Story: Where love and hate collide, this love story is born. Two people who’re raised hating each other, break the unwritten family dictat; and fall in love. These outlaws of love thus start a new war.
Movie Review: It’s the war of the roses. And it’s as (t)horny as it can get. Splattered with bandooks and badmaashi, goondas and gaalis – starts this ajab prem kahani. Firebrands Parma (Arjun Kapoor) and Zoya (Parineeti Chopra) are childhood hate-mates, born into politically warring families who’ve avowed to hate unto death. So, in the rustic and earthy brown landscape of small-town Almore - where pocket guns are a fashion accessory, and local yokels could kill for anything – diesel or dancing girl Chand (Gauhar Khan), the Queen of ‘
Kwality Baar’ - a love story blossoms between loveable rowdy rascal Parma and feisty, free-spirited Zoya. They growl at each other with the same fierce passion with which they grope each other and get-it-on. Most riveting in this love-hate plot, is the (fore)playful chemistry between the two, with their volatile verbal wars, and sexed-up lovemaking; even between chases and gunshots. Rare indeed to find such a beautifully complementing debut pair onscreen.
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In an impressive debut, Arjun Kapoor believably plays Parma with dollops of arrogance, energy and unabashed guts; chomping with the same crudity with which he shoots, spits gaalis, pisses on posters, manhandles his girl and makes raw love. He uses his boy-man charm topped with that infectious ‘batteesi’ effectively, and keeps up the temperatures throughout.
Parineeti Chopra is fabulously effervescent. As the 'mango ‘
ishmile' flashing Zoya, she's adorable and admirable. She lacks the obvious, larger-than-life mega-screen presence, but wins you over with her ‘
item’bomb’ simplicity.
Gauhar Khan ‘reveals’ a lot more, of her acting skills that is.
Director Habib Faisal takes you into the heart of this small-town story, creating a politically-divided Almore with elan – penning gripping characters (a rigid and arrogant
Dadda, a suppressed,
dukhiari Amma, two overbearing brothers), but fails to maintain the crescendo in the second half. After highlights like a sensitively shot lovemaking scene on a rusty train berth, a subtly picturized romantic song (
Pareshan), and a shocking pre-interval scene, it starts falling apart like a house of cards; ultimately folding into a predictable climax.
The flatness of the second half is what takes away from the pace of a launch vehicle that could’ve been memorable.
‘Ishaqzaade’ starts with a bang-bang, but ends up firing blanks.