In the mood for an urban summer romance?

Shilpa Bharatan-Iyer | May 28, 2004 19:39 IST


Kunal Kohli's second offering (his first was Mujhse Dosti Karoge), Yash Raj Films' HumTum is a simple love story. It is the essential Bollywood formula love story, with a twist: Girl meets boy. Girl hates boy. Girl meets boy again. They fall in love.

The film opens at the airport with the protagonists, Karan Kapoor (Saif Ali Khan) and Rhea Prakash (Rani Mukherjee), leaving for New York. Rhea's mother, Parminder Prakash aka Bobby (Kirron Kher), is busy praying for her daughter's safety.

Karan is accompanied by mom Anu Kapoor (Rati Agnihotri) and good friend Mihir Vora (Jimmy Shergill). He believes that 'boys' and 'girls' can never understand each other, let alone be friends.

Both Karan and Rhea are seated next to each other in the aircraft, and the ice is broken. Karan shows Rhea his cartoon characters, Hum and Tum, the quintessential boy and girl who cannot live with or without each other!

At a stopover in Amsterdam, they explore the city and their differences together. Just as Rhea drops her guard around Karan, he kisses her, only to be slapped. They part on that sour note.

Three months later, they bump into each other at a New York park. Karan is with his girlfriend Shalini (Shenaz Treasurywala). Shalini and Rhea discover they are school friends. Rhea tells Shalini all about the Amsterdam episode, at the end of which Karan and Shalini split.

Cut to three months later, when Karan is back in Delhi with his mother. She is a wedding coordinator and ropes Karan in to help with a wedding. The bride turns out to be Rhea.

Karan bumps into Rhea again on a French train, where she cryptically tells him, "Samir is no longer part of my life." Karan lands up at his father's (Rishi Kapoor) Parisian house and tries to find Rhea.

Will Karan find Rhea? Where is Samir? Will they realise that they love each other? Will they be together? This constitutes the rest of film.

Hum and Tum, Karan's cartoon characters, pop up now and again. They experience the incidents that happen to Karan and Rhea — in animation.

This urban romance, which spans six years and many cities — Amsterdam, New York, Paris, Delhi and Mumbai — is an easy watch. The movie is essentially episodic in nature, and the episodes have been woven well together. The characters are also well defined.

There is a plausible, if simplistic, storyline. Like when Rhea alights from the train, she doesn't give Karan either her number or her address. Karan still traces her phone number and reaches her mother.

The film does suffer from continuity problems. At her mehendi ceremony, Rhea dances around Karan in the Gore gore song. The mehendi in alternate scenes changes from wet, dark green to light orange to dark orange. The next scene shows Rhea's forearm covered in a dark maroon mehendi design, but the palm is clean.

In the beginning of another scene, Karan is shown to be drunk and tottering around. All of a sudden, he finds his balance, walks straight, and is so sober that he proceeds to run and find a victoria and come back to where Rani is waiting.

Also, it isn't quite clear why Karan and Rhea do give up their inhibitions. Why would a girl who is so independent get close to a guy she is not sure of?

But Kunal Kohli does a fair job. The direction is tight in most places. The title song, though, is placed badly and detracts from the narrative. It can be safely deleted from the movie.

Saif is perfect for the role as Karan, the smooth-talking urban male whose main aim in life is to get every woman to date him. In fact, this role would be a natural progression to his Dil Chahata Hai role. The film rests on his shoulders. From the irresponsible 22 year-old off to America, his character has been developed well over the next six years in the movie. As usual, Saif scores with his comic timing.

Rani continues with her Chalte Chalte tanned look for this film. She has done a competent job as the level-headed, no-nonsense Punjabi girl who knows what she wants. She excels in the tear-jerking scenes and matches Saif in the comic ones.

Kirron Kher as Rhea's mother is superb, with her Punjabi accent and mannerisms. The other supporting actors, Rishi Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri, Jimmy Shergill, and Ishaa Koppikar, are adequate.

All told, a feel-good film which will appeal to urban audiences.


Rediff.com

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Hum Tum

By Taran Adarsh, May 28th, 2004 - 1200 hrs IST



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Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar started a trend in the 1990s. After the super success of D.D.L.J. and KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI, film-makers in Bollywood suddenly woke up to new-age cinema, the new mantra for success.

Cinema that is up-to-the-minute in its attitude, yet very traditional at heart. The packaging may be contemporary, but the content is pure, unadulterated Indian emotions.

Kunal Kohli seems inspired by the works of Chopra and Johar and his second outing, HUM TUM, borrows heavily from their works. Of course, the basic plot is inspired by WHEN HARRY MET SALLY [1989; Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan] and the film also brings back memories of Woody Allen’s ANNIE HALL [1977], but Kohli has remodeled HUM TUM on the lines of Chopra and Johar movies primarily.

HUM TUM has laughter in abundance, but an undercurrent of emotions continues to move alongside. Now to the crucial question, does HUM TUM work? For those who appreciate romantic comedies for both aspects of the genre [the ‘romance’ and the ‘comedy’], HUM TUM works to an extent!

Karan Kapoor [Saif Ali Khan] works with one of India’s leading newspapers as a cartoonist. ‘Hum’ and ‘Tum’ are his cartoon characters.

Karan meets Rhea [Rani Mukerji] in an aircraft, en route to U.S.A. They disagree on practically everything; they are complete opposites. So, to put things right, Karan innocently kisses her, which offends Rhea no end. The budding friendship ends on a disastrous note.

Six months later, the duo meet once again in a park in New York. Rhea hasn’t forgotten the kiss, so she decides to let the cat out of the bag. Karan loses his steady girlfriend [Shenaz Treasurywala] in the process.

Rhea and Karan continue to bump into each other at various phases of life and gradually become friends.

Rhea goes through some personal tragedies in her life, but Karan stands by her. Karan even tries fixing her up with a friend of his, Mihir [Jimmy Shergill] – with her mother’s [Kiron Kher] permission of course – but as with everything else, even this doesn’t work out. Instead, Mihir gets engaged to Karan’s friend Diana [Isha Koppikar].

But destiny has other plans for Karan and Rhea...

A film that travels three continents [Asia, Europe, U.S.A.] and 8/10 years, HUM TUM is a love story that relies heavily on romance and light moments. Though the storyline is waferthin, the twists and turns in the film keep the interest alive to an extent.

The first half has light moments aplenty. The interaction between Saif and Rani in Amsterdam is truly enjoyable and takes the graph of the film upwards. Even the twist in the tale, when Rani gets married, makes for interesting viewing. Again, the interval point -- when Saif learns of Rani's predicament -- is amongst the high points of the film.

Writers Kunal Kohli and Siddharth Raj Anand have packaged several humorous incidents in the first half. A majority of light moments are sure to be appreciated, although the tongue-in-cheek humour is the kind that would appeal more to the city audiences than the hardcore masses.

The post-interval portions begin on a promising note, but things begin to deteriorate in this half. The story actually comes to an end when the two foes turned friends develop a deep bond, but aren't able to express their feelings for each other.

The journey of the film from this point to the finale is full of hiccups, courtesy the faulty writing. The heated argument between Saif and Rani [at Jimmy Shergill and Isha Koppikar's engagement ceremony] is on a flimsy reason. Strangely, Rani packs her bags soon after this incident and leaves for an unknown destination. Why? Surely, Saif hadn't done anything drastic to deserve this!

Even the climax is not as moving as one would expect it to be – it’s clichéd stuff. The culmination to the love story is not as convincing as it should've been. Perhaps, the writers ran out of ideas by the time they reached the finale, or may be they must've suddenly realized that the running time of this love story has already crossed 2.15 hours and it's time to head towards the climax zone. Besides, the pace in the second half of the film is extremely slow, which tries the patience of the viewer.

Director Kunal Kohli succeeds on two fronts; he has shot the film exceedingly well and has also extracted fantastic performances from not just Saif and Rani, but also from every character in the film. Knitting animation with the storyline was a novel concept, but it hardly contributes in moving the story ahead. Besides, the locales of Amsterdam, Paris and New York provide a rich visual feast for the cinegoer.

But Kohli isn't completely in form as a writer. The story stagnates in the second half and how one wishes Kohli and co-writer Siddharth Raj Anand would've come to the point fast, instead of beating around the bush and stretching it for another 20 minutes. Besides, the screenplay has two major twists in the first half, but no twists in the post-interval portions. Resultantly, the drama lacks a solid foundation. Even otherwise, there’s nothing much to look forward to in the second half.

Jatin-Lalit's music is amongst the high points of the enterprise. The rule of the game is that a love story ought to be embellished with a melodious score and the narrative in HUM TUM does get a definite push thanks to a lovely score from this talented music director duo. While the title track, 'Ladki Kyon', 'Chak De' and ‘Gore Gore’ sound easy to the ears, the best part is that they're well placed in the story.

Cinematography [Sunil Patel] is strikingly beautiful. Dialoges [Kunal Kohli] are natural to the core.

Casting is one of the film's strengths. It would be hard to imagine anyone other than Saif as the wisecracking Karan. Saif's style is perfect for this role; he makes Karan insufferable and likable at the same time. And, beneath it all, there beats the heart of a caring man. His arresting performance is sure to sky-rocket his fan-following amongst the youngsters.

Likewise, Rani's effervescent personality infuses Rhea with buoyancy, and, later in the film, she too shows a vulnerable side. Rani takes a giant leap as an actor, making you realize that she is amongst the finest actresses of her generation. Not only has Rani looked gorgeous, even her performance is flawless. Even though Saif and Rani's characters are polar opposites, their interaction has a charm and warmth that most film pairings lack.

Kiron Kher is marvellous. Her Punjabi dialect, coupled with her lines in English, is sure to bring the house down. Another lovable performance this! Rishi Kapoor is a delight. The actor gives his role that rare sheen that only veterans are capable of. Rati Agnihotri is first-rate in a small, but significant role.

HUM TUM has a host of guest appearances. Abhishek Bachchan's entry is sure to be greeted well. And his scene with Saif at the airport confirms yet again that he's carved a niche for himself. Jimmy Shergill is another actor to watch. He is perfect in that one scene with Rani, after she has had a heated argument with Saif. Isha Koppikar is adequate. Shehnaz Treasurywala is alright.

On the whole, HUM TUM is a decent fare, topped with captivating performances and mesmerising music. But a slow and not-too-exciting second half dilutes the impact to an extent. At the box-office, the film should fare exceedingly well at multiplexes [it's an ideal multiplex fare] of Mumbai and Delhi mainly, but its prospects at single screen theatres and also at several key centres will be below the mark. Besides, the flow of biggies from next week onwards will make a dent in its business. Its business prospects in Overseas look bright!

Rating:- * * ½.

Tell us what do you think of this feature

I've really been lookin forward to this movie, mainly cuz it's a romantic film and stars *sighs dreamily* Saif!

Did it just release today?

'Hum Tum' - 'Bland!'
By Prema K. ©2004 Bollyvista.com


Credits
Producer/s: Aditya Chopra
Director: Kunal Kohli
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Isha Koppikar, Jimmy Shergil, Kiron Kher, Abhishek Bachchan
Music: Jatin-Lalit
Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi


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'Hum Tum' is new age cinema yet steeped in traditions. However the attempt to make it a new age film has resulted in giving the film a very subtle treatment and feel which may be its undoing.

The tongue-in-cheek humour will surely not go with the audiences in the smaller towns and cities. So this is a metro film but again here it will not be a huge success. At the most it might do average business here. Reason? Hypocritical as it may sound, the film lacks drama that one is so used to witnessing in a Bollywood film. A Hindi film seems so incomplete otherwise. Although the film has a lot of light moments they aren't really great and memorable. In short this romantic comedy is bland and you will go home with no memories.

Karan Kapoor (Saif Ali Khan) works with one of India's leading newspapers as a cartoonist. He has cute cartoon characters, 'Hum' and 'Tum'.

Karan meets Rhea (Rani Mukherjee) in an aircraft on his way to the U.S. They are complete opposites and are always at loggerheads with each other. Karan kisses her innocently after one of their arguments. Disaster strikes. End of a sweet budding friendship.

Rhea and Karan continue to bump into each other at various phases of life and gradually become friends until they fall in love.

Rhea goes through a personal tragedy and Karan stands by her to offer her support. Karan even tries setting her up with his close friend, Mihir (Jimmy Shergil in a brief role), but nothing comes of this. Instead, Mihir gets engaged to Karan's friend Diana [Isha Koppikar].

However, destiny has other plans for Karan and Rhea. This is what sets the film apart from the rest. Unlike in other films where the hero is frantically chasing the heroine or vice versa, here destiny is playing its games. Every time Rhea and Karan part ways you wonder if they will ever meet again. And they wouldn't, had it not been for destiny!

Another point in favour of the film is the cast. Everybody seems apt for their roles. The songs are great and go with the story. Saif manages to make Karan hateful and lovable at the same time. His natural flair for comedy is showcased yet once again. Rani ages gracefully in the film. Rishi Kapoor is lovable. Kiron Kher is superb. Rati is adequate and looks convincing as a young mother. Abhishek Bachchan is a surprise. Jimmy Shergil is surely gaining ground with every film even if it is a cameo role. Isha Koppikar is her vivacious self.

The film is a visual treat but at times one wished that it moved faster, especially the last 20 minutes. It has been stretched beyond imagination. The film is too sweet to be true.

**1/2 (TWO AND HALF STARS)

i saw this yesterday......it was a nice movie...but yeh it did drag and slow down a little in the second half...everyone was great in there roles...jimmy to abhi to isha to saif to rani to kiron kher to rishi to agnihotri...they were all great..


ending was nice..but it took too long to get to..
songs are really good..well picturised..i didnt really like the Rishi rich track on the soundtrack...but its used as the one of the main background themes in the movie...and it really works ..i love it now..

the cartoon pieces were ok in the beginning..but they slowed it down quite a bit after the novelty had worn off...

they also showed the trailer of dhoom before the movie as that is also a yashraj production...and didnt really look that bad...lol..kinda like fast and the furious in streets of bombay hehe..abhishek looked good when his arms were on fire lol

I really liked Hum Tum. The chemistry between Saif and Rani was especially strong with great humor. Strong acting, helped greatly by the naturalness of the sync sound (a new trend for Yashraj?). The flashback structure of the film was nicely handled and the romantic aspect of the story really took over in the second half. This film might represent one of Jimmy Shergill's best performances as Saif's friend. Very funny and touching. Great cinematography too...there was one scene with the leads facing a window with a huge curved highway outside illuminated by streetlights. Wow. The musical score was excellent, esp. the very modern R&B/hip-hop sound that underscored the opening/ending. I also liked the beautiful usage of the main melody throughout. It was a perfect complement. The one scene that took place in NYC looked like somewhere else in the world though...even though Amsterdam and Paris are well represented. And yes it looks like they used Beyonce's "Naughty Girl" in one scene without credit!

I agree with vjmajic about Dhoom. The Bombay "Fast & The Furious" complete with cars flippin in the air in slow mo! Whoooooo!

Lackluster guest appearances!
By Our Correspondent ©2004 Bollyvista.com

While the response to 'Hum Tum' is comme ci comme ca, the surprise guest appearances by Abhishek Bachchan, Ishaa Koppikar and Jimmy Shergill were not very impressive. Bollyvista had told you in advance about Rishi Kapoor's presence in the film. Both Saif and Rani are banking heavily on the film! Let's wait and see!

I was dragged into seeing this film, I honestly wasn't looking forward to watching it to any extent. However, at it's end, and to my surprise, Hum Tum is an enjoyably cute film. It's a commendable improvement on Kunal Kohli's end as both a writer and a director. Unlike his debut, his contempo is a tad more fearless and humanly distinguished. It's also an improvement version of "When Harry Met Sally"(which Hum Tum is inspired from). The latter film is far more lovable from it's irritating predecessor. Don't overlook this one as "another Yashraj films banner cheese feast"(no offense intended Mr_Khiladi )

So the film isn't as stupid as I thought?

Well, it ISNT that GREAT EITHER BASED ON ITS POSSIBLE COMMERCIAL OUT COME BECAUSE OF LOW COST.

FIRST THING...FILM PRINT was TERRIBLY PROCESSED compare to MHN!

HUM TUM, u can watch once!! If u can sit through, JERKY FIRST HALF with STUPID CARTOON INTERRUPTIONS.

SAIF does his same EXTENDED SKIRT CHASING ACT, like DCH/KHNH, and shows promise!

Rani, try to ape Bubly Kajol act from kKHH in first half, she looks better in sad act laerz..

besides 7 SUPPORTING ACTORS/ALL GUEST STARS..out of whom, ABHISHEK sucks!! What a PATHETIC LOOSER, he can not hold him self for 2 minutes/5 dialogues infront of even Saif!

Music..no shakes.
Production values..Not on par of YRF flicks.

Comic moments are good/witty dialogues/situational, courtesy Saif.

SCENE STEALER is KIRON KHER as NEW MAMA CHOPRAS!

RANi, is MIS CAST as PUNJABI GIRL, imho.

Nothing NOVEL..STORY is same! old!! With new CARTOON TWISTS!

If I have to WATCH again, I would watch MYKSH from B GRADE YRF films..I found that better entertaining flick even with Unfamilliar cast!

Hum Tum wasn't all that. Had some moments but I have already seen them in from its original...When Harry Met Sally, which IMO was far better and more sweeter despite it starring Billy Crystal in a romantic role!!!

that is my point, it is okish, no shakes!! imho, i'll not rate it more than 5-6/10

Gonna see this on Fri (weather permittin!)

My question tho is... since it's based on When Harry Met Sally, do they, um... have Rani doin an orgasm scene while they're sitting at a daba or somethin?

U wont have LUCk Suri Bhen ji on that one!!Rani didnt show much Better luck next time!! may be GIRL FRIEND?

Without doubt HUM TUM is not original, but then which story is these days. But Kohli proves he can write smartly and urbanely (not yet where Farhan Akhtar is perhaps). Obviously Aditya Chopra had a lot to do with the creative inputs....there's an inherent hangover of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY in all of Chopra's films, from the days of DIL TOH PAGAL HAI...(what with couples from various strata of life telling you how they got together - straight lift from WHMS), but that is a different grouse. HUM-TUM copies WHMS to a greater extent, Indianising dialogues like 'A man and woman can never be friends, because.....' - I leave it incomplete for all those who have not seen either to maybe enjoy, yet it is recommended watching.

HUM TUM stands out for a rock-solid performance by Saif Ali Khan. Whether he is chasing skirts or whether he is frustrated or whether he is angry, or simply flirtatious, he does it rather well. I think he has finally graduated out of the supporting hero role mould. He really needs to choose films wisely now. He has it in him to give Aamir Khan a run for his money, if he sticks to his guns as far as roles are concerned(but I do not think he is as thinking of an actor as AK is)....He does possess more talent than SRK does, so he better cash in on it.

Go watch it for some snazzy dialogues, SAK's great performance and hindi cinema finally showing a lead couple in bed alluding to pre-marital conjugation AND the heroine NOT FEELING too terrible about it. Baby steps now, we might finally be growing up !!!