Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

Starring : Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechlin, Aditya Roy Kapur

At: DT Cinemas & others

Rated: 8/10

Move over critical snobs, this one is absolutely not for you. It is for those pulsating hearts that miss a beat every time they meet up with a real, syrupy romance. It is about an unabashed and unapologetic badtameez dil — badtameez, in an endearing kind of way, not in an uncouth kind of way. It is about one crackling romance. It is about umpteen moments between a groovy Bunny and a delectable chushmish.

Nothing new, you might say. Wrong guys, this is Ranbir Kapoor we are talking about — a star son who draws life from raftaar, an actor who throws up intensity from deep within his eyes. So whether it is about Jordan Negative, or a callow Sid, or a simple salesman, or an ever-optimistic deaf and dumb person, or, for that matter, a boy who makes girls run after him by just being himself, it is the excellence of Ranbir’s histrionics, the naturalness of his demeanour and, of course, his drop dead, upmarket looks that — well — make your dil go oh-so-badtameez.

But Ranbir is not the only hero here, and therein lies the soul of this film. The director, the music, the songs, the cinematography and the dialogues — all are parallel heroes in their own right.

Ayan Mukherji, defying his youth, emerges as a seasoned director who has taken care to flesh out every character and aspect in YJHD. Madhuri, the ultimate diva of Hindi cinema, sets the tone with her age defying latka-jhatkas which — true to the lyrics — make for breaking news Baghdad se le ke Dilli via Agra. Farooq Sheikh lends weight to his cameo and even the two-bit friends have something relevant to do in the film.

The relationships — between friends, between father and son, between son and stepmom, and last but not least, between boy and girl, have been put into a perfect mould — yes, they are all emotional but never overly so.

Kalki Koechlin as the bindaas girl of the group with leather, hair, love and shove phases in life, and Aditya Roy Kapur as the ultimate friend, set the screen on fire, albeit separately. Even the bumbling Kunal Roy Kapur as Kalki’s to-be-husband has something noble to do.

Deepika Padukone comes in with an ajeeb sa nasha, much like the blue moon-soaked mountains of Manali where much of everything unfolds. She is one babe who can act too. Her chemistry with Ranbir is blazing even though she portrays to perfection a never-had-fun kind of girl.

No romance can have a heart unless it has its moments. And moments here are aplenty. From 18 to 70, every age group will like this one. For, Ayan ensures that Ranbir gives love a new meaning. He is a man who draws life from raftaar, so the movie too comes without any pauses. To make an over three-hour film in this instant-everything age, and then managing to keep it delectably breezy, is one big achievement guys. And Ayan, only one movie old before this one, does well to keep the crescendo on for such a long period.

So, this is one heart-warming, pacey, modern yet discerning romance which can be missed only as a heartbeat. You could call it the Raymond Man of love stories. Just one thing though. Why Aditya Roy Kapur should get stereotyped as a bewda loser (he made life miserable for the audience with his unexplained drinking in Aashiqui 2) is plain bewildering.