In the current techno times, the easiest way to know how long a movie has been into its making is to simply look at the mobile phones being used in its scenes. The various models in the hands of the characters would clearly give you the idea of how old the product actually is. And that's exactly the case with "Milenge Milenge", which was scheduled to be released a long time back. Moreover the jaded looks of its lead pair also tell the long tough story behind the scenes.
But that was not news to the general public since its promos and music clearly revealed its real production status. The actual and sad news is that the movie is entirely a devoted inspired version of the John Cusack & Kate Beckinsale starrer English romantic flick "Serendipity" released in 2001 and has got nothing in original as such added by its director Satish Kaushik.
Admittedly, I already knew that its story was based on the English Hit but I really didn't expect it to be such a straight lift or copy from the original source. Though it starts with the same clichéd college and youth festival sequences, where the boy and girl meet to fall in love. But after its initial hour the movie simply starts following "Serendipity" blindly. Every single scene post intermission is precisely copied from the English movie as it is. In fact even the side characters, sequences and added comic scenes are also there exactly in the same manner as in "Serendipity".
For instance, as seen in its original, the heroine here too believes in destiny and wants to test it in order to find her true love. The use of Currency note and a book to write the names and address of each other by the couple are straight away copied. Further the lift sequence, the shopping bag element, the credit card receipt, the greedy seller at the store, the address hunt in the godown, the two moving to another city to find each other and the last moment marriages of both the lead characters are all adapted just like that.
Funnily there is a small sequence in the Original, where the heroine's friend screams looking at a duplicate PRADA purse being sold on the road side at a cheap price. Even after being told about the wrong spellings of PRADA on it, she still feels excited to buy it. Now this scene is no- where relevant to the script and is added only for having some fun moments. But even this scene gets copied in "Milenge Milenge" blindly where only the brand name changes from "PRADA" to "GUCCI" very creatively. What a true inspiration indeed!
Hence, it once again becomes very difficult for me to write about a creative product which is not original from any angle in the first place. Satish Kaushik has earlier given a massive hit in the past as "Tere Naam". So from a director of his stature a straight and clear lift from another source without any courtesy was really not expected. His direction may be fine for the people who don't care at all that he has borrowed. But personally I was quite taken back by this kind of an unofficial version project being associated with the name of Satish Kaushik.
The acting of both Shahid and Kareena is just OK considering the actual time span of the movie in which it was shot. But Shahid supporting the chain smoking act, should have been strictly avoided. It was really not needed, even if the film was released a few years before. In the supporting cast, everyone plays his or her role like a routine but Satish Shah, Kiron Kher and Aarti Chhabria were completely wasted in their small acts. However Satish Kaushik himself shines in his short cameo. Musically, Himesh Reshamiya's score is just fine with nothing exceptional.
Now why I am in a hurry to finish up the review? That's because I am least interested about writing about some finer details of a movie which is entirely lifted from anyone else's creative efforts. Inspiration can be accepted but exactly similar sequences are really not what the young Indian audience is looking for. May be the makers have their own truthful arguments over the inspiration issue but if you ask me, there can never be any justified clarification for such an act in the creative world. Yet, I can only wish that it is an undisclosed official version of its original.
But that was not news to the general public since its promos and music clearly revealed its real production status. The actual and sad news is that the movie is entirely a devoted inspired version of the John Cusack & Kate Beckinsale starrer English romantic flick "Serendipity" released in 2001 and has got nothing in original as such added by its director Satish Kaushik.
Admittedly, I already knew that its story was based on the English Hit but I really didn't expect it to be such a straight lift or copy from the original source. Though it starts with the same clichéd college and youth festival sequences, where the boy and girl meet to fall in love. But after its initial hour the movie simply starts following "Serendipity" blindly. Every single scene post intermission is precisely copied from the English movie as it is. In fact even the side characters, sequences and added comic scenes are also there exactly in the same manner as in "Serendipity".
For instance, as seen in its original, the heroine here too believes in destiny and wants to test it in order to find her true love. The use of Currency note and a book to write the names and address of each other by the couple are straight away copied. Further the lift sequence, the shopping bag element, the credit card receipt, the greedy seller at the store, the address hunt in the godown, the two moving to another city to find each other and the last moment marriages of both the lead characters are all adapted just like that.
Funnily there is a small sequence in the Original, where the heroine's friend screams looking at a duplicate PRADA purse being sold on the road side at a cheap price. Even after being told about the wrong spellings of PRADA on it, she still feels excited to buy it. Now this scene is no- where relevant to the script and is added only for having some fun moments. But even this scene gets copied in "Milenge Milenge" blindly where only the brand name changes from "PRADA" to "GUCCI" very creatively. What a true inspiration indeed!
Hence, it once again becomes very difficult for me to write about a creative product which is not original from any angle in the first place. Satish Kaushik has earlier given a massive hit in the past as "Tere Naam". So from a director of his stature a straight and clear lift from another source without any courtesy was really not expected. His direction may be fine for the people who don't care at all that he has borrowed. But personally I was quite taken back by this kind of an unofficial version project being associated with the name of Satish Kaushik.
The acting of both Shahid and Kareena is just OK considering the actual time span of the movie in which it was shot. But Shahid supporting the chain smoking act, should have been strictly avoided. It was really not needed, even if the film was released a few years before. In the supporting cast, everyone plays his or her role like a routine but Satish Shah, Kiron Kher and Aarti Chhabria were completely wasted in their small acts. However Satish Kaushik himself shines in his short cameo. Musically, Himesh Reshamiya's score is just fine with nothing exceptional.
Now why I am in a hurry to finish up the review? That's because I am least interested about writing about some finer details of a movie which is entirely lifted from anyone else's creative efforts. Inspiration can be accepted but exactly similar sequences are really not what the young Indian audience is looking for. May be the makers have their own truthful arguments over the inspiration issue but if you ask me, there can never be any justified clarification for such an act in the creative world. Yet, I can only wish that it is an undisclosed official version of its original.