Covering Bollywood and the Hindi Cinema

Raja Sen from Rediff reviews U, Me Aur Hum and gives it a 3.5/5 rating! The movie does falter at times however overall impresses. Ajay Devgan does a good job as a first time director and Kajol as expected is a force to reckon with. Some excerpts from the review:

Review:
He tells a very powerful story, for example, without ever resorting to that most traditional and painful of Bollywood cop-out methods, the flash-cuts. It may sound simple, but this is a step to applaud. So used to are we to an audience (we assume) is inattentive that the unfolding of a twist -- or the fruition of a plot-point -- is automatically accompanied by a flurry of scenes we saw a half-hour ago and a repeat of dialogues.
Ajay, in a film where there are allusions made almost constantly, could well choose to emphasise the onset of disease by repeating the way Piya confused a vodka order for tequila and 6 am for 7, but he blessedly doesn't. He lets the audience do the thinking on their own, and that's what makes this film work.

That, and Kajol. We know the actress can span through happy-breezy with her eyes closed, and so the first half doesn't even pose her a challenge, but when Alzheimer's strikes Piya and she begins to forget all that matters in her life, Kajol raises the bar strikingly high.

Devgan decidedly has some way to go as a director, especially visually. There is no consistency to the basic style of the film as split-screens and transitions happen at will, as do suddenly stylised establishing shots. Yet look at the content: this is a sensitively handled film, using actors with well-herded restraint. And if a director can make you tear up with this much sincerity, he must be on the right track.

It's a staggeringly sad film, but acknowledges light at the end of the tunnel. All you need is love, it sings out resolutely.

That, and maybe a good novel to take turns reading.