Saif and Rani have good chemistry in this quiet charmer of a movie. These are 2 very solid actors and they do an excellent job here. I think Saif particularly gave a class performance.As Saif's character is a cartoonist we have little animations that parallel relationship questions and observations. They did this very well.
This movie is definitely recommended for the romantics with a gradual connection building over the movie. There are some nice songs here too.
This is a movie that seems to appeal to all age-groups and to be generally rated above average on other sites.
It feels a bit more 'real' that many Bollywoods but still has the light feel Bollywood lovers appreciate. Recommended.
Come to think of it, I didn't find any editing issues with this movie like I would find with most Bollywood movies. MAybe, the last bit of stretching the ending could have been done away with. But old habits are hard to die in Bollywood I guess.
I loved the interaction between the protagonists. This is not just eye candy and overly and cloyingly emotional hyper drive you find in Bollywood movies. You know the ones where they manipulate you to squeeze tears out of you. None of that BS.
Job well done!
Greatest love stories ever told on film:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/R2KA5HYKSJ862R/ref=cm_pdp_lm_title_1This is just another Yash Raj film from Bollywood that can't help but sell because it has the basic chemistry of what people expect of a Yash Raj film. For me, it has Rani Mukerji, my most favorite beloved actresses of Bollywood. I know no woman any more beautiful than her, but in Bollywood, there are hundreds of Indian actresses that are more beautiful than any one American actress that I could think of right now.
Plus, this movie stars Saif Ali Khan, another standard favorite of Bollywood fans. Surprisingly enough, this is a Yash Raj film that does not have Shah Rukh Khan in the film, so I would imagine that Yash Raj will expect Rani Mukherji to sell this film. Why do I sound so technical in analyzing this film? I do this because I've already recognized a formula that Bollywood relies on to sell a film.
If you an English speaking American, and are new to Bollywood films, let me give you a breakdown of how I interpret and ingest the Bollywood experience:
First of all, you will most always be reading English subtitles.
The average Bollywood film is about 3 hours long.
Bollywood films are very colorful. All their beautiful fashion, and colorful dance floors. In High Definition, just the sceneries alone make you appreciate what High Definition is all about.
About 30 percent of the film will be music videos (with Yash Raj films, it's more like about 45 percent).
About 30 percent of most Bollywood films have some rather silly, really unfunny, and downright annoying comedy scenes (which is usually in the first half of the film), then the film will start to become more serious, as it moves along.
One of the main reasons why you will watch a Bollywood film, is because you already chose to fall in love with one of their many beautiful actresses, or handsome actors. (I personally try to see all Rani Mukherji films, and Shah Rukh Khan is the one actor known to be one of the biggest box office sellers of Bollywood.)
So, I guess I can honestly say that I have about 10 Blu-Ray Bollywood films which about 7 of them are Yash Raj releases. Thouugh I have about 100 Bollywood films on DVD, all I really care to get on Blu-Ray now is "Lagaan" which was the first Bollywood film that I saw about 10 years ago. And perhaps "Mann" with Aamir Khan, and "Rangeela" which stars the enchanting Urmila Matondkar.After having been hugely entertained by SALAAM/NAMASTE and DIL CHAHTA HAI, I had to check out what else was on Saif Ali Khan's oeuvre. I've heard good things about HUM TUM and, after viewing it, I can bravely state that those glowing reviews are well founded. Although not as enchanting as SALAAM NAMASTE, I still liked HUM TUM very much.
Not every romance deliriously begins with love at first sight. Sometimes, it takes a lot longer. Sometimes, years. HUM TUM ("You & I") chronicles nine years in the lives of fun loving, womanizing cartoonist Karan Kapoor (Saif Ali Khan) and fastidious and serious Rhea Prakash (Rani Mukerji) as they venture from mutual enmity to truce to friendship and then to something more than friendship. While it clearly patterns itself after WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, this 2004 romantic comedy manages to carve out its own identity. But the battle of the sexes theme is kept very much intact.
I'm fast trying to collect all of Saif Ali Khan's work as, on the merit of only 3 films, he's handily overthrown Abhishek Bachchan as my reigning favorite Bollywood actor. There's something incorrigibly impish about this cat. And he is very funny, in a dry and self-deprecating way. As for Rani Mukerji, it's true that I wasn't smitten with her turn in BUNTY AUR BABLI, but her performance in MUJHSE DOSTI KAROGE! sold me on her talent and appeal. Here, Rani is wonderful as she imbues her character with intelligence, sensitivity, and an independent streak. Rani's chemistry with Saif is superb, whether in the comedic scenes or in the emotional moments. As defined by Saif and Rani, Karan and Rhea are a bickering, opinionated, and endlessly fun couple. I knew I was in for a rollicking time from the moment I saw their characters verbally sparring on the airplane to New York. And many more fine scenes were to follow but never more captivating than the touching moments in Paris and then during Rhea's first night back in India.
But fair warning to the viewer who might be thrown off by the occasional animated interludes which feature Karan's comic strip characters Hum and Tum. These cartoon passages are supposed to reflect Karan and Rhea's relationship at certain stages in the film.
The supporting cast is good, anchored by Kiron Kher's effective role as Rhea's supportive mother and by Rishi Kapoor, who roguishly plays Karan's bohemian-minded father. Abhishek Bachchan shows up for a nanosecond but it's still long enough to deliver a telling cameo, while Jimmy Shergill again plays the third wheel, but, this time, actually manages to reel in a girl.
By the way, the DVD version I own also features, as a bonus, a deleted scene around 3 minutes long of Karan and Rhea having a very late nighttime phone conversation (again a callback to WHEN HARRY MET SALLY), as well as a head boppin' music video of the song "U & I."
I get bored quite easily (you don't want to know how long it takes me to write up these reviews), so it's a testament to this film that I wish HUM TUM had gone on for longer than its 136 minutes' running time. I was pretty caught up in the story of Karan and Rhea. So, thumbs up to the convincing and unforced script and dialogue which make full use of the leads' natural ease and charisma. Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji make it seem effortless. I can never get enough of Rhea's biting "Karan shut up!" My only quasi-nag about HUM TUM is that Saif's character is forced to undergo a "Tom Cruise" hairdo phase. That was just cruel. But funny.I love Bollywood and own quite a number of them. This movie is one of my favorites, and highly recommend.
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