Snipper_Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD)

ZNMD: You only live once, so live to the fullest

Snip-In
It was a long break for me as far as watching a movie in a theater is concerned – Almost 10 months after watching Dabangg, I could make it to this one in a theater. I guess for me there wasn’t any movie released during this timeframe which was compelling enough to be watched in the theater (I don’t think I was that busyJ). And ZNMD didn’t let us down, it turned out to be quite a decent flick and in fact a great entertainer. The review may be a little longer than what I’ve been trying to achieve in recent times. Also it may not be that appealing as I’m writing it while being on-board, across 3 different flights.

It’s a Road movie, takes place in Spain and covers the ‘bits and pieces’ (?) of lives of 3 friends who are celebrating Bachelor Party of one of them. Well in true sense it’s much more than just the ‘bits and pieces’. Arjun (Hrithik), Kabir (Abhay) and Imraan (Farhan) are in their 30s and are childhood friends. Arjun is a Financial Broker in London, is a workaholic and aims at minting money so as to retire at 40 and live a lavish life of his dreams. Because of his workaholic nature he is not able to give his ‘current’ time to any relation, had come across a break-up and is single - And also seems to be fine with his personal status. He is coming to Spain to meet his friends but also is carrying ‘his work’ along with him to the trip, he can’t leave it behind just like that. Kabir is into Civil / Construction business, and is throwing this Party. He lives in London, is getting married to his long time friend - an ambitious interior designer Natasha (Kalki) in London. Imraan is a small time copyright artist in an advertising firm in Delhi. He has recently lost his step-father and one of the things deep inside his soul is to meet his biological father staying in Spain (whom he never met, seen or spoken to). On the face of it, he appears to be almost a Casanova and tries to mingle with every other girl comes his way.

But the main thread that runs along the movie is about the mission that all of them want to accomplish during the trip – It’s about coming out of the shell, freeing up the soul, taking on the challenges of life, and getting rid of paranoia each one of them posses. So the deal is to achieve this through some adventure sports. Arjun is scared of water, Imraan of heights and Kabir may be having this trait of not able to say ‘No’ to people J. During this trip they meet Laila (Katrina) and Nuria (..). Laila stays in London and has a living there, but spends time every year for herself – Globe-trotting, deep sea diving / snorkeling and training people on the same. Imraan tries to impress Laila but she falls for Hrithik, and Nuria who is Laila’s friend falls in love with Imran, while initially Imran was very casual about the relation. And all this relation building and occasional breaking, takes place in the back-drop of adventures three of them committed to do in Spain, while enjoying this trip to the fullest.

Hrithik is usual best with his looks, acting and dancing skills. We can get to co-relate to ‘Arjun’ as some (many?) of us actually closely resemble the character (too many business calls, working from the beachside and so on J). Abhay Deol the usual soft guy – He is still not boring, but he can bring at least some change to his dialogue delivery, expressions, and if possible his character selection as well. Kalki was a lot acceptable in ‘Dev D’, is becoming routine now, and may not always click because of her unusual looks. She is probably not the perfect fit for the Hi-Fi (Bollywood is a passé, it’s now HI-FI: Hindi-Films). Katrina is becoming a delight to watch - She does create an impact - gives the whole meaning to the movie as she makes the character stronger through her convincing acting. But the main surprise and attraction is Farhan – He probably over-shadows even Hrithik & Katrina. Thanks to his Production House as the most effervescent one-liners written by him are for his own characterJ. Naseeruddin Shah appears like an ‘artist spent his life in Europe’ – He is outstanding as always, even in a 10 minute cameo.

Snip-Out:
The only thing that looks a little odd, and everyone may not agree – Arjun (Hrithik) is always shy when it comes to dancing-It’s apparent in the SUV / otherwise during their trip. But the same Arjun dances like a ‘Hrithik’ in couple of songs. That looks odd, even if we agree that Laila has changed his perspective towards living the life. His change in the perspective can make him bold, liberal, but can not make him an outstanding dancer. The new-Age HI-FI has come a long way, but still they can bring more authenticity to the characters /scripts. Same is the case with the costume designing – Farhan’s costumes are standing out and he manages to attract attention while sharing the screen space with Hrithik. That’s incredible, but a little odd by HI-FI standards (but may be in-line with the character trait).

Snip-O-Meter:
It’s the same Production House (Excel Entertainment) and crew as in ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd.’ (HTPL) with somewhat altered responsibilities - Reema Kagti and Zoya Akthars story and screenplay is very fresh and looks a lot genuine as well. Zoya’s direction is pretty apt. Cinematography could have been further cinematic – but I reckon they might have deliberately avoided capturing the grandeur of Spain (otherwise also it usually turns out to be just the sight-seeing ;)) to give prominence to the characters and story. Songs are great – ‘Senorita’ is a great number to listen and watch. It has a great resemblance with ‘Pyar ki yeh kahani suno‘ song from HTPL. In fact both the movies are pretty close in terms of portraying various shades and sentiments of characters woven around delicate human relationships (HTPL scores better as a movie than ZNMD on this front). But in-line with the title of the movie the audience get the real ‘High’ while watching the intense moments captured in slow-mo after accomplishing each of the missions/adventures, and moreover the monologues / shayari by Imran (written by Javed Akhtar). Even though the monologues has Farhan’s voice-over, who is not necessarily best known for his voice, still resembles a lot with Bachhan’s monologues (Silsila and others). The beauty of these scenes and imapct it creates lies in capturing the opposite – The scenes/visuals are intense with no dialogues, backed with soft tunes played on Piano and at times a very meaningful shayari (by Javed Akthar) voiced-over by Farhan.

To sum it up, superficially it’s a very fizzy, new-age, funny movie, but deep within it captures variety of human relations - and people owning, disowning, possessing, paranoid about those relations – and moreover also profoundly tells how to come out of that and live the life for yourself, for your near and dear ones, and also to the fullest. Or simply put – ‘Chahat ke do pal bhi mil payein …’. A must watch, can be a personal collection for Farhan Akhtar’s and Katrina’s on-screen appearance, ‘Senorita’ song, and whenever we want to enthrust our belief in living.