There are some films which end up redefining the very meaning of powerful cinema, propelling the actors involved to greater heights. And then, on the other hand, there some movies that prove to be nothing short of an embarrassment for all concerned.
Unfortunately, this week’s release ‘I Love NY’ – which had been lying in the cans for the past few years - falls into the second category.
Touted as a romantic-comedy and directed by Radhika Rao, ‘I Love NY’ revolves around two strangers who end up falling in love because of some hilarious and unexpected developments. The basic storyline is quite clichéd and has a ‘seen it before’ feel about it. As such, the film doesn’t really offer anything new or fresh.
This problem is compounded by a half-baked and rushed screenplay. Written by Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, it relies solely and wholly on ‘telling’, not bothering to illustrate the feelings involved. As a result, the characters come across as mere caricatures, making it quite hard for the viewers to be even remotely interested in the onscreen proceedings.
Most of the scenes have been executed rather amateurishly and come across as yawn inducing. The sequences featuring Tannishtha Chatterjee and Sunny Deol are a case in point. The same sadly holds true for the scenes featuring the ‘Ghayal’ star in an inebriated state.
That said and done, some of the emotional scenes featuring Deol and Kangana Ranaut have been executed reasonably well. However, they do not have much of an impact in the larger scheme of things.
As far as performances are concerned, Deol fails to leave a mark, courtesy the generic nature of his character. A veteran like him deserved a better and more intriguing role. The same can also be said about Ranaut. The one-dimensional nature of her character acts as a hindrance, denying the ‘Queen’ of Bollywood any opportunity to showcase her abilities as a performer.
Moreover, it is sad to see talented actors like Mohan Joshi, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Prem Chopra getting reduced to mere afterthoughts. They get very little screen time and are hence are not able to contribute much to the film.
Furthermore, Deol and Ranaut’s chemistry is almost non-existent. As such, the romantic sequences seem forced and bland. If that wasn’t enough, the dialogues too are highly outdated while the comic punches come across as predictable.
Pritam’s music falls flat. Not even one number has any recall value. The background score is strictly okay. It gels quite well with the onscreen tomfoolery. The editing is decent. The film doesn’t drag at any point despite a lacklasture screenplay.
To cut a long story short, if you are a fan of the ‘Gangster’ girl then the best thing to do would be to forget that she was ever a part of such a disappointing project like ‘I Love NY’.
Rating: 1/5
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