Growing Up, Yet Again.

Ayan Mukherji's debut film Wake Up Sid! was a refreshing coming-of-age film that found both critical and commercial success, and thrust Ranbir Kapoor into the limelight. Now, the combo returns with a larger package, loaded with glitz and glamour to give us Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, also starring Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechlin, Aditya Roy Kapur and several others.

YJHD is yet another coming-of-age film which shows the rise to maturity of Bunny - a carefree youth, hell-bent on becoming a world-travelling camera technician, from the viewpoint of Naina Talwar, a nerdy young girl whose outlook towards life changes after a trip with Bunny and his friends. 

Lauding performances has turned into a cliche in my reviews, and this film is no exception. We've seen the cast of this film deliver enough worthy performances, (Aditya Roy Kapur is definitely more expressive here than his Aashiqui 2 promos) and thus this film rides gleefully on their shoulders. The show-stealer of the film is Deepika Padukone, who seems to be on a performance-high since Cocktail. Ranbir Kapoor, possibly the best amidst the young actors of today's Bollywood, delivers his role with ease, and it is this amazing chemistry between these two artistes that probably takes the film to a larger level. Farooq Sheikh and Tanvi Azmi as Bunny's father and step-mom, manage to touch hearts, even in their cameos.

The film showcases wonderful locations across the world, which have been brought on-screen very well, thanks to V.Manikandan's cinematography and Akiv Ali's editing. The film begins off on rocket pace, which starts to slow down towards the end of the first half, and remains so through the rest of the film. Pritam's album is a treat to both listen to and watch, and things go up a notch with Madhuri Dixit's special appearance in 'Ghagra'.

Ayan Mukherji seems to be fixed on a certain formula, as the film is in several ways, similar to his previous outing. While the movie offers us nothing new from what we've seen in the recent past, it does manage to keep us sitting through its two-and-a-half hour runtime, and puts a smile on our faces as we walk out. Definitely worth a watch.

Aditya Baskaran