Film: Tu Meri Main Tera
Main Tera Tu Meri (TMMTMTTM)
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Ananya Panday, Jackie Shroff
Directed by: Sameer Vidwans
Duration: 2 hours 25 minutes
Rating: * *
Directed by Sameer Vidwans, the film ‘Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri’ is proof that a film and it’s title can be overwhelmingly long. The title itself gives us adequate warning and feels like an endurance test, and the film faithfully lives up to it. By the midpoint, which feels like an eternity, one realizes that only half of the title has been addressed.
Aside from the exploration of Croatian tourism, which we will come to shortly, TMMTMTTM (a title that sounds significantly more appealing) has precious little to offer although it masquerades as if it is breaking some new ground and bridging the 90s with the current era. Ultimately, it fails on both fronts.
Rehan (Aryan), who prefers to be called Ray, meets Rumi (Panday) while they are en route to a vacation in Croatia – she is the author of the bestselling novel, ‘Love in Agra’, and they cross paths at both the airport and the plane. He is portrayed as a carefree flirt, which later allows for the revelation of his kind-hearted and loving nature. His incessant chatter is not driven by narrative necessity, but rather to mask the emptiness that lies beneath, suggesting a lack of substance. By coincidence, they reserve the same yacht, and predictably, they find themselves sharing the same cabin in Croatia.
As they are on holiday, cupid acts at warp speed. Rumi introduces an unexpected lightness and restraint, which, unfortunately, only highlights how aggressively dull everything around her is. However, for the film to progress, a conflict must arise, and this conflict revolves around family and obligations. Rumi is tasked with caring for her father (Jackie Shroff), a retired army officer who breaks into the song ‘Yeh mera India’. Meanwhile, his mom Pinky (Neena Gupta) sings ‘Choli ke peeche kya hain,’ as everyone’s problems compound. “Mujhe Indian bahu nahin chahiye,” his mom declares.
TMMTMTTM tries to be cool while also reflecting on the DDLJ kind of films. Some of the dialogues sound like they written after scrolling Instagram captions for hours and deciding that this is how young people communicate.
The film features a variety of elaborate dance sequences that are skillfully choreographed; however, this does little to enhance the film. In fact, it does not contribute at all, as there is a notable absence of character development or authentic emotions to discuss – everything is delivered with the subtlety typically found in a soap opera.
Kartik Aaryan injects a considerable amount of energy into his performance, but that is the extent of his contribution. Billed as a romantic comedy with “sizzling chemistry,” TMMTMTTM substitutes Croatian postcards for romance, forgets to bring the comedy, and delivers chemistry that feels less electric and more like a compulsory group project no one volunteered for.
Slithering again
Film: Anaconda
Cast: Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Thandiwe Newton
Directed by: Tom Gormican
Duration: 1 hour 39 minutes
Rating: * *
One might not expect that a film released in 1997, centred on a giant snake, would spawn four sequels and a Mandarin version that premiered earlier this year. ‘Anaconda’ was a light-hearted and entertaining film that captivated audiences at the time. Some films and all snakes should be left alone – Anaconda is certainly one of them- the film and snake, both.
In this film, there is a scene featuring two groups of individuals attempting to remake ‘Anaconda’; one group doesn’t have the rights while the other is the official remake by Sony studio. The joke is about how studios are recycling old material and are seemingly out of fresh ideas. It appeared that the joke was on the audience who spent their money to watch studios pulling a fast one on them.
The sole reason this version of ‘Anaconda’, directed by Tom Gormican, does not fail miserably is due to its cast. Jack Black and Paul Rudd portray Doug and Ron, respectively. They have been close friends since their school days, along with Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Claire (Thandiwe Newton). Together, they even produced a monster film during their school years titled The Quatch. However, since that time, Doug, who directed the film, has seen his career stagnate – he aspired to achieve success in Hollywood but instead finds himself making wedding videos. He makes an effort to introduce a twist by incorporating elements of horror and other genres in the wedding videos.Ron, on the other hand, is a struggling actor who has appeared in four episodes of S.W.A.T but has not experienced any success since then.
Ron claims that he possesses the rights to ‘Anaconda’ and proposes to rebooting the franchise with a low-budget indie film, prompting them to venture into the Amazon with a minimal crew. The film features intriguing discussions regarding intellectual property and the inner workings of Hollywood. However, just in case you forget, the title of this film is ‘Anaconda’, and it takes a considerable amount of time for the snake to make its appearance.
Initially, the crew encounters a congenial snake alongside a local snake handler – subsequently, to my relief, the real thing appears and wreaks havoc. The narrative of the film is quite disjointed. At one moment, the characters are engaged in a struggle against it, and in the next, they are frantically trying to finish their film – which, incidentally, also lacks coherence. Nevertheless, if you are an admirer of Jack Black, Paul Rudd, and kitschy elements, it may not be as excruciating.
Ice Cube makes a cameo appearance with AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’ playing in the background. I had hoped that the snake would also receive an enthusiastic welcome accompanied by a stellar rock anthem. A well-known ‘star’ from the original film also makes a cameo at the end.
The film frequently takes jabs at Hollywood and its studios, yet it ultimately embodies the very type of film it mocks. How ironic is that!
