Film review: 'Milenge Milenge' is syrupy convolution of fate and destiny

Milenge MilengeCast: Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Delnaz PaulDirector: Satish KaushikRating: * *This Boney Kapoor production might never have seen the light of the cinema halls but for the last-ditch effort by the producer. Not that we would have missed anything if it hadn’t. It’s obvious a lot of money was spent over the six year long period that it took to get this to the finish line- unfortunately it appears to have been a wasted effort all around. The story  is an unabashed mix of ‘Serendipity’ and ‘Only You.’ An interesting concept which could have been far more viable in a re-worked Indian set-up- if only the scriptwriter and director had used a little bit of their intelligence and smarts. That was not to be. So you are left with a cliché ridden overdressed syrupy convolution about fate and destiny playing a huge role in uniting an estranged couple.Priya Malhotra(Kareena) is an orphan so is secretly seeking a happy family with Mr Right-though on the surface she makes out she isn’t interested until a tarot card reader(Kiron Kher) tells her about her destiny- meeting up with Mr Right on the 7th of the month in a foreign country. The howlarious part though was that he would be dressed in 7 colours. From thereon it’s a predictable run – Immy (Shahid) meets Priya, gets hold of her diary, knows about her intimate desires and sets out to be the man of her dreams even if he has to work twice as hard at it. They break-up soon enough and Priya sets up an impossible test for him to prove his love. Three years pass and just when they are about to be hitched to different partners, fate starts playing tricks on them,- reminding them of what could have been.It’s the plotting that really makes it all so run-of-the-mill tedious. The songs and the music are just as jaded. The writing is sub-standard, there’s not much humour in the dialogues. The kitsch in the first half may appear briefly interesting to the less discerning but once Priya issues-up her challenge to fate, it all goes downhill.Bangkok looks beautiful, the city is captured in all it’s glory and is a fitting backdrop for a star-crossed romance. Kareena and Shahid do look good, together and otherwise,  but their looks and styling keep changing with every frame playing havoc with the continuity. The rambunctious energy of ‘Jab we met’ is sorely missing. All you get is an insipid copiously manufactured romance without the magic!