Gori Tere Pyar Mein
Year: 2013
Director: Punit Malhotra
Cast: Imran Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Anupam Kher

After pairing Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor in Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Karan Johar has again brought them together in his latest production Gori Tere Pyar Mein. To be frank the lead pair did not really set Ganges on fire in their first outing and a question remained whether they would bring anything new this time around to change the situation. Director Punit Malhotra’s past performance (I Hate Luv Storys) was also a dampener when it came to expecting much from this film. With these caveats, how did the film actually fare?

What’s the plot?

 A rich spoilt US-educated, Bangalore-based Tamilian youngster (Imran Khan) gets engaged to a young girl (Shraddha Kapoor) from his community. Not serious about anything in life, the boy is just doing this because his exasperated parents want him to do so. But then it emerges that he once seriously dated a Delhi-based Punjabi girl (Kareena Kapoor), who was older than him and much more serious about changing the world from its perpetual decadent state! With the boy all set to marry the new girl in his life and the old one (I mean, the older one!) now settled in a small village, trying to help the villagers build a bridge to cross the river, how does the love triangle resolve?

What’s hot?

·         Occasionally a light-hearted comic scene makes you chuckle. But you really have to wait long for such occasions to arrive!

·         Vishal-Shekhar dish out a few peppy, playing-to-the-gallery numbers.

·         Shraddha Kapoor makes good impression despite having a small, relatively insignificant role.

What’s not?

·         The plot is shallow, convoluted and without any novelty; particularly in the second half where action moves into the rural set-up.

·         Malhotra’s direction is unimaginative. For a rom-com, neither the romance nor the comedy clicks. The tribute references to Lagaan and Swades fall flat.

·         Imran and Kareena go through the paces without any apparent chemistry. Imran’s frivolous, afraid-to-commit rich boy and Kareena’s all-cause crusading activist turn out to be unintended caricatures.

Verdict

Gori Tere Pyar Mein is an insipid rom-com, which tries unsuccessfully to play the North-South, urban-rural cards. Lack of romantic chemistry; weak emotional core; tepid humor and wishy-washy story-telling make this film a forgettable fare.

Rating

2 stars