London Paris New York
Director: Anu Menon
Cast: Ali Zafar, Aditi Rao Hydari
Classification: TBA
Running time: 100 minutes
Rating: ***
London Paris New York is fast, smart and urban-glamorous, the innovative romance winner of this summer.
It can be described as a screwball romantic comedy. A contemporary tale about two distinct opposites, Nikhil (Ali Zafar) and Lalitha (Aditi Rao) meet in three cities over three nights and eventually discover love.
Ali’s explosive personality, Aditi’s sassy appeal, and their combined concealed vulnerability are the perfect elements for this easy-on-the-heart love story.
London Paris New York has to do with the machinery of fashionable storytelling, where characters take full control and transcend the ordinary stuff of Bollywood romantic movies.
Nikhil and Lalitha’s conversations are either witty or charming, never overdone. There are a few scenes which lack the verve and tension of a completely sharp scriptwriter, but they succeed in mimicking the subtlety of romance films such as Hum Tum, Sleepless in Seattle and Love Actually.
Director Anu Menon’s smartest move is embracing that escapist fairy-tale feel. The concept brings in the film’s sweep-you-off-your-feet set pieces from the tourist’s view of London, Paris and New York and extends to the passion-tinted vision of the two lead characters.
It’s capped with a fun scenario bridged between three cosmopolitan cities. Menon triumphantly borrows from the Hollywood rom com for the development of the story, gleefully packaging romance.
London Paris New York puts the frothy passion back into romantic films. All the better for us hopeless romantics looking for something to do with the one we love most.
• Journalist and media personality, Varshan Sookhun is the producer and presenter of Bollywood Billboard and Midday Spice on Lotus FM (87.7-106.8)