Movie review: Teri Meri Kahaani

Whatever prompted or inspired this so-called 'thrice upon love story'? It is replete with run-of-the-mill ideas that we have seen since decades in Hindi filmdom. Barely do the hero and the heroine bump into each other that the sparks fly

Teri Meri Kahaani
U/A, Romance
Dir: Kunal Kohli
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra
*1/2

They fly faster than sound and Cupid’s arrow strikes a perfect bull’s eye. Of course there has to be that mandatory roadblock that keep the lovers apart. And you don’t have to hazard any guesses what happens at the end to the lovers — that’s over-familiar territory too.

So we have Shahid and Priyanka criss-cross time spans to bump into each other as musician Govind and actress Rukhsar in 1960’s Poona-Bombay. They then metamorphose into students Krrish and Radha in 2012 England and then take over a century’s leap backwards to resurface as Javed and Aaradhna in 1910 Lahore.

The movie begins like the 2003 Kareena Kapoor–Fardeen Khan starrer Khushi in a hospital ward where a male and female baby go their ways and don’t know when, if at all destiny will make them meet again.

In Teri Meri Kahaani they do soon enough, on board a train. It begins with the ’60s and strangely the execution seems to be inspired by a Charlie Chaplin film where after every few scenes comes a sub-title for the audience.

But it isn’t a silent, slapstick movie. Wonders never cease as they go hip in the 2012 setting and traditional in 1910. It is as if a change in hairstyle and costumes with the help of some props is enough. Shahid does his earnest bit to get in and out of the roles while PC does her I-know-it-all act along with her matte make-up that remains constant throughout the centuries.

There is nothing unusual in the story or direction department and the climax which does a yo-yo across time spans is enough to cause travel sickness with dialogues like “women are like alcohol and just one won’t suffice” and that “he can marry four times, no?” The only bright side of the insipid tale is the soothing music of the film.

Teri Meri Kahaani comes a decade after Kohli’s Mujhse Dosti Karoge. The director then made films like Hum Tum, Fanaa and Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic. Life’s certainly come a full circle with TMK. Recently Vikram Bhatt, too, explored different time zones in Karisma Kapoor’s comeback flick Dangerous Ishhq and we all know what happened to it.u00a0

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