For lack of anything fancy to do on a Friday night, we decided to hit the movies and see the latest Hindi movie – U Me aur Hum. The promos hadn’t caught my fancy much, but a couple of songs surely had. Plus a few reviews on the net seemed to be positive enough, so were like what the heck, lets watch it. Ultimately we were not disappointed. U Me aur Hum is a reasonably good movie, and as a directorial debut, Ajay Devgan does a fabulous job at adapting “The Notebook” to Indian audiences.
I am not going to re-iterate the story here as you will find it everywhere on the web, and there’s no point writing about it again. Yes, the movie deals with Alzheimer’s disease, and surprisingly treats it with quite some maturity. Of course the movie could have done without several over the top dramatization but the movie does hold on its own most of the times, and that is what makes it work.
The first half an otherwise forgettable and improbable fare is made enjoyable by some neatly done scenes. The friends of Ajay add a good line to the story, and in fact it was reassuring to see them as a part of the story and not a sidey characters with nothing else to do but fool around. The brisk scenes of courtship are deftly handled where we are treated to multitude of scenes floating by. However it almost looks like as if Ajay Devgan goes through the motions to setup the second half when Kajol is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Which is where the movie holds on it on, partly due to the way the story is handled, partly due to excellent performances by both Kajol and Ajay, and fully by Ajay’s direction. I would say, its actually the direction that makes the movie tick (and I will forgive some overtly done scenes). One of the last scenes where Ajay leaves Kajol in a care facility is extremely well done with little Kajol having no dialogues in the entire scene.
It could be argued that this is a remake of “The Notebook” but I think it has been suitably Indianized. It surely is a one time watch for sure. I had previously liked Ajay and Kajol’s chemistry in Pyaar tho Hona Hi Thaa, and they display the same chemistry again on screen here. Though Kajol and SRK do form the most ideal on screen couple, there is something different about this couple and perhaps they are a couple in real life helps translate their chemistry on screen. For once I liked Kajol and give her thumbs up in her role, and as well as her look. She looked incredibly cute!
All in all, a well done second half makes this movie really watchable. A one time watch for sure! Recommended!