Film review: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara — Just one chance

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) — It could have been one of the all-time greats… but it ends up being just another good film. I might sound a bit harsh but the director, Zoya Akhtar, commits a grave sin by becoming too long-winded, and to make matters worse, she unforgivably underestimates the intelligence of her audience.

Drawing parallels with Dil Chahta Hai is inevitable but unfair. The only thing the movies have in common is that they both deal with the relationship between three man-friends. I would personally consider it more in line with The Bucket List, where the main characters aim to break out of their ruts by doing things they have never done before, but even that movie contains a different message altogether.

Besides inadvertently acting as an advertisement for tourism in Spain, ZNMD is a story of three lifelong friends going on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. It starts out as a bachelor party but ends up being a revelation of sorts — the three friends do things which make them look at the world with a whole new perspective and inspires them to change the course of their lives.

Although educated humour, good acting, witty dialogue, amazing locations and cinematography work in favour of the film, the drawn-out character building extracts all the fun from ZNMD. I mean, Hrithik’s character is over ambitious; this is clear from the introductory scene and really doesn’t need reinforcement. Unfortunately, constant reinforcement is all we get.

Running close to three hours, it’s a long film, and clearly shouts out for some sharp editing. I mean, the song where Hrithik treats us to weird orgasmic expressions after being kissed is never-ending.

Speaking of Hrithik: I found his performance disappointing. The brilliant actor that he is, I expected a lot more from him. Although he made an attempt to do justice to his challenging role, he wasn’t very convincing.

Farhan Akhtar does a good job in a performance marked with excellent comic timing and fluency. He also got a chance to recite some of his father’s brilliant poems, but lost eloquence there. Abhay Deol is the best among the three –he pulled off his big role in style. Naseer was awesome in his cameo — a lesson for Hrithik.

Katrina Kaif, as usual, wastes some of the most inspiring lines of the film with horrible dialogue delivery. She has been in the industry long enough; we can no longer buy the excuse “Hindi is not my thing.” The Hrithik-Katrina pairing is also fails to generate any chemistry on screen — a task better left to Akshay Kumar.

A film like this, perhaps with less talented people, would have been one to watch. When talents like Hrithik, Farhan, Abhay and Zoya are involved, one would expect another Dil Chahta Hai, but ZNMD never even came close to it. Will ZNMD be an earner? Probably yes… Will it be an all-time classic? No.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, July 24^th,  2011.