mp3: mera pehla pehla pyaar - a re-review

MP3: Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar, is an ice cream, which despite the fact that you know the flavor and what to expect there’s a little zest in it that takes you by surprise. When every film released nowadays builds itself an acronym, the producers have in this case decided to ease things for the acronym coiners and give it themselves. So to start with MP3 is what they have decided to call it.

If fresh is a good word in context to cinema, then MP3 is fresh – not off the field fresh but fresh no matter. Almost everything about it has a refreshing feel to it – be it the performance of the lead pair, Ruslaan and Hazel, the supporting cast, the music by Ashu & Dhruv or the wonderful title track by Vipin Mishra.

MP3 is a love story, very typically love story, but also not the kind one is used to seeing in Hindi movies. It is boy meets girl, they fall in love and no bad guys or parents get in the way. The antagonist in this love story is the protagonist himself – which is what makes it different from your run of the mill love story. Rohan (Ruslaan) is a happy go lucky, spoilt only kid of a rich Delhi family, need one say more. Ayesha (Hazel) is the new kid in town, fresh from London and obviously friendless. They meet, she falls in love but he is almost too cool to do so. Almost, cause sooner rather than later he starts to do so. Things start going wrong the moment he falls in love, all of it brought on himself – ha, the typical macho ‘Dali boy’. They fight, she leaves for Paris on a holiday and with estrogen raging, he follows her there. The climax is for the faint hearted so watch it with no risk at all.

The best thing going for the film is the lead pair – they both work wonderfully well, Ruslaan is invigorating to say the least, and Hazel has an innocence about her that makes you want to protect her. They are both naturals and have been cast well, Hazel as the London returned girl with her accented Hindi and Ruslaan as the spoilt kid who wants to be the most popular dude in school. Their chemistry is wonderful, some of the moments (like the one when he thanks her for her ‘I’m sorry’ card) sublime. The supporting cast is good – each using his or her space well. A special mention must go out to Neelu Kohli and Manoj Pahwa as the caricatured Punjabi couple in Paris, Kanwaljeet is wonderful as Rohan’s dad and Gaurav Gera is pleasant as Sameer.

On the technical side, Ashu & Dhruv’s music is the best thing about the film. There is a lovely background score and the songs are all fresh and nice, especially Kaun Hoon Main which is instantly hummable and captures the moment very well. Amitabha Singh's cinematography is average, having seen far better from him, it could be said even a tad disappointing. The film could have looked much more youthful than it did and there is many a time that you wish that the visual has far more energy than it does.There isn’t much to say about Aarif Sheikh’s editing which is not to say that it is bad. It’s never in your face and lets the story take its course. Though in a film targeted at today’s youth you would have expected him to up the jazz a bit, but he has stuck to the tried and tested way. Remo’s name appears in the credits as the choreographer – sorry but I guess I missed his contribution.

But MP3, like an ice cream does tend to melt and it is a little soft at the centre. What doesn’t work for it at all is the screenplay, and that is the bane of the film. Which is almost nullifying all the good things said about the film this far. The filmmakers could have looked at a structure that helps engage audiences a little more. Cute is nice, but cute comes from performances and music, interesting is what the writers and director make it and sadly that is what MP3 lacks. There are scenes where you wished that they had taken a little more effort on the dialoguess – a little more effort that could have pushed the film that much more in the right direction. Robby Grewal as a director has done better, much better, with Samay – a different genre yes but a far superior film.

Like every supporter my heart goes out to the underdog and MP3 is an underdog. No stars, no big name music director and a director only on his second film. Every once in a way a little film pops which you watch and your heart says yes but your head says no. MP3 is one of those.