‘Ajab Gazabb Love’ review: An insipid, neither ‘ajab’ nor ‘gazab’ love story!

Ananya Bhattacharya Sanjay Gadhvi is the man who gifted the country and its moviegoers those amazing high-octane, adrenaline-pumping films called ‘Dhoom’ and ‘Dhoom 2’. And then he went ahead and said that he couldn’t stick to just making ‘Dhoom’s. However, not making ‘Dhoom’s and making something like ‘Ajab Gazabb Love’ instead is a mystery that is nothing short of gazabb . Gadhvi’s “light-hearted, clean comedy” is not one that entertains. Or maybe it does, but for not more than a while. Produced by Vashu Bhagnani, and starring the producer’s son Jackky Bhagnani as the lead actor, ‘Ajab Gazabb Love’ is a film that was touted to be a family entertainer. South actress Nidhi Subbaiah forays into Bollywood with this film. The film boasts of an impressive supporting cast – one that includes Darshan Jhariwala, Kirron Kher and yes, a moustached Arjun Rampal. Grewal Motocorp, which is owned by Yashvardhan Grewal (Darshan Jhariwala), is the proud launcher of the DC Avanti – the Dream Car. At an amount of just Rs. 25 lakh, this car is custom-made for Indian roads, with features that can give competition to a Ferrari – or so the audience is expected to believe. The brain behind the Dream Car is Rajveer Grewal (Jackky Bhagnani), Yashvardhan’s son. Kirron Kher as the doting Mrs. Grewal has only one thing on her mind – DB – the Dream Bahu. Cheesy? You bet. Rajveer, however, is in love with a girl who he sees on an escalator – no, he doesn’t know her: the typical tried-and-tested love at first sight is the basis of this ‘Ajab Gazabb Love’. So after Rajveer is done with his DC, his mother sends him off to a vacation on a cruise in the middle of some sea with bikini-clad girls all around and a run-of-the-mill friend (read: sidekick) for company. Rajveer’s mantra of working hard and partying harder couldn’t have found a better outlet – but for that girl he’d seen on the escalator. Rajveer finds out the college the object of his interest studies in, and parks his expensive Land Rover in the place marked for the handicapped. Hence begins a madcap ride – with Maddie (Madhuri, played by Nidhi) being at the helm of it all. Maddie loathes the rich, and Rajveer, being one, decides to impersonate the ‘poor’, and takes on the garb of a guy who works at a petrol pump. One lie leads to another and Maddie falls in love with Rajveer. Thereafter begins the ordeal of the Grewal family. They go through moments of trauma wearing clothes that ‘look’ poor, behave like the poor and so on. So far so good. Enter Arjun Singh Chauhan and Karan Singh Chauhan (twins, played by Arjun Rampal); Maddie’s elder brothers. While Karan Singh is a straight-backed, intimidating elder twin, Arjun is the one who plays his fiddle, doing odd jobs meted out to him by his elder brother. Maddie’s task of bringing her brothers to accept Rajveer as her husband takes the story forward from there. Some moral realisations, some lore of goodness, and some forget-and-forgive later, the threads of the story finally untangle. Jackky Bhaganani’s acting needs several eons of polishing. A six-pack abdomen and a good physique can just not compensate for the lack of emotions while acting. While the need of the hour is to emote on screen, Bhagnani doesn’t exactly do so. In order for Nidhi Subbaiah to lengthen her liaison with the Hindi film industry, she needs to downplay her over-acting at times and raise her average skills at others. Kirron Kher often resorts to unfathomable overacting; something just not funny. At other times, when she actually is herself, she does a fabulous job. Darshan Jhariwala’s performance is extraordinary. The kela scene finds special mention, he’s too good in that one. Arjun Rampal pulls off a fairly decent job with his double role; but maybe he should stick to serious performances. Those are the ones that are able to extract the best out of the actor: comedy doesn’t exactly appear his forte. Arshad Warsi, in a cameo, comes off as pretty average. The music by Sajid-Wajid is nothing above average; but will sure rule the music charts for a while before sinking into oblivion. ‘Boom Boom’, sung in Mika’s trademark nasal irritating voice, is one song that you just can’t seem to escape. The other songs, too, are passable. ‘Ajab Gazabb Love’ is just a one-time watch. There’s nothing that’s out of the ordinary or utterly striking about either the acting or the direction or the storyline. But if you’re looking for some genuine laughs and many more forced ones, go watch ‘Ajab Gazabb Love’. Follow @nanya116