Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
Directed by: Rajkumar Santoshi
Producer by: Ramesh S Taurani
Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Upen Patel, Darshan Jariwala, Salman Khan, Govind Namdeo, Smita Jaykar, Navneet Nishan, Mithilesh Chaturvedi, Zakir Hussain, Pradeep Kharab, Sanatan Modi
Music Dir: Pritam Chakraborty

Twenty years ago Suraj Barjatya gave us a Prem. He was suave, caring, short tempered, but lovable to all. Now, Rajkumar Santoshi presents Prem of the new generation. He is fun-loving, caring, ready to do anything to make others happy and differs completely with the past generation.

Ranbeer Kapoor epitomizes the lover boy of silver screen and who other than Rajkumar Santoshi could be the sophisticated creator of this non-serious boy! Santoshi who is a proud presenter of Sunny Deol in 'Betaab' and Bobby Deol in 'Barsaat' as a lover boy on silver screen brings his new protégé with some nice package!

Yes, package, because unlike his earlier films where Santoshi had a great story to tell, here he relies more on making the film look good - good color scheme, exotic locations, fashionable clothes, hip-hop dance steps and above all a protagonist who is closer to multiplex audience, phew!

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani' has an Ajab Prem for sure, but if you are looking for a Ghazab Kahani, Santoshi may not score full marks. It is his story, his screenplay and also his dialogues that all the characters in the film speak. The take-off of the film is wonderful. It has a decent flight too, but it lands on the ground miserably!

An idea can be wonderful but to convert this into a two-hour compact story has always been difficult. Santoshi brings in his experience of making a comedy post-'Andaaz Apna Apna' and manages to tickle your bones most of the time.

He manages to entertain you because of his art of story narration. Ranbeer Kapoor as Prem who falls on the wrong side of luck tries to impress his lady luck Jenny (Katrina) and progresses to a new level with this film. He gets some very good one-liners and imitates the character with full honesty.

Santoshi can be proud of cracking the best on screen chemistry between Katrina and Ranbeer; the pair looks cool. With the help of a director like Santoshi, the cast of the film tries to impress the audiences and Ranbeer comes on top among them.

After all, he is also the hero of the film! He passes the test of comedy with distinction. Seconding him in the chase for perfection is Katrina Kaif who is improving fast with her more viewer-friendly pronunciation of typical Hindi words.

If Ranbeer and Katrina are the two leading sailors of this voyage, Darshan Jariwala and Smita Jayker aren't very much behind. Their timing for comedy is superb and these seniors match step by step with their offspring on screen.

Govind Namdeo may have failed in his previous films, but this was due to his wrong choice of roles. Upen Patel presented as a twist in the film keeps on trying to unfold himself in front of the camera and before he could complete his act the film is over.

Among technicians, Santoshi has at least three aces; namely Thiru's cinematography, Pritam's music and Ahmed Khan's choreography. Thiru captures nuances of comedy and color of nature weaved in one. He also tries some unorthodox frames and creates good depth in scenes.

Pritam has made some soul stirring music after a long time. His tunes are melodious and people are found humming his songs. And, last but not the least; Ahmed Khan too is emerging as a favorite choreographer of new generation.

On the whole, 'Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani' is a nice film that can be watched together with your family and is a good weekend entertainer. And, add to this a wonderful cameo by original Prem of Hindi Cinema, Salman Khan.