Star cast: Akshay Oberoi, Sandeepa Dhar, Mohnish Bahl.
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Plot: Sandeepa is a small-town girl who joins a college in Bombay, without the consent or knowledge of her strict and orthodox father. She gets friendly to Vivaan in college. But can they live happily ever after?
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What’s Bad: The kiddish screenplay; the lack of romance and emotions; the lacklustre comedy.
Verdict: Isi Life Mein…! is a weak fare.
Loo break: Some, in the first half.
Watch or Not?: Watch it if you cherish the clean entertainment of the Barjatya banner, Rajshri.
Rajshri Productions Pvt. Ltd.’s Isi Life Mein…! is about pursuing one’s dreams in one’s lifetime. Rajnandini (Sandeepa Dhar) hails from a traditional Rajasthani family. She doesn’t want to get married after her schooling is over and her comparatively liberal-minded mother (Prachee Shah Pandya) knows this. The mother, therefore, sends her to Bombay to stay with her (mother’s) sister. The intention is that Rajnandini would join a college in Bombay to pursue further studies. But the mother doesn’t take her husband, Ravimohan Khandelwal (Mohnish Bahl), into confidence as she is sure, he would not approve of Rajnandini going to a Bombay college. Ravimohan is a very orthodox man.
In Bombay, Rajnandini befriends Vivaan (Akshay Oberoi) and joins his drama group. Vivaan’s father (Aditya Raj Kapoor) is against his dramatics as he considers it a waste of time. Anyway, Vivaan and Rajnandini’s friendship turns into love, but Rajnandini is scared to express her love. Similarly, Vivaan also doesn’t openly profess his love for her. However, he does goad her into following her dreams. He encourages her to pursue dancing at which she is very good. Meanwhile, the drama group is rehearsing for an inter-collegiate competition.
All hell breaks loose when Rajnandini’s strict father sees her wearing clothes he’d never approve of and with her group of college friends – guys and girls. Rajnandini is forced to return to Rajasthan with her angry father who, soon, fixes her marriage. Not able to establish contact with Rajnandini, her friends land in her house on the day of her engagement and are shocked by the turn of events. They plead with her father to allow her to participate in the inter-collegiate competition as part of their troupe but he, obviously, insults them. They try to reason out with him that marriage cannot be the be-all and end-all of a girl’s life but the father is simply not prepared to see reason.
Do the two worlds – one represented by Vivaan and his modern friends, and the other represented by Rajnandini’s orthodox and autocratic father – meet? Does Vivaan’s father have a change of heart? What about Rajnandini’s father? And what about her marriage? Answers to all these questions are provided in the last part of the film.
Script and Screenplay
Vidhi Kasliwal’s story is extremely childish. Although it is a love story, romance is almost completely missing. The conflict between the two worlds – traditional and modern – does not appeal because Rajnandini’s mother, in a way, cheats when she does not take her husband into confidence about Rajnandini going to a college in Bombay. Ravimohan is strict but he is not a wrong man that she should have kept him in the dark about such an important decision in the life of his own daughter. Since the foundation of the conflict is so shaky, the conflict itself makes little sense because the two sides to the conflict aren’t on the same platform.
Sulekha Bajpai Karkare’s screenplay is very weak. Although the gist of the story is that marriage is an important part of life, and not life itself, the screenplay hardly complements this one-line story. The first half is frivolous and looks fake and contrived. It moves at a snail’s pace and fails to evoke any kind of emotions in the audience’s hearts. The post-interval portion also does not create any impact because the conflict is hardly allowed to become full-blown. The group of friends from Bombay are shown to be chicken-hearted and docile. Rajnandini thanking Vivaan for encouraging her to pursue her dreams, when she is about to get married, looks unwarranted. For, where has she pursued her dreams? Rather, quite contrary to his advice, she has left her dreams unfulfilled and is all set to get married.
The pranks and antics of Vivaan and his mates, in the pre-interval portion, lack novelty and aren’t even funny enough. What’s more, the entire group of friends is so passe, the viewer doesn’t even empathise with anyone. Romance between Vivaan and Rajnandini is hardly heartwarming. Emotions are conspicuous by their absence throughout the film. Even the drama itself is half-baked. That being so, the film turns out to be a dull fare moving at a leisurely pace and without conveying much.
Star Performances
Akshay Oberoi looks average and acts well in his debut film. Sandeepa Dhar makes an ordinary debut. She needs to work hard on her expressions to make a mark. Mohnish Bahl does well. Prachee Shah Pandya is quite good. Shagufta Ali acts ably. Aditya Raj Kapoor does not impress. Veebha Anand (as Nupur), Akash Bhatija (as Sumo), Neha Kakkar (as Sam), Samaira Rao (as Val), Suyesha Savant (as Aksy), Moin Khan (as Tintin), Rahul Kalra (as Pari), Deepak Ramola (as Mental), Ayush Mehra (as Sunil), Tasha Kapoor (as Shonali), Mansee Deshmukh (as Rhea), Vineeta Agarwal (as Shubha), Rajesh Balwani (as Mukul), Dilip Raj (as Swamiji), Deepika Amin (as Meenak), Abhijit V. Bhor (as Principal Abhyankar), Sumeet Lakhotia (as Prof. Mukherjee), Vijai S. Pande (as Harish Kaka) and Siddharth Dhanda (as bridegroom) lend ordinary support. Poonam Gulati (as Neeta Khandelwal) is ordinary. Suhasini Mulay, Gajendra Chauhan and Madhur Arora (as Chandramohan Khandelwal) are okay. Salman Khan, in a tiny guest appearance, adds star value.
Direction and Music
Vidhi Kasliwal’s direction is immature. She needs to understand that a romantic drama without heartwarming scenes and a family drama without emotions are like monsoon without rains. Music (by Meet Bros. Anjjan) is about the only good point in the film. Isi umar mein and Ramji ka naam lena 24 x 7 are very well-tuned numbers. Choreography of the Tere pyar mein song (Terence Lewis) is very nice. Manoj Muntashir’s lyrics are quite interesting. Aviram Mishra’s camerawork is alright. Editing (Abhay S. Pandey) is average.
The Last Word
On the whole, Isi Life Mein…! is a dull fare which fails to entertain.
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