I love Bollywood DVD clearance sales. I can get stacks of
movies for as little as 49 cents apiece, and because they’re often
movies starring nobody I’ve ever heard of, and I have no information on
the film other than an often inaccurate cover blurb, watching them is
always an adventure. Sometimes I discover an amazing jewel in the
rough, and sometimes I discover Kya Aisa Hota Hai Pyar (2004).
Karan (Hussein Sheikh) and Aditya (Sumeet Chawla) are college students and the best of friends. Karan is athletic, popular, dating the lovely Poorvi (Parita Vora), and secretly craves the approval of his distant workaholic father (Rajvansh Malhotra). Aditya is not particularly interested in girls, but that doesn’t stop him from toying with the emotions of Gia (Namita Shrivastav), Poorvi’s friend and roommate.
After a particularly dismal evening out with Gia (which she paid for, because Aditya is a selfish jerk) Aditya’s motorbike gets a flat tire, and older woman Aanchal (Samrita Singh) stops to offer him a ride. (Samrita Singh can’t be much older than me, but the lighting and makeup people are doing her no favors in this movie.)
Aditya may not be all that interested in girls, but Aanchal makes it very clear that she is interested in him. He’s a lttle intrigued, and agrees to meet her later, but when he arrives at her house she’s performing a sleazy dance number with some random guy who never appears again. Suddenly, Aditya is very intrigued, and soon he’s coming over to canoodle every day after school.
It’s an odd dynamic; Aanchal tries to communicate her philosophy of living for the present, and Aditya pretty much behaves like a lovestruck puppy. He’s in love for the very first time, and unfortunately, the person he chooses to share the happy news with is Gia, whom he knows is in love with him.
Karan invites a small group of friends, including both the lovesick Aditya and the heartbroken Gia, to his family estate for a few days because there’s no way that could be awkward. The kids are not alone, though. Karan’s father is there for a brief visit, and leaves the gang in the care of Karan’s beloved Auntie Aanchal. Yes, that Aanchal.
I’m trying to come up with some nice things to say about Kya Aisa Hota Hai Pyar, and it’s not easy. Samrita Singh managed to give a poorly written and cliched character some small degree of depth before what little character development Aanchal had was undone by the final scene, in which she picks up and hits on yet another young college kid. Bhaskar, the comic relief with the incredibly stupid beard made me really appreciate the acting talent and subtle comedic timing of Johnny Lever. And I’m sure the whole thing was well intentioned; it reminds me of an afterschool special about the horrible dangers of dating older women, complete with a narrator who pops up onscreen occasionally to spout gibberish about love.
Well intentioned or not, though, the final product is kind of skeezy. Aanchal is oversexed and sort of predatory, and even nice girl Gia has a scene where she writhes on the bed and displays her cleavage to the camera for no apparent reason. Comic relief guy spends his time making unwanted sexual comments to a woman who is clearly not interested, and everyone else thinks this is hilarious. And in this movie, women appear to be interchangeable; after a brief conversation with comic relief guy, Aditya goes from pining for Aanchal to pining for Gia, without even pausing for breath.
In short, this movie is not very good. Save your 49 cents.
Karan (Hussein Sheikh) and Aditya (Sumeet Chawla) are college students and the best of friends. Karan is athletic, popular, dating the lovely Poorvi (Parita Vora), and secretly craves the approval of his distant workaholic father (Rajvansh Malhotra). Aditya is not particularly interested in girls, but that doesn’t stop him from toying with the emotions of Gia (Namita Shrivastav), Poorvi’s friend and roommate.
After a particularly dismal evening out with Gia (which she paid for, because Aditya is a selfish jerk) Aditya’s motorbike gets a flat tire, and older woman Aanchal (Samrita Singh) stops to offer him a ride. (Samrita Singh can’t be much older than me, but the lighting and makeup people are doing her no favors in this movie.)
Aditya may not be all that interested in girls, but Aanchal makes it very clear that she is interested in him. He’s a lttle intrigued, and agrees to meet her later, but when he arrives at her house she’s performing a sleazy dance number with some random guy who never appears again. Suddenly, Aditya is very intrigued, and soon he’s coming over to canoodle every day after school.
It’s an odd dynamic; Aanchal tries to communicate her philosophy of living for the present, and Aditya pretty much behaves like a lovestruck puppy. He’s in love for the very first time, and unfortunately, the person he chooses to share the happy news with is Gia, whom he knows is in love with him.
Karan invites a small group of friends, including both the lovesick Aditya and the heartbroken Gia, to his family estate for a few days because there’s no way that could be awkward. The kids are not alone, though. Karan’s father is there for a brief visit, and leaves the gang in the care of Karan’s beloved Auntie Aanchal. Yes, that Aanchal.
I’m trying to come up with some nice things to say about Kya Aisa Hota Hai Pyar, and it’s not easy. Samrita Singh managed to give a poorly written and cliched character some small degree of depth before what little character development Aanchal had was undone by the final scene, in which she picks up and hits on yet another young college kid. Bhaskar, the comic relief with the incredibly stupid beard made me really appreciate the acting talent and subtle comedic timing of Johnny Lever. And I’m sure the whole thing was well intentioned; it reminds me of an afterschool special about the horrible dangers of dating older women, complete with a narrator who pops up onscreen occasionally to spout gibberish about love.
Well intentioned or not, though, the final product is kind of skeezy. Aanchal is oversexed and sort of predatory, and even nice girl Gia has a scene where she writhes on the bed and displays her cleavage to the camera for no apparent reason. Comic relief guy spends his time making unwanted sexual comments to a woman who is clearly not interested, and everyone else thinks this is hilarious. And in this movie, women appear to be interchangeable; after a brief conversation with comic relief guy, Aditya goes from pining for Aanchal to pining for Gia, without even pausing for breath.
In short, this movie is not very good. Save your 49 cents.
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