A wonderfully refreshing movie
Kudos to first-time director and writer Punit Malhotra for delivering a refreshingly young and vibrant film! People were streaming out of the movie theater with smiles on their faces, happy and content.
This movie has Karan Johar written all over it and his circle knows him pretty well to come up with a movie that touches upon what irks Grandmaster KJo.
Under the burden of social conventions he manages to pull off his very best productions. This type of movie is his forte. Forget MNIK, which maybe critically acclaimed but in comparison bored me to death. It's the more light-hearted stuff with a pinch of critique that really shines.
IHLS is particularly refreshing as it pokes fun at Bollywood and romance and validates it at the same time. The many references at the classic films Bollywood is known for remind us why we fall for this crap named love, over and over again. we never tire of the drama, the gushing rain, the maternal grand advice, the so fakely heart-wrenching hospital scenes, holding hands among the meadows, valleys and mountain peaks. Yes, that's Bollywood and it's written for the bleeding heart. We gobble it up like Coca Cola on a hot summer day.
The ending of this movie wasn't written by Karan though but by Malhotra or in a consensus that if you want to keep audiences coming strong you make them happy and give them the cheerful ending we collectively hope for, even though it might be against all odds.
I couldn't help but feel really bad for the scorned fiance with his plain shirts whose love was shining ahh so pure. And the only other thing I can possibly object to is that they could have really cut out a good ten-twelve minutes. I don't know where but it started dragging on after a while. shorter would have been sweeter. All in all a really promising directorial debut by Malhotra.
Imran finally got a role again that will make young girls put back his posters on their bedroom walls. Sonam is a delight but a bit too skinny for my taste. She looked better with a tad more flesh on her bones.
I hope this movie will be a success. I really enjoyed it. and one more thing, Imran and Aamir have such a strong resemblance. It's nice to see the family genes move through space and time :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR2dBT_3a-A&feature=related