Aa ab Laut Chalen (1999)

Too much of everything

Instant Favorite.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Why do filmmakers like Subhash Ghai show Indians as good people and NY people as bad people? Was a big question in my mind now even Rishi Kapoor feels the same in AALC which is very badI mean please the superficial way of showing America puts people off and in today's overseas audiences dominating times this isn't goodThe first half moves in different lanes and the love triangle is done to deathand the second half gets better a bit Akshaye's realization is well handled and then the film ends well but the sudden change of the other son is too muchThey are many problems in the film like the first half which moves in different lanes and not proper treatment is given to most of itRishi Kapoor directs some dramatic scenes well but he needs to improve his storytelling, overall a decent debut by one of the finest actors as a director Music is okayAkshaye Khanna shines in his role, He was always a good actor but signed bad films those days Barring his receding hairstyle he leaves a huge impact as an actor Aishwarya is plastic as ever Rajesh Khanna is okay Kader Khan and Jaspal Bhati are good Satish Kaushik is funny Paresh Rawal is good

I watched this as an Aishwarya fan. I think it's her 4th movie, so it's interesting for me to see her when she was "younger"--although that's only a few years ago! She looked really skinny--too skinny! In a couple of the songs, she does not even dance--what was the director thinking? That we don't want to see Aishwarya?? This was probably the worst Indian film I have seen in terms of the subtitles. First, they were in white letters, so they were hard to read. Second, they were often very stilted English--quite often humorous without intending to be. Third, sometimes they repeated the subtitles, sometimes they put on a long subtitle for .1 of a second. Fourth, sometimes they were just nonsense--A great example is when they go to the "Grapp Family Lodge" towards the end of the movie. Of course it's really the "Trapp Family Lodge" in New Hampshire, and yes, it's the lodge owned by the Trapp Family who were the subject of "The Sound of Music." I have a feeling all that was lost on the director--it would have been a great opportunity to have a song set in the hills above Salzburg, where Julie Andrews sang. It would have added a nice touch of humor. But no. Oh well, a great opportunity lost. Why not get a native Engish speaker to proofread the subtitles? Leaving the stereotypes aside, which the other reviewers have mentioned, I was more upset at the heavy-handed "lessons" in the movie. Yes, I have seen this in other Indian movies too, but not as many and not as awkwardly done. There was the "Pakistanis are really good Indians too" lesson, the "family is more important than money" lesson, the "women are more than tokens in the marriage market" lesson, the "forgive those as you wish to be forgiven" lesson, etc. etc.--every five minutes, and no subtlety at all. A movie can have a message, but when you have 35 different messages...well, it doesn't work. By the way, how about a lesson on illegal immigrants working on a tourist visa? To Indians sitting in India thinking they can just get off the plane on a tourist visa and start driving a cab or work at Dunkin' Donuts, forget it. You can't.Reality checks: New Jersey boardwalk as an exotic, fun location? Please. Are there no hotels/rooms in New York? --why did Akshay and Aishwarya have no choice but to move in with the taxi drivers? Is India that disorganized that a millionaire would find it impossible to find the wife he left behind? And of course all the coincidences would make Dickens blush.So, as a movie, pretty bad. As a showcase for a young (26?) Aishwarya, OK.

a timepass movie.. sometimes can get pretty unbearable.. but one manages to get by the movie. the camaraderie aspect between Akshaye and Jaspal Bhatti and gang is real good... the movie tends to get unrealistic which is disappointing.

This was actually a suprisingly good film. Not astoundingly original, but compared to the usual formulaic trash that succeeds in north india this had a few new ideas. The main plus points are the visuals - aishwarya is stunning and the shooting localities are breathtaking. Songs aren't bad either - brilliantly picturized, especially 'Meri dil tera deewana'.