Why I think U Me Aur Hum is a better debut film than Taare Zameen Par.

I've never been a big fan of Ajay Devgan. True, he's got that intense, brooding thing going and brings a certain amount of respectability to his roles, but i've never really thought of him as an actor worth his salt. Ditto about Kajol. Never understood what the fuss was about her. Like Ajay, she's merely translated her real life image onscreen, as a charismatic individualist. But as a actress per se, she just doesn't make any effort, which to me as an audience, is insulting. Unlike her own cousin Rani, or someone like Hritik, who're constantly pushing their boundaries. She's just Kajol in every film, like Ajay is Ajay in every film. Intelligent people? Yes. Actors? No great shakes.

Which is why I wasn't exactly jumping with joy at seeing Ajay's directorial debut. Curious, yes. Excited, nah! The film started with this lame cruise flashback scene and cheesy dialogues. Within 30 minutes, we were begging for mercy. Contrived, silly, pretentious. Apart from superb supporting roles by Sumit Raghavan (so so so endearing!) and Divya Dutta (a natural, as always), nothing really grabbed attention.

Then the two get married and there's the scene where Ajay's driving with his buddies in the rain and almost runs over his wife, who's standing all askew, lost and crying, in front of her own house. That's when the movie took a sharp turn and people sat up in their seats.

Perhaps the problem with Ajay Devgan is that candyfloss romance is just not his thing! Try as he may, he just can't put his heart into it. But when the situation verved realistically to a heart-tugging story of a couple's tryst with a debilitating mental disease.....he rose to the occasion with a maturity and sensitivity that most most filmmakers in Bollywood would do well to emulate.

Post interval, the movie grabbed me and didn't let me go! I haven't read The Notebook and I don't know if Ajay has lifted scenes. But I was totally absorbed in what was going on screen. The director was extremely sure of himself and deft with technicalities. As actors, both Kajol and Ajay dug into their roles like hungry strays into leftovers. In one of the last scenes; Ajay and his buddies in the hotel just before he realizes he must get his wife back home, I though Ajay gave a restrained performance and the scene was brilliantly written without being soppy or pithy. As also the scene where Ajay rescues his baby from drowning in the bathtub. It's a tightrope trick to induce edginess and tension in a scene without breaking the emotionally connect or slowing down the pace....and the director outdid himself.

I had some serious issues with the emotional manipulation in Aamir Khan's directorial debut, which in my hugely minority opinion, was extremely over-rated. What with the smug Nikumbh and his self-righteous march against Dyslexia. Yes, TZP did touch me, i did feel for the child (probably because Aamir did his best job getting a superb performance from him) but I also realized that the filmamker had 'made' me cry. It's like Aamir got up each day of the shoot and thought, "hmm...now what can i do, how can i use this child to make my audience weep?" I mean that song about 'Maaa....' (the Dad scenes were more deftly handled), and Nikumbh's volunteering at the children's center.... DUH!! Could it get any more obvious?

In this, U Me aur Hum impressed me. The director respected my intelligence and yet touched my heart without ever resorting to melodrama (even lacing most scenes with a deft touch of humour) or manipulation. the friends' tracks was intelligently used.

By the end, the director had most of us in the theatre crying. While crying after seeing Taare Zameen Pe, I had this very sneaky feeling of being manipulated. People tell me perhaps I couldn't identify with TZP because I'm not a parent. (The only reason I liked TZP was the outstanding child artist who's being a precious pain in the ass these days on television!) But I'm not married either! And U Me aur Hum made me want to find that soulmate pronto! That's why it worked for me. Because it wasn't shouting out a statement from the galleries like Mr Khan's film did. It didn't make a conscious box-office related decision to grab my soul, dig into my maternal instincts and wring out tears. U Me aur Hum was just itself, told a story simply , stylistically, perhaps influenced by the maker's own realistic sensibilities and easy flowing yet intense approach to life, love and commitment.....

I'd rate it as one of the more mature love stories I've seen....plagiarism issues apart. If it wasn't for the miserable first half, this would have topped TZP all the way! Am looking forward to Ajay's next film. I think you've found your metier, Mr Devgan. You did a good job! Ditto for the wife:-) Keep it up!