Songs in search of a film

The sequel of Mahesh Bhatt's Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal starrer Aashiqui, Mohit Suri's Aashiqui 2 is the recreation of the sensibilities of the 90s, where love makes one person so important that he/she can make or break your life. However, the sad thing is, just like its predecessor, Aashiqui 2 too, is a music album in search of a film.

Aaditya Roy Kapur plays Rahul Jaykar, a fallen star, who squandered his fame and skill by enslaving himself to alcohol. He encounters Aarohi Shirke (Shraddha Kapoor), a singer at a bar and sees potential in her. He decides to give her the chance she deserves and make her a star like he was. And in the midst of all this, Aashiqui 2 superficially chronicles the story of their relationship.

Just like any mediocre film of the 90s, the director tries to establish the character's story in one single montage or simply a verbose scene between two characters who, by the way, are too uni-dimensional and lack depth. Rahul's catch phrase "Suno naa..kuch nahi, bass yuun hi" best describes what the director is also trying to do to the audience.

Aaditya Roy Kapur's performance is the only positive that can be taken from the film, but he too is inconsistent. But consistency of a character has its flaws rooted in the script; and seeing that it demanded Roy Kapur to look unquestionably stoned at certain points, he delivers. Shraddha Kapoor has a pretty face and is tolerable to say the least. Tulsi Kumar's voice simply doesn't go with that face and the audience tends to reject it like a bad organ transplant.

The talking point of Aashiqui was its 11-song-soundtrack with Kumar Sanu leading the charge. The real test for Aashiqui 2, now, is whether it manages to dominate the ringtones and cassette players in autorickshaws for the next 20 years. Sickeningly romantic, the music sounds like 2005 and the lyrics, 1985. Hum mar jayenge is a little too outrageous for a generation that sincerely believes in Jaa Chudail. The selling point of the film is the song Tum Hi Ho and the audience is at its most attentive when it makes its appearance in the film. This speaks volumes of how little Aashiqui 2 has to offer. If songs are all that you want to sell, making a film about them is the most expensive an unfruitful way to go about.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Published in DNA (Pune) on April 27, 2013