Teree Sang: A Kidult Love Story (2009) Reviews

• Do you know where your kids are?

  AvinashPatalay2009-10-09

  Satish Kaushik, the director steers away from his usual pot-boilers and attempts a teen/preteen movie with a social message wrapped in. Taking inspiration from all the "Love is - be all, end all" movies attempted so far in Bollywood (Bobby, Love Story, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak) Satish Kaushik weaves a tale dealing with the issues of contemporary times. There is adequate doses of humour, light moments and poignant scenes thereby ensuring a fine balance in maintained in narrative lest it might turn into story of bitter truth. The story-line bears slight resemblance to "Kya Kehna" but only slight. Newcomers Rulaan & Sheena have done a wonderful job of portraying their roles. One can identify with their characterisations almost instantly. Many might feel the characterisation of Sheena is inspired from Lollita and perhaps it is. The bonding between the characters seem to have been a little too early but can be overlooked. The inconsistent spectacles of Ruslaan, perhaps to give a naive look could have done away with. The rich & poor divide which is so 70's & 80's could have been avoided. Having said that individually the life-styles have been depicted realistically. Satish Kaushik & Sushmita Mukherjee Bundela shared a good chemistry. Even though there was enough room for Sushmita to improve. Also one of the rare times where Satish acted while holding directorial reigns. And yes, IMO - his character seemed inspired from his previous outing in "Brick Lane". Rajat Kapoor & Neena Gupta were absolutely spot-on as the "beige- trouser" and "designer-salwar-suit" couple. And if you were wondering what was Anupam Kher was doing there? As a producer he decided to put a visual signature at the end of proceedings. Sethu Sriram should be lauded for his effort to capture the the spirit of Delhi aesthetically. The songs are very light and grow over you over period of time. Apparently, the movie has maintained a low-key to ward-off controversies but has potential to perform by word of mouth.

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• Movie is lovable but irresponsible like a kid

  unbornpaniwala2009-08-09

  They call it a kidult love story and have gone on to make a rehashed version of Bollywood and Hollywood movies inspired from Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, Kyaa Kehna and partly Juno in its theme, but hackneyed as the plot outline may sound it comes across as being engrossing enough to keep you watching and thinking about it for long. There are some awfully sweet moments in what could potentially have been a dark and painful subject. In it you feel there is a lot of compromise being made to entertain than to educate. Though its scary that this movie should be entertaining considering the consequences of people watching it and coming out encouraged to follow suit. Who doesn't feel at many times to give in to their "natural" side?? We have the civil system to control the nature in us and live responsibly and it is no doubt a burden on society to have girls and guys going out and doing their thing and coming back to find compromising systems... my only hope is it would encourage people to debate more openly about these things and come up with a working and not a compromising solution to the problem of teen pregnancies. Both the main leads have done well for their part...it didn't look like Sheena has just made a debut with the kind of talent she has....and hopefully she'll continue to do good work.Both of them fit their roles perfectly. In the end it is a totally entertaining movie for people to take it as just that and nothing else. Having kids watch it can be a bit problematic as this movie ends up justifying and to some level sweeten what is supposed to be a bad example. My advice is to handle it like having a kid. Watch it with love but do it responsibly ;)

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• Don't discuss the message in the movie, just go for entertainment..

  Lover-UD2009-08-16

  A little confusing movie to me but finally ended with some meaningful message. One can argue that its a kind of clean-up in the end of the movie by Judge Anupam Kher, but actually its not very convincing. The movie started in flying colors with freshness of youth. It makes you smile to see immature love of the young couple. Satish Kaushik is fantastic in his role and did a commendable job. He played a poor auto-rickshaw man, who know how to be happy in limited means and have a very funny and light way to handling situations. His son fell in love with a big gun's daughter who is starving for her parents affection and seeking it outside the home. Rajat Kapoor, the father of the girl, is as always brilliant with his acting of a posh and rich man. The movie takes 90 degree turn after the girl gets pregnant and things start messing up badly. The second half of the movie was a little indigestible and appears very unrealistic, when the young couple don't bother for outside world and surprisingly they live a healthy life in most part of their out of home life. I personally feel, the movie is good in terms of entertainment but it conveys the youngistan of India a very dirty message. Satish Kaushik is a kind of person who has this gifted ability to make people laugh and convince. As a director he did justice with the movie with not so fairly big star-cast. Music is also good. Overall if you are not discussing the good and bads of the message in the movie, go, hang out and enjoy the movie.

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• A potential Hit plot is underplayed fearing social opposition.

  bobbysing2009-08-15

  Satish Kaushik returns with his new directorial venture, tackling the sensitive issue of "Minor Pregnancy" on screen. Though the same plot has been seen earlier in "Kya Kehna" and "Juno" too, but still Satish manages to present it with his own fresh approach and true to life simplicity. However, in order to make it less controversial, he uses the same old bollywood formulas in the later half which deprives the movie from becoming a worth praising masterpiece. "Teree Sang" introduces a fresh lead pair, having the looks of your next door friends. And they both rightly suit the roles of young teenagers going to school, who still have to discover the meaning of sex and its consequences. The first half brilliantly shows the start of their affair, their secret meetings and the night which puts them both in a deep trouble. The director sensitively captures their tender moments without going overboard to the limits of vulgarity. That really makes you feel for the young couple and the movie starts growing on you till the intermission. But post interval, the problems start cropping up, breaking the mood set by the first half. From here on the movie leaves it realistic path and moves on to the good old Bollywood formula where the love couple runs away and starts living in an old house somewhere on a Hill station. And from there on you start remembering "Love Story", "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" and many more such love tales seen before. The real issue of "Minor Pregnancy" takes a back seat and no one talks about that as a serious concern after intermission till we reach the final 15 minutes of the movie. The climax finishes off the legal issue in a court room drama written weirdly without any interesting justifications. So, where the first half makes you feel this can be a Hit, the second half comes and reduces it to a just above average movie talking about a relevant social problem. Performance wise, both the debutants, Ruslaan & Sheena look cute and perform well too. But the chances of their becoming a youth icon are quite less. Satish Kaushik & Sushmita Mukherjee playing the middle class parents of Ruslaan, are likable in their few funny sequences. Rajat Kapoor & Neena Gupta as the rich & famous parents of Sheena act perfectly. Anupam Kher gives a pleasant surprise in the climax as the Judge. But he couldn't be impressive enough as the last minutes of the movie simply fail to leave an impact. Musically, the movie has one worth mentioning number from Sachin Jigar and that's "Morey Saiyaan". The song is capable of leaving its mark even when played in the background. Camera-work is just fine capturing the city of "New Delhi" and its famous monuments as required. In fact the movie adds on to the list of recent Bollywood projects catching on the craze of "Delhi Based Movies". Interestingly even its Production Banner has been named as "Karol Bagh Films & Entertainment", based on a famous shopping area in Delhi. In the end, I strongly feel that Satish Kaushik must have started this bold and unconventional project with great enthusiasm and conviction. But somewhere down the lane he got afraid of hurting the conventional Indian Social values and therefore decided to play it safe. The decision made out of social opposition fear, ruined this otherwise potential project, resulting in just an average drama, which could have been much better.

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• This movie will shake Parents and most importantly "Teenagers". A Delight to watch.

  kashish07112009-08-26

  This movie has to be rated as one of the best of this year. From the beginning till the end, there was no part that was not exciting. This movie is something that parents should watch but most importantly, this is a movie that Parents should ask their children to go and see. This movie will take you to a journey in the life of "Mahi" and "Kabir" aka "Ku-Ku" that you will feel very connected to right from the beginning. The movie will make you cry, laugh and most importantly, it will make you think. The main characters were portrayed very beautifully and gives you feel of real Indian school boy and girl who are very scared of their parents. The best part of the movie I will say was the ending part. Many times good movies have great start but fail to have good endings but in this case, the last scenes were fantastic as they gave you the message with tears and laugh. I have to admit the Anupam Kher's part was really well made. As per acting is concerned, all the actors did justice to their role and did not provide anything to complaint about. On the whole, this is something that you don't want to miss. A delight to watch and it is something that will increase the bonding's in the family. Hats off to Mr. Satish Kaushik for making such a beautiful movie. I am going to buy the DVD as soon as it gets out. 10/10 Good Day

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