Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai Review

Shakti Samantas Aradhana Films was synonymous with romantic movies, so it doesn come as a surprise that Shakti Samantas grand-son debuts with a love story, YEH JO MOHABBAT HAI. In these fast-changing times, with more and more stories and films getting realistic, its hard to find movies that take you back to the romance of the 70s. YEH JO MOHABBAT HAI revisits the times of yore.

Director Shree Narayan Singh and writer Dilip Shukla borrow from every memorable love story, from BOBBY to QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK to DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE. The outcome, therefore, is a bland khichdi that gets unbearable after a point.

The story around two wealthy families in Udaipur -- Rathore [Mukesh Tiwari, Anuradha Patel, Farida Jalal] and Choudhary [Mohnish Bahl, Rati Agnihotri]. An unsolved murder of a family member, combined with business rivalry and the need to prove to each other their supremacy, deepens the enmity. However, God has other plans. A girl [Karishma, portrayed by Nazia Hussain] is born to the Rathore family and a boy [Karan, enacted by Aditya Samanta] to the Choudhary family on the same day. 23 years hence, unknown of their family backgrounds, they meet each other in Poland, where the journey of love and togetherness begins.

Based on old family feuds, YEH JO MOHABBAT HAI is a present-day Romeo and Juliet tale with the usual ingredients that you associate with prem kahanis [songs, heartache, parental opposition, a jealous lover et al]. Come to think of it, the film has nothing imaginative to offer. The cast is spanking new and so are the stunning locales of Poland for the viewers to witness, but the material relies so much on the tried and tested, been-there-seen-that kind of situations that you misplace concentration after a point. The sole silver lining, besides the scale of the film and the spectacular look, is its musical score [Anu Malik], who belts out a couple of hummable tracks.

While the college romance dominates the first hour [in Poland], the post-interval portions, when the story shifts to Udaipur, are a drab with the family feud coming to the fore. Ideally, the film shouldve concluded right after the marriage song [Big Fat Indian Wedding], but the sudden appearance of the heroines brother and the fight that ensues, results in the graph of the film going downwards. In fact, the film is unnecessarily stretched from this point onwards and the last half-an-hour gets agonizingly unbearable.

The DoP [Fuwad Khan] captures Poland marvelously, while the locales of Udaipur add sparkle to the plot. The soundtrack is melodious. Pyaar Karna Na Tha is the pick of the lot.

The role seems tailor-made for Aditya Samanta, who slips into his character well. Nazia, who made her debut with SAY YES TO LOVE, is strictly okay. The film has a host of supporting actors, including Mohnish Bahl, Rati Agnihotri, Farida Jalal, Mukesh Tiwari and Anuradha Patel, and each of them enact their parts without much stress. The actor playing the jilted lover of Nazia does a fair job.

On the whole, YEH JO MOHABBAT HAI is a regular love story with the standard been-there-seen-that aspects.