Movie Review : Pyaar Impossible

Film: Pyaar Impossible
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Uday Chopra, Dino Morea
Genre: Romance
Direction: Jugal Hansraj
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes

Critic's Rating:

Story: Be-spectacled geek, Abhay falls in love with college hottie, Alisha and silently slinks away into the shadows when he realises she's unattainable. Seven years later, he re-enters her life as the nanny and hopes to woo the single mom, this time at least. Does he succeed?

Movie Review: It wasn't Napoleon alone who thought impossible was a word only to be found in a fool's dictionary. Bollywood -- and all fiction, for that matter -- believes impossible ain't a word when it comes to testing the power of love. Hence, the preponderance of the froggie-turned-into-a-Prince-Charming pyaar in fairy tale and folk lore.

So we aren't really surprised when a hot and happening Priyanka Chopra sweetly declares she ain't no princess, just an ordinary girl and falls in love with Shrek's colonial cousin, Abhay the geek, who's been nurturing a doggy devotion for her for the last seven years. Of course, he does re-enter her life as the nanny to her brattish girl (sassy tween Advika Yadav), washes her dishes, does her laundry and plays friend and counsellor to her when she's drawn towards the office Lothario (Dino Morea).

But that again isn't the A-ha moment in this film. What really surprises us here are the gripping performances and the unrushed restraint with which this run-of-the-mill romance unfolds and manages to gently draw you into the drama. Uday Chopra's nerdish Abhay is almost lovable with his low key, almost unnoticeable presence; Dino Morea is suave yet devilish; young Advika is precocious, yet precious....But hey, it's Priyanka who never does let you blink. As Alisha, the careerist who always falls for the wrong guy and struggles to keep her sundry avtars -- mom, working woman, lonely girl longing for love -- in sync, she's terrific. Truly, in terms of talent, she's one of the most watchable actors currently. Remember Fashion, Dostana, Kaminey....

Of course, in terms of the script, you are reminded of so many Hollywood films you have seen. The most recent being the Catherine-Zeta Jones and Justin Bartha romance, The Rebound, where Bartha's nanny scenes seem to have been summarily fitted into Pyaar Impossible. But eventually, the film scores with a desi feel that is making its presence felt in more and more urbane comedies rolling out of the Bollywood mills.

Nothing stupendous here. Just a sweet and soppy flavour with a picture-perfect Priyanka: Watchable.

A word about

Performances: Priyanka is the scene-stealer here, walking away with all your applause as the uptown girl who is in control in everything but her love life. Uday Chopra too pitches in a well-tuned, low key performance as the geek who gets tongue-tied before the woman he desperately loves.

Story: Uday Chopra turns storyteller with this film. Surprisingly, he manages to keep the heart and soul in the right place.

Dialogue: They are straight out of stuff you and me speak. Absolutely life-like. More importantly, they are spoken realistically: no hysteria, no hungama.

Cinematography: Santosh Thundiiyail captures Singapore sufficiently well, but it's the indoors that end up as warmer.

Music: Salim-Suleiman's score is funky yet forgettable. No, this one's not truly a Yash-Raj production in terms of its music.

Styling: Manish Malhotra does get Priyanka perfectly in sync with both her images: serious mom and hot girl. So you have her switching from casual shorts at home to slinky off-shoulders at parties and no-nonsense dresses at work. Uday wears his shirts out and his geeky specs in place.

Inspiration: Most recently, it's The Rebound for sure. Specially Uday's nanny act.