On ne vit qu'une seule fois

I have seen the film this morning and all the efforts put in are worth the movie. As expected, this is a good movie about grown up men and their emotional problems, which is naturally expected from the team that gave us Dil Chahta Hai and Rock On.

A group of three friends (Hrithik, Abhay Deol and Farhan Akhtar) embark on a road trip in Spain as a part of a bachelor party for Abhay Deol, who is getting married to Kalki, and confused. Hritik and Farhan have their own personal issues too.

The movie is a joy ride with subtle comedy. Farhan Akhtar's comic timing is impeccable. The comedy that was written just out of a ladies hand bag is too good.

The wafer thin story line is beautifully put on screen with a superb screenplay. The performances are nothing less than your expectations with Hritik in the ensemble. Deepti Naval and Naseeruddin Shah add up to the list of artists.

The movie portrays very heavy topics like marriage, love and Work. Yet, due to the sublime comedy you are never bored. I guess that is a mark of excellent script.

Here is one line I want to pick up from this movie. Kalki says this line to Abhay Deol, her fiancé. "You enjoy your bachelor trip. Aakhir shaadi ke baad you wouldn't feel like going around with your friends any more." And you should see the expressions on the faces of the three guys...

And yes, La Tomatina festival, Spainish beaches, and Katrina Kaif were a treat to watch.

No Farhan Akhtar movie has disappointed me - whether he stars in it or directs it. I am not claiming that he makes great movies - I am merely agreeing that his films are funny, intelligent and definitely entertaining.

The Hrithik-Farhan-Abhay trio have done a fabulous job. Incidentally, Katrina too is associated with a movie that makes more sense than all her prior films put-together. There are many instances in the movie where it appears that the actors are being themselves rather than actually acting - which is also the underlying theme of the movie. Be yourself and follow your heart, wherever you go, whatever you do.

Credit should be given to director Zoya Akhtar. This movie proves that her previous, Luck By Chance (2009) was not just luck. Cinematography and art direction have also been handled well. It was very refreshing to see Indian actors in casual street clothes holidaying in Spain. However, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are getting way too repetitive with their tunes, many songs give us a feeling that we have heard them before.

This is a summer movie that will give you what you seek - humor and entertainment. Wouldn't it be really fun if we could go on a nice little vacation and figure out what we want to do in life ? Wish life could be that simple.

Director Zoya Akhtar's debut "Luck by Chance" was a perfect film. Without a single thing amiss, the clear-eyed unsentimental tale of a couple of strugglers in the Hindi film industry stayed with me for days. Of course, there was some irony that a child of privilege with access to Hindi cinema's biggest and brightest talents should make a film about newcomers scrambling for their lucky break: Zoya is the daughter of screenplay writer/lyricist/poet Javed Akhtar and his former wife Honey Irani. Her stepmother—known internationally—is Shabana Azmi; her brother Farhan Akhtar—a successful director—made another foray into acting in Zoya's film, and the slew of boldface names in cameos announced that this was no ordinary debut. But one can hardly fault her for the accident of birth; what was noteworthy was that she put her connections to excellent use and crafted a truly fine film.

I couldn't wait to see her sophomore effort: "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara", which I enjoyed much as one might a mousse au chocolat. It was tasty and fattening and very good to look at. I'm still pondering whether it has any major cinematic merit. My friends and I agreed that it was very much an NRI-friendly film: most of the action takes place in a breathtakingly beautifully-photographed Spain, with a few scenes in London. The characters speak English for the most part, along with sporadic bursts of flawless Spanish and Japanese, and the occasional lapse into Hindi.

ZNMD could also be looked at as the armchair sociologist's handbook on the complex mating rituals of the rich and gorgeous. The cast, without exception, is privileged, affluent, and beautiful; their major problems in life would make a Mumbaikar or Delhi-ite burst into derisive laughter. In fact, if a dehati (villager) were to see the film, he might scratch his head in befuddlement and wonder what the hoopla was about. From his point of view, these folks had hit the jackpot, but the ingrates persisted in whining. Still, even the rich have problems which cause them enough angst to require much soulful gazing at Spanish oceans at sunset, and conscientious filmmakers owe it to them to handle them with sensitivity, good lighting, and hypoallergenic makeup.

With this film, Zoya Akhtar appears to have joined the ranks of the School of Aspirational Filmmaking. Its foremost proponents are Karan Johar and 99% of the directors ever employed by Yash Raj Films. Their films—set predominantly in foreign countries—are made for the new consumerist India. Their characters are upwardly mobile non-resident Indians, and the message to every brown person seems to be: you, too, can escape India's shores and live in a 50,000 square foot mansion on a fifty-acre estate in the country of your choice, drive fast cars (or a beaut of a vintage one, as here) and romance impossibly beautiful chiffon saree-clad damsels. How is never addressed.

ZNMD has a surfeit of good taste; Zoya's cast—all beautiful—lives abroad in chic monochromatic minimalist apartments, is multi-lingual, dresses impeccably, and can tell the varietal and vintage of a wine from the merest whiff of its cork. The slim story line concerns three college buddies who set out on the bachelor trip to end all bachelor trips. They had intended to take this vacation four years earlier, but two of the friends had a spat and the scars remain. Now one of the trio is getting married and the other two must give in to his emotional plea to resurrect their foreign travel plans. So off they go to Spain in all its sun-drenched glory. They run into Laila (Katrina Kaif), an athletic diving instructor, who stays on for most of the trip. This is the first film for me in which Katrina Kaif did not jar; she plays a mixed-race woman—half American, half Indian. She speaks English most of the time, some Spanish, and a few words of accented Hindi, but it works here, and she exudes well-being and sportiness. Perhaps from now on, anyone looking to cast her believably should make her a person of mixed ethnicity with only a smattering of Hindi. But wait—isn't that all she has played for the past dozen years? Surely, you'd think she'd want to grow as an actor and add to her skill set by learning Hindi properly, and taking some diction and acting lessons. Maybe her cynical response is I'm doing very well without any of that, so why bother? And everyone agrees she's punctual and professional…

Hrithik, after a long time, is not doing all the heavy lifting. He has two buddies for company, and it's a pleasant change seeing him as just one of the guys. The sun glints off his highlights as he strives to achieve optimum work-life balance, dances with game senoritas, and gets drunk with his amigos. Abhay Deol is not as well-muscled but he does some appealing work, wrestling with the dilemma of the perfect girlfriend fast morphing into a harridan fiancée. Farhan Akhtar's character, once again, is glib and a bit of an asshole, and tosses off bon mots with a studied insouciance. He, too, needs to broaden his range. We've seen him do this shtick in "Rock On" and "Luck By Chance", with minor changes of shading in the undeservedly little-seen "Kartik Calling Kartik". Kalki Koechlin is pretty and funny as she makes the most of a small role. Naseeruddin Shah is pure gold in his cameo, speaking harsh truths with sympathy. Deepti Naval, too, is lovely in her two small scenes.

Zoya has her cast articulate some admirable sentiments: Carpe diem; face your fears; follow your bliss, but it all passes by in an inconsequential, golden haze. So you won't waste time or money watching this movie, but you're not likely to remember it the following week or even perhaps the following day. For Zoya Akhtar's sake, I wish this film every success, for it will enable her future films that will, hopefully, have significant things to say.

Before going for this movie I was careful not to read anything about it, not watch a single trailer. This extremism mainly comes from my distrust on Indian Media which trashes movies that are comfortably awesome. Okay. If you are planning to go for it, do not read the rest of this. Come back and do it. This movie deserves an open mind. It shouldn't be that you go inside the theater with some invisible strings controlling how you perceive it. Let me tell you it is simple. It is also beautiful. And the combination makes it immense.

Right from the first scene, the director makes this his own. I wonder how many directors in this industry will be able to give a complete character definition of the protagonists through a sequence depicting their luggage-packing-styles for a 3 week trip. Zoya Akhtar does exactly that. She is a genius. I'll come back to her.

Lets look at the actors. Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Kalki Koechlin, Katrina Kaif and Hrithik Roshan. Abhay Deol is a stalwart. He has been a part of movies that have changed the face of Indian Cinema. Hrithik Roshan is another great actor. His movies have always contained a central theme of self-improvement. And for me, he is mind-blowing. Farhan Akhtar is a multi talented dude. Acting, singing, directing with equal panache. Any competitors? No. Kalki Koechlin has proved her worth in Shaitan and Dev D.

The real surprise in this movie comes from Katrina Kaif. She is amazing in this movie as the NRI diving instructor with high intellect. She embodies the role with such ease that she never looks the out-of-place girl she usually does. And she is hot in a very warm way. Her physicality is projected and used by Zoya in a controlled manner which enhances her beauty.

Hrithik is at his best, giving 100% to the role and carrying the transformations in his character so smoothly that at the end you feel happy for him. His journey across his life comes alive on screen through his facial expression. And eyes. The use of sunglasses by Zoya is absolutely perfect.

Abhay is the usual casual fellow you could find strewn all over India. But such is his expertise, he makes that guy stand out. Where Farhan and Hrithik have characters with a certain premise, Abhay's Kabir(a) is a free-bird. And boy, how he uses the freedom! A treat to watch, his dialogue throwing style adds a very important spice to the movie. It pierces you.

Kalki is good. With a limited screen-time, she fares really well. She has one shriek in the whole movie and one funny sequence while singing "I'm a hot chick in a hard rock world". These two scenes show us why she is different. Pretty powerful stuff. The perfect sugar coated knife.

Farhan. Hats off. You just blew my expectation ceiling with an atomic bomb. Perfect, infallible comic timing. Add to that the raspy, metal-on-wood voice, the casual sense of style, the few looks of soul-searching and the full blown expression of joy after Sky Diving. What you get is in my opinion the best performance I have seen in some time. Character constructed, deconstructed, resurrected with the absolute smoothness of a tequila shot.

Cinematography. The whole movie is pivoted on the use of short range focus. Pure genius. It makes the scenes look alive. Almost as if you are looking at the characters in reality.

Locales. Its one thing to choose correctly and absolutely another to use it. ZNMD sells Spain like Rafael Nadal and Barcelona. The azure blue ocean, the gray and dark plateaus, the vibrant green forests, the super sexy roads and a flaming yellow sunset. Breathtaking.

Songs. What lyrics. Perfectly picturised. Totally blends into the script.

Background score. I can't stop if I start on this. The use of the heartbeat promotes the signature sound from the murky depths of Kal Ho Na Ho to the actual surge of nervous energy it stands for. The use of the silencing technique while slowing up the screen pace creates magic moments. And whoever played the rapturous guitar chords did a great job. Awesome.

Dialogues. Great. General stuff mostly but again, the relevance and timing kills it.

All these factors combined with the finesse of Zoya creates the unforgettable experience of ZNMD. The movie is about a lot of things. About relationships, about self discovery, about losing control, about life in a microscopic view. But above all, it glorifies friendship, a virtue that is priceless. It will take you through a plethora of emotions, evoked by the various situations faced by Imran, Kabir and Arjun. The situations poised are some real problems the current society is facing like career v/s life, identity crisis, family pressure and relationship maintenance. And truly, they fit the characters.

The single thing that separates this movie from other hits is the creation of numerous magic moments. Directorial expertise blends with the awesome crew work to make you jump in mirth, look with awe, feel good from within, suppress a tiny tear drop, dance in your mind and applaud a timely joke. I would recommend this movie to everyone, just like Iqbal. It will give you wings. And it will give you the desire to take flight, to live your life like never before.

Finally, the idea of using shayaris to verbally emote key junctions of the movie is brilliant. In Farhan's voice, it adds to the overall positive vibration of the movie and moves you. Excellent. Thank you Bollywood, for making this movie.

Just saw Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.. beautiful,adventurous,funny​ ,i m a big Hrithik fan who excels the movie,all the characters are excellent.

Three young men take a holiday that changes their lives forever. Kabir (Abhay Deol) is engaged to Natasha (Kalki). Kabir decides to go on an extended bachelor party, before he gets married. A 3-week road trip with Imraan (Farhan Akhtar) and Arjun (Hrithik Roshan), his two best friends since school. The only problem is Arjun is too tied up with work. After much emotional blackmail and cajoling, the boys set off on a journey they were meant to take four years ago. A fantasy holiday they had planned to take after college, which never happened. A road trip where each one gets to do the ultimate sport of his choice and the other two just have to do it with him. Whether they want to or not!

STRAIGHT INTO FAVOURITES..:):) Awesome work by Zoya..:) HR,Farhan,Abhay mass...Hrithik and Katrina adds spice to the romantic scenes in the movie..Farhan Akhtar shows a refreshing flair for comedy and has impeccable comic timing...Kalki Koechlin is excellent in her bitchy role of a possessive girlfriend. Naseeruddin Shah is impressive in his cameo. ..superb Love + friendship movie..don't miss..:)