173: I, ME AUR MAIN

Release date:	March 1, 2013
Director:	Kapil Sharma
Cast: Language:	John Abraham, Chitrangada Singh, Prachi Desai, Mini Mathur, Zarina Wahab, Raima Sen, Sameer Soni Hindi

When a film stars John Abraham, Chitrangada Singh and Prachi Desai, you’d imagine that it will, if nothing else, be good-looking. That’s not what you get with I, Me aur Main, the story of a little boy spoilt silly by his mother as a result of which he grows into a selfish adult male. Ishaan Sabharwal (Abraham) is now a music industry executive in Mumbai living with his gorgeous girlfriend Anushka who serves him hand and foot although she concedes that he’s a self-centred pig. Why, asks his irritated sister? Sigh! Because I love him, says a dreamy-eyed Anushka. I guess you can’t blame her since Ishaan can be cute as a button when he’s not behaving as immature as a baby whose only pre-occupation is Ishaan! Through the film’s 108 minutes of running time, there are break-ups and patch-ups, a feisty new neighbour (Prachi Desai) who gets Ishaan to take a re-look at himself and a Mum who pops up in his home.

It’s all considerable fun in the first half as Ishaan’s inexcusably irresponsible ways are given a light touch, provoking laughs and exasperation. Besides, Abraham and Singh look stunning as always. With every film starring Singh, it feels good too to see that an increasingly progressive Bollywood is not trying to camouflage the complexion of this dark-skinned beauty. Desai’s likeable presence, on the other hand, reminds us that the film industry has not tested this girl enough. It’s also nice to see what Zarina Wahab does when given a substantial role after such a long time. As Ishaan’s flighty mother who travels cities to bring paranthas to her darling, she is glaring evidence of why her boy turned out to be such an overgrown ass. And then there’s that sister (played neatly by Mini Mathur), who can see Ishaan for what he is. Four strong women in one film?! (Well actually, five, but we’ll come to that later…) Is this the Bollywood we always knew?!

With so much going for it, I, Me aur Main could have been an enjoyable coming-of-age film about an adult male and the ladies in his life. Sadly, the screenplay that shows a good sense of humour before the interval unravels in the second half when called upon to deal with serious issues of family responsibility. What could this film tell us that the Preity Zinta-Saif Ali Khan-starrer Salaam Namaste did not? The possibilities are plenty and director Kapil Sharma is clearly well  intentioned, but struggles to provide his film with depth and meaning. In fact the denouement feels embarrassingly like he and writer Devika Bhagat weren’t sure how to wrap it all up.

Back to that point about the film’s look … since I’m a frequent visitor to the multiplex where I watched I, Me aur Main, it’s safe to say that the film’s appearance can’t be blamed on the theatre’s projection quality. I, Me aur Main suffers from indifferent production values almost throughout. Particular injustice is done to Desai by the lighting team who actually manage to make her face appear pockmarked in one particular scene in which she is putting a drunk Ishaan to sleep. Since this is Bollywood, I don’t suppose there’s any point in also pointing out that the story tries to convince us that Abraham is in his mid-30s (Ishaan is a little kid of perhaps 7/8 when we first see him in Pune and when the story shifts to him as a grown-up in Mumbai, the screen flashes the words “25 years later”). Abraham is a hottie at 40 so why is there shame in making Ishaan a 40-year-old who romances women way younger than himself, especially when the age difference with the female leads is so evident? Ah well, this is Bollywood, so why am I even bothering to ask? And frankly, these are mere asides about a film which had the potential to be something special but fizzles out due to inconsistent writing.

The music of I, Me aur Main is average which is odd considering that the story is set in the music industry. And why is a lovely actress like Raima Sen made to behave in such a moronic fashion in her role as Ishaan’s new boss?! Perhaps a rule should be made that prevents her from working with anyone but director Rituparno Ghosh who gives her talent the space and roles it deserves. Fortunately, there’s another unwritten rule of Bollywood that the film does adhere to: John Abraham does take off his shirt. His excuse for doing so is as thin as a potato wafer, but who cares. Not I. Not me. Not main.

Rating (out of five): **

CBFC Rating (India):	U/A
Running time:	108 minutes

Photograph courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Me_Aur_Main