Lagna Pahaave Karun – For the Romantics

Reviewed by Praveen Lulekar

‘Bollywood Romanticism’ is a genre that has dripped in our way of thinking very deeply. Happy coincidences where the hero-heroine keep meeting, song sequences with netted shirts and long-pallu sarees, disappearing electricity to help the lovers fall in love over candle-light, punctured tires, bespectacled sad songs, violins…you know all the elements. The trick in this often ridiculed genre is to get conviction behind your magical lines. More importantly, never miss the factor of ‘beauty’ in the complementary art works – background music, lights, costumes, locations etc. With a dash of concrete groundwork and characters that go close to real life, Lagn Pahaave Karun (LPK) is an engaging watch if you have your pink glasses intact.

Nishant Barve (Umesh Kamat) is a US-based software designer who comes to India on a 15-day leave to get married. 

He loses his job for reasons unexplained and his America-obsessed fiancé proposes a postponing till he gets a job (in the US, of course). Nishant rejects this and is angered by the system of Kundali (Horoscope). He meets Aditi Tilak (Mukta Barve) who is in need of funds to start a matrimony business. Nishant invests but with one condition – no Kundali! The film then narrates the story of the business, Nishant and Aditi   falling in love and the initial stages of their first clients’ (Siddharth Chandekar and Tejshree Pradhan) married life.

The biggest favour Director Ajay Naik has done himself is a good casting. Swati Chitnis and Barve in the respective roles have excelled beautifully to make them convincing. Barve single-handedly makes the initial scenes work when Kamat is still warming up. There is an effortless command in her comic scenes and her fidgeting in the intimate scenes is adorable. Kamat on the other hand starts very slowly but does particularly good in the scenes where he opposes the tradition of Kundalis. A special mention for Chandekar who plays a Puneri guy that can be overdone so easily. His restrain helps his cause making his transformation from a happy-go-lucky bachelor to a disappointed husband seamless.

Naik has treated the film in a pragmatic manner. There is indulgence in every scene backed by some very good writing (Kshitij Patwardhan and Sameer Vidwans). So even an impractical idea like making the perspective spouses meet in a dark room for the first time works with effective dialogues and a symbolic use of the darkness in the end. The director has himself done the music and it helps because their placement is with the flow, except for Pradhan’s dance number. In fact, Pradhan expressing herself only after she is drunk every time is a letdown for a character.

Marriage is a popular yet very complex issue in our society. Combine that with superstitions and you can find yourself in quicksand. Story wise, LPK simplifies enough and also combines the scientific and traditional attitudes to create an interesting mix. Ideologically, the film’s stand just clears the superstition boundary. The sync between the prophesied events and those happening in real life (as a coincidence) is drawn a little too far. But a happy ending should be enough to make us believe all’s well. With his treatment, Naik does so with conviction.   

m4m rating: one time watch

           

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