I Hate Luv Storys neither romantic enough nor cynical

by Subhash K Jha

Starring: Imran Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Sammir Dattani

Written & Directed by Punit Malhotra

Rating: **

Swear to God and hope to die if I lie. But I really love love- stories even if they're spelt as 'luv –storys'.

But debutant director Punit Malhotra's I Hate Luv Storys (IHLS) just proves a over-sassy, under-written, rudderless out-of-control disappointment, coming as it does from Karan Johar production house which in the last one year has given us two films by debutant directors –Rensil d'Silva's Kurbaan and Ayaan Mukerjee's Wake Up Sid—which made a difference to the way we look at contemporary commercial cinematic entertainment.

IHLS is neither romantic enough nor cynical in sufficient measures about romantic cinema. Neither mushy nor tongue-in-cheek, the relationship between a dreamy-eyed romantic art -director Simran (Sonam, looking suitably dreamy-eyed and romantic) and a sardonic sneering cynical assistant-director Jay (Imran Khan), hovers uneasily between romance and its rejection.We never know which of the two is the guiding factor in the plot.

So take a look. We have this goofy messy guy named Jay who hates his surname 'Dhingra' because it isn't 'cool.' Making fun of mushy films is. Even if your helping one to be made.

The cool quotient in Punit Malhotra's screenplay spills out in unchecked amounts. Characters roll their eyes and chuckle loudly at the mention of romance. Their aggressive denial of all things lovey-dovey should have been backed up by oodles of basic common sense, warmth and witticism.

The writing lacks all three qualities. The screenplay is uneven and the lines that the characters mouth are intentionally designed to be cool.They end up being unintentionally awkward.

Urban cool, like glamour and chutzpah only works when it's done unselfconsciously. Most moments that take the narration towards the inevitable embrace of the diehard romantic and the laugh-hard cynic are strung together like one-line sms jokes stretched into a love saga from here to to New Zealand.

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