In 2001, Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai brought in a sea-change in Hindi film-making style. Suddenly cool, contemporary and chic was in. Urban life-styles and their resultant stresses, strains and story-lines started becoming the new fodder for young film-makers. Now ten years later Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara once again proves that the formula still works well if it is packaged well.

Apart from Farhan (who was the director of DCH and is now one of the main protagonists in ZNMD) and the composer-lyricist team (Shankar-Ehsan-Loy and Javed Akhtar), the two films have a lot more in common. They both are buddy-films; they both explore foreign locales and they both are young at heart. And yet it must be said that ZNMD is in no way a clone of DCH; in fact perhaps it brings much more to the table than its path-breaking predecessor.

The film also delivers its message loud and clear right from the title – Zindagi milegi na dobara. It is a film that tells us: “You won’t get this life twice. So enjoy its every moment; cherish what you have got; throw your fears out of the window; follow your heart and take your chances!” More importantly this message comes across through a perfectly entertaining tale.

The story begins with a hot-shot young builder Kabir (Abhay Deol) getting engaged. Now as per his friendship pact, he invites his two best buddies- Imran (Farhan Akhtar) and Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) to go on a road-trip to Spain. It is not just a leisure trip; there each friend is supposed to give an adventurous task for everyone to undertake. The three friends, after an initial hitch, finally embark on this unique bachelor trip, which will change their lives forever. There they will not only be completing some dare-devil tasks while reveling in tomfoolery; they will also be confronting their inner demons to learn to look at their lives in a new light.

Writers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti etch out memorable characters and they also spruce up the story by planting some interesting devices. Spain as the tour destination is utilized to the maximum and it plays a major part in this film’s appeal. The Flamenco dance, the Tamatino festival and the adrenaline-pumping tasks like deep-sea diving, parachuting and running with the raging bulls… all these details add some spectacular visuals and drama.

The performances of the lead characters are flawless. Abhay Deol as the confused fiance, Farhan as the funster with a dark secret, Hrithik as the uptight career-driven man, Katrina as the carefree diving instructor and Kalki as the shrewish fiancée, all fit perfectly in the plot. The changing dynamics of their interrelationships; their riotous camaraderie and their hidden personal agendas add interesting layers to the story-line.

Even though it is bit longer than it should have been, ZNMD still works well on many levels - as a road-film, as a buddy-film, as a coming of age-film and as a romantic film. It is fresh, funny, intelligent and insightful. It is definitely the best film of the 2011 so far!