U, me aur ho-hum

U, Me Aur Hum
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Sumeet Raghvan, Divya Dutta, Karran Khanna, Isha Sharvani
Director: Ajay Devgan
Rating:  ** ½

Why do filmmakers and writers use their own names for their character? When so much has been invested in setting a courtship on a cruise liner, and framing a million shots as tight close ups, colour correcting the sea to a dazzling blue, couldn’t the makers have come up with a more imaginative name for the male lead than Ajay?

But I am being pedantic. Much like ‘Ajay’, played by (no prizes for guessing) Ajay Devgan, courting ship stewardess Piya (Kajol) via clandestine means, so also the promos of this film mislead us into believing this is just another sappy Bollywood romance.

Devgan’s directorial debut is no Titanic, but its no chiffon-draped, pastel painted formulaic love story either. It tackles sacrifice, selfishness, commitment and devotion, hinged on the sensitive issue of Alzheimer’s disease.

The best moments of the film are brought to life mainly by a superb performance by Kajol. As Piya, she traverses the graph from vivacious to the afflicted with skill.

The plodding first half takes us through the story of the court’ship’, separation and reuniting. The second compensates for the pre-interval segment, as it delves into the complexities of an imbalanced relationship of dependence.

Kajol completely comes into her own here as an ailing woman unaware of her vulnerability and delicate situation. She is superb. Devgan, on the other hand, seems to have been more focused on producing and directing, failing to hit the right notes, especially in the critical moment of meltdown.

Somehow, one never feels his conflict.  The screenplay comfortably uses flashbacks and an anecdotal narrative style to move from present to past and back again as an older Ajay recounts the story of Ajay and Piya’s romance to an older woman in a restaurant.

While performances and screenplay are noticeable, the dialogues are not. The film is verbose, and the cheesy lines sound like translations of Hallmark cards. U, Me Aur Hum suffers from a serious attack of self-indulgence, which seems to have affected the editing and therefore the pace of the film.

Aseem Bajaj’s cinematography is fresh but rather too partial to close ups. Coupled with the art direction, the scenes on the cruise look like an over-iced, multi-coloured marzipan cake. And where does one see a ‘care facility’ like this one  – with port-holes for windows, claustrophobic passages and pista green walls that would trouble anyone.

As a director, Devgan clearly knows his chops, and displays great confidence.

However U, Me Aur Hum would have benefited from some revised casting decisions, greater guidance for the supporting cast (who appear to be performing on individual levels and not as an ensemble), a more consistent cinematic style and an impartial disconnect to cut the flab.