Humko Deewana Kar Gaye - Movie Review
Published: August 22, 2011
Starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Anil Kapoor
Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif are among the most entertaining onscreen couples in Bollywood. Their now-famous chemistry took hold right from the beginning in this, their first film pairing. The twosome is at their best when there's substance to Kaif's role, which is the case here and in their second film together Namastey London (2007)—and which is unfortunately not the case in the duo's subsequent four outings (Welcome, Singh Is Kinng, De Dana Dan, and Tees Maar Khan). But their strong matchup in Humko Deewana Kar Gaye is the only thing to recommend it, and it's not quite enough to compensate for the weak script.
Kumar and Kaif play two lonely individuals who are engaged to people they don't love. Aditya (Kumar) is an affable guy who works for a car company. His fiance, Sonia (Bipasha Basu), is a career-driven fashion designer—a cold beauty who hates the family traditions Aditya loves and who isn't wild about having a family herself. Aditya wants to love her and tries hard to warm to her, but she keeps pushing him away and telling him to grow up. It isn't clear why these two are getting married. When Aditya is transferred to Canada for work, Sonia takes off for Europe to pursue her own professional opportunities.
Aditya soon meets Jia (Kaif), and they accidentally run into each other too many times to be believable. Jia is preparing for her wedding without any help from her rich, successful, workaholic fiance who only wants to marry her to seal a business deal with her father. Aditya and Jia quickly become close friends and struggle to resist their growing love and attraction. They can't be together because Aditya is such a good guy that he can't fathom breaking his engagement—and because Jia's future husband, Karan (Anil Kapoor), is a crazy control freak who might be capable of murder. Their longing, sadness, and desperation over being trapped are excellently portrayed.
The inexplicably inconsistent behavior of the supporting characters muck up the otherwise emotional love story. For example, Karan's secretary, Jenny, insists Jia must sacrifice her happiness for her own safety as well as the good of her family's fortunes, but then tells her on her wedding day that true love is too important to pass up. Once Sonia reappears in Aditya's life after her work in Europe is finished—and after he is hopelessly in love with Jia—she suddenly develops passionate ardor for the fiance at whom she used to routinely scoff. But it is Karan's about-face out of nowhere that is the most extreme and absurd.
Humko Deewana Kar Gaye is rated Skip.
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