The moment I had seen Ranbir Kappor in the foot-tapping number ‘Badtameez dil’ on the TV, I had decided to catch this movie ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’ on the big screen, come what may. Keeping true to the promise, after a hiatus of more than 3 months we braved ourselves for watching the movie in a theatre with little Aanya.

The film opens with three best friends, from the backbenching days of the school, travelling to Manali on a trekking camp. Aditi (Kalki Koechlin) is a bold tomboy, Avi (Aditya Roy Kapoor) is not at all serious towards life and spends time in chasing girls, drinking and betting while Bunny aka Kabir Thapar (Ranbir Kapoor) is charming who flirts outrageously. Bunny is also the one who chases his dreams and doesn’t believe in the institution of marriage, as he believes; it is the same boring ‘dal-chawal’ to be eaten for the next fifty years. The last minute inclusion in their journey is the ever studious Naina (Deepika Padukone) who has always stood first in the class and never done anything in her life that a good girl isn’t supposed to do. But this time around she throws caution to the winds and embarks on this journey with people she hardly knows. Their trekking trip is a memorable affair with much masti, gana-bajana and flirting.

Eight years later, it’s Aditi’s wedding! It’s a big fat Indian ‘destination’ wedding at Udaipur, the city of palaces; frills and thrills included. This wedding also serves as kind of a reunion for the long-lost friends. Naina is a doctor now, Bunny a high-flying photo journalist while Avi is a drunk and loser. Amidst the usual ‘sangeet’ and wedding preparations, Bunny realizes that he has fallen for Naina. But one question looms large before him: can he sacrifice his globe-trotting career to settle down in a marriage to the same person for the next fifty years?

The first half is tight and funny while the second half not able to keep up with the same pace loses much of its sheen. The music in the film is quite exceptional; especially ‘badtameez dil’ is a peppy song and you feel like getting up from your seat and shaking a leg or two. Kashmir, Paris and Udaipur are and look beautiful. The characterization of Bunny is a little flawed; at one point he is looking at the flowing Seine and remarking ‘main waqt ko guzarte hue dekh raha hoon’ while a little while later, Naina asks Bunny to stop hankering after everything in the world and to sit back and enjoy the moment.

Ranbir Kapoor is the ‘jaan’ of the film. His joie de vivre is infectious and dance unbeatable. Deepika Padukone looks stunning even in bespectacled mode. She is also becoming a better actor with each film. Kalki Koechlin is good and supports the film well while Aditya Roy Kapoor fails to make much of an impression. Farooque Sheikh as Bunny’s father is sad and wise who can’t see any fault in his son. Though he has only a couple of scenes in the film, the veteran actor leaves his imprint on the viewers. Madhuri Dixit’s dance number ‘ghaghra’ simply reinforces the fact that there is still no better dancer in the industry. Age has added an air of graceful insouciance to the actress that shows in her dance too. Ayan Mukherjee seemed to have been carried away a little; the film could have done a lot better with a tighter script.

What I took from the film was:

Though it’s the time that tickles away, we are the ones who actually get spent.

Verdict: Watch this film once and let yourself fall in love with the charming Ranbir.