Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Prachi Desai and Neha Sharma
Nobody loves a movie full of clichés. The party really gets pooped when the clichés are about love. Unfortunately Teri Meri Kahaani employs every known truism about love to establish its three love stories across three generations. The end result is an honest middle-of-the-road romance but unfortunately it feels too jaded to be true.
So you’ve got Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra and their romance sprawled across 100 years. The first one is from 1960 and it’s a Raj Kapoor – Nargis like cutesy story where the guy and girl are too shy to admit they’re in love. She’s an actress, he’s a struggling musician and their love story takes place and concludes in a matter of few days. Next in line is the 2012 love story based in London. Here the couple is based in separate colleges and their affections and heart breaks all happen on Messengers, Facebook and iPads. The final one is set in 1910 Lahore, as a Muslim Casanova falls for the earthy charm of a Punjabi girl. And romance gets a kick of patriotism and the pre-Independence struggle.
Yes the idea is unique and the approach fresh. But one expects more from director Kunal Kohli and his execution. His storyline seems straight out of the 2005 Taiwanese film Three Times, but that may well be a coincidence. The end credits show you a montage of how Kohli and his team recreated the Mumbai of 1960. Agreed it looks good the first time, but about 10 minutes into the film you can’t help but sneer at the CGI. No marks for Priyanka’s belly piercing and Prachi Desai’s wardrobe, which seem way ahead of the times.
Cut to 2012 and the detailing saves grace. Lovers meet over accidental exchange of cell phones, bond over WhatsApp and break up on Facebook. But where the film scores on detailing, it loses on the story. An otherwise progressive girl suddenly objects to her boyfriend for kick starting a relationship on the same day as his breakup. Finally, the film rustles up some steam in 1910. Shahid plays an Urdu couplet quoting ladies’ man and he finds his match in a grounded Punjabi girl and her patriot father. The chemistry between PC and Shahid is at its best in this segment. This part of the story, though most dated, is surprisingly the most progressive. The cherry here is some clever repartee between the lovers.
To the film’s credit, three generations of love pass by in a breeze. But unfortunately the twists in the end are quite airy as well. The film tries to tie up three different stories but their much anticipated climax seems nothing more than a convenient Mills & Boon surprise. Both Shahid and Priyanka give it their best shot, but their charm doesn’t make up for the absence of a genuine kahani.
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