Review: Aashiqui 2

[Black Cat]

What's hot:
Thankfully the only redeeming factor about the film is its pragmatic end which comes as a pleasant surprise after too much of surrealism.
What's not:
Aditya Roy Kapur's character is so half-baked and one-dimensional that you remain apathetic to his emotional turmoil.

Aashiqui 2 is too soggy and can make you cringe in your seat for being typical and tedious.




Director: Mohit Suri
Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor

Bhatts have always turned unrelated movies into film franchises, connecting them merely by genres. Same is the case with Aashiqui 2 which has no correlation whatsoever with its two-decade old prequel. The only common link arguably is that it dates back to the original’s era in terms of its soul and substance.

The film opens with a guitar-strumming Rahul (Aditya Roy Kapur) who is essentially an alcoholic but seems to be more in the hangover of Ranbir Kapoor’s Rockstar. He seems sad in life and you assume his depression might be arising from some troubled past. Alas there’s no such backstory and it seems as if Rahul is characteristically a crybaby. He comes across Aarohi (Shraddha Kapoor) and is so impressed by her singing skills that he offers her a big career in music world.

While he himself lacks any aim in life, Rahul is so upbeat about Aarohi that he pushes her into becoming a singing sensation. But when Aarohi turns one, Rahul feels isolated and out-of-sync with the industry. So while you expect an Abhimaan kinda ego-clash between the two, they seem to be more considerate than competitive. Yet Rahul can’t face his artistic failure and resorts to alcoholism (rather he always was a drunkard for no reason). And Aarohi believes she owes her stardom to Rahul and can’t live him alone.

Aashiqui 2 is too mushy and melodramatic – both being old-school emotions in contemporary context. Rahul’s blind faith in Aarohi is fashionably filmi and their love story is predictably tame. What the sequel derives (thematically) from the original is also the aspect that it’s a love story marred by professional aspirations (though under different circumstances). However the instant (and perhaps only) recall value of the 1990 Aashiqui is its melodious numbers while not much of its story is spoken about.

A bigger problem with the sequel is that there isn’t a defined conflict in the story for a long time. And when it finally comes, the story just keeps beating around it, making it absolutely one-dimensional. Rahul’s alcoholic misconduct gets repetitive after a while and he gets into such self-pity mode that he can give Devdas a run for money. Moreover his sob story makes him look more like a loser and rather than empathizing with him, you start detesting him. Like in Kareena Kapoor’s Heroine, you eventually turn indifferent towards the protagonist for their inability to get a grip on their own life.

Thankfully the only redeeming factor about the film is its pragmatic end which comes as a pleasant surprise after too much of surrealism. Unfortunately the narrative gets so monotonous in its second half and keeps repeating itself endlessly that you lose the film much before its end. To its merit, the film boasts of some good tunes though comparing it with the soundtrack of the prequel doesn’t make much sense.

Aditya Roy Kapur has good screen presence but his character is so half-baked and one-dimensional that you remain apathetic to his emotional turmoil. His face and expressions (or the lack of it) often remind of John Abraham in his initial days. He is not bad but better was expected in his first solo lead act for the potential that he showed in the past. In comparison, Shraddha Kapoor shows vast improvement and is able to stand on her own. Her pretty face and expressive eyes add to her appeal. Shaad Randhawa does fine in his short supporting role.

 

[[JUGRAJ SINGH]]

Tfs.................