Milenge Milenge - Movie Review
Published: April 28, 2011
Starring Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor
Milenge Milenge, a remake of the Hollywood film Serendipity (2001), struggled to make it to the big screen. It was shot in 2004 and was supposed to be released in 2005, but because of financial and post-production holdups (including the unavailability of the lead pair, whose careers were taking off and who ended their romantic relationship in 2007), the film was stuck in the can for five years. By the time it released in 2010, it was a hopelessly dated picture.
Had it come out on schedule, it might have been a mediocre entertainer and a harmless blip in the filmography of its stars, Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor. They've both certainly made worse films, including together. But Bollywood has moved on from movies like Milenge Milenge—and so have the actors in question. It's impossible to view the film without this perspective.
Shahid, in particular, has matured as an actor by quantum leaps since he made Milenge Milenge. At the time of shooting, he had only three films to his name. His career spiked in 2007 with Jab We Met, his last film with Kareena. None of the magic they shared in that instant classic is evident here, and to watch them together without it is a huge letdown.
This silly popcorn romance begins with Priya (Kareena), a dim, shallow girl who visits a tarot card reader to learn clues about her future husband. When she meets Immy (Shahid) on a college outing in Bangkok, he matches the description—except he smokes, drinks, and lies, which are the only things she won't tolerate in a man. Only she doesn't know this about him because he's a liar who pretends he doesn't smoke or drink. Thankfully, their ridiculous fling ends quickly when she finds out he's a fraud—at the exact moment he decides he loves her and wants to live up to her standards. He insists it's their destiny to be together, so she asks him to write his phone number on a 50 rupee note, buys a book with the note, and promises to write her number in it and sell it to a used book store—if it's destiny, she says, the note will find its way to her and the book will find its way to him and they'll reunite.
She goes back to her home in Mumbai, he returns to his in Delhi, and three years pass. Her experiment obviously didn't work and they're both engaged to other people they don't love. On the eve of their weddings, they both decide to try to find each other, and the bulk of the movie is devoted to their tedious and predictable search.
Milenge Milenge is rated Skip.
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