Love U Mr. Kalakaar!

Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Amrita Rao, Prashant Ranya, Ram Kapoor, Madhoo, Snigdha Akolkar, Jai Kalra, Prem Chopra, Kiran Kumar

Director: S. Manasvi

How far would you go to win your love? Would you ever withstand the test of time and prove yourself worthy of your love? Well, in the new age life when there's a constant battle between the old values with the new age thoughts we often find ourselves at the crossroads where making ends meet is the biggest challenge. The coveted production house Rajshri Productions that has always been a name synonymous to wholesome family dramas this time around tried his hands with a new age romantic story in a bid to not only connects with the youth but also bring together the old and new.

Love U Mr. Kalakaar is the story about Sahil played by Tusshar Kapoor, a cartoonist, an artist who derives his inspiration from emotions that come from the sky, from the earth, a scrap of paper, a passing shape, a spider's web, while Ritu i.e Amrita Rao is a management trainee, whose world revolves around debits, credits, turnovers, profits, deadlines the two fall in love with each other. And then comes the twist, Ritu's father doesn't think highly of artists and gives just one chance to Sahil to prove himself worthy of Ritu. Find out what happens to this artiste when he gets trapped in the corporate world! Now, the story on papers may still sound tad interesting however, it's the narrative that makes it dreaded. Debutante director S. Manasvi clearly shows no skill whatsoever to lead his cast forward. The film tries too hard to blend in the sugary, diabetic Rajshri mould however, ends up lurking in between.

There are some continuity issues which become very glaring and obvious and also quite a few dubbing errors. In the age of fast paced slick films, Love U Mr. Kalakaar does take time to grow on the audience. Amrita Rao is a saving grace of the film. Her bubbly, peppy character in LUMK is a far cry from the coy, homely appearance that she had in her last Rajshri film Vivaah. Tusshar Kapoor however is taut with just one expression throughout. Ram Kapoor as the father acts well whereas Madhu in her comeback gets wasted. Over all, Love U Mr. Kalakaar has no Kalakaari in it. It may only work for people who never graduated from the old, sugar-coated family dramas to new age stuff. There aren't many expectations that you carry from 'Love U... Mr. Kalakaar!'. Moreover the film's promos haven't quite done the trick due to their lukewarm nature and the overall buzz has been low as well. This is the reason why when the opening credits of the film star rolling, you merely allow yourselves to go with the flow rather than carrying any high hopes of superb entertainment. The eventual result is on the same lines as well.

Tusshar Kapoor is what a quintessential Barjatya hero stands for. He is gentle, sober, a little shy and a simpleton at heart. So much so that when he realises that he is in love with a girl (Amrita Rao), his first line of proposal is to get married pronto because he doesn't quite know 'what happens between falling in love and getting married'. The love of his life too follows the Barjatya template to the T. When the two meet, they are ready to live life with each other despite the 'Pyaar Jhukata Nahi' kind of a situation that they face. The boy doesn't know what his tomorrow would look like while the girl is the scion of an industrialist (Ram Kapoor) who asks his future son-in-law about his tax details before his name.

Fair point actually since one can't discount the fact that a boy has to be self sufficient before he decided to tie the knot. The hitch he is that he wants to build a future in the world of art while for the man out there, it is the facts, figures, profit and loss that form a part of daily conversation. How the gap is bridged between the two men even as the girl stands up for her 'kalakaar' is what forms the crux of the film. With the world moving on, such point of conflict isn't what can really be expected to excite audience. What also takes away the sheen from the film is its excessive length. The second half of the film goes on and on with just no end in sight. At least on a couple of points one feels that the film is approaching it's end but that just doesn't happen. Instead a new episode begins that makes one a tad impatient. In fact one of the sub plots of the film that involves another young man vying for Amrita's attention seems totally unwarranted. It just adds to the length of the film.

A special mention has to be made about the dialogues of the film. They belong to the world that has been long left behind due to which it all seems like a 70s romantic drama. It is surprising that they were approved in the first place. The music too is lukewarm and one misses the presence of that one chartbuster that could have made the difference. Thankfully, what allows the film to be a decent watch at least is the sincere act by the lead pair of Tusshar and Amrita. Tusshar, who has shown his range in films as diverse as ‘Golmaal’ and ‘Shor In The City’ in recent times is quite comfortable with the romantic genre as well. On the other hand it is good to see Amrita after a hiatus. Not just she looks beautiful and the same as she did around a decade ago in 'Ishq Vishk', she is also plain natural. Wish one could see more of her.

There are moments in the film where you do feel engaged. However at most instances the film follows the predictable route, hence making you a little restless in the process. Also, once the end credits start rolling, there isn't much that remains with you that could tug your heart for long. An okay watch.Tch tch. Boy is an artiste. He is humble, generous, kind and compassionate. But what the heck! He can't keep his sweetheart in the lap of luxury. Girl's dad makes the kalaakar (artist), a cartoonist with a penchant for looking for warmth and humor in every cliche in life, an offer he can't refuse. "Join my family business, prove yourself as a profiteer and you can have my daughter's hand."

This, then, is the old-as-the-hills love story into which Tusshar Kapoor and Amrita Rao are thrown together. To their credit, the pair gets into the mellow mood of the old-fashioned romance almost as though they've grown up watching the collected works of Sooraj Barjatya. Having read some of the savage and dismissive reviews of the film, I am quite surprised to encounter a film which is innocuous and sweet, uncluttered and unassuming in its intentions. Neatly scripted, it could do with some trimming in the last 45 minutes of playing-time. However, director S. Manasvi succeeds in infusing an even rhythm to the proceedings.

It is Harindranath Chattopadhyay who said, "It's very difficult to be simple." It takes a lot of guts to make a film as simple, honest and and transparent as "Love You Mr Kalakaar" in this day and age when Munni and Sheila are happily letting it all hang out. And Ragini's love is lost in the lust and greed of an MMS mess. "Love You Mr Kalakaar" has a quaint old world charm to it. It doesn't try to be anything but a story of love and trust set against the corporate kingdom. The dialogged though adhering to the film's 'filmy' manoeuvres, are at times enormously moving. Tusshar and Amrita convey a great deal of unalloyed charm in their collaborative romance. While Tusshar has recently found his niche as an actor one wonders why Amrita has not found a place under the sun yet.

The film gets a dash of added credibility from Ram Kapoor in the stereotypical part of the heroine's disapproving father. Kapoor infuses a part belonging to Madan Puri and Pinchoo Kapoor with heart. And the "Phool Aur Kante" girl Madhoo has now matured into playing the leading lady's aunt. And a dapper glamorous and sexy aunt at that. One wishes Madhoo had not packed in so many expressions in every shot. Maybe she was making up for lost time in a film that doesn't try to live up to definitions of contemporary cinematic entertainment.