a girl, take with you a male friend who you fear might be falling for you!