There’s a dearth of old-school romances these days and when you try to emulate that purity of a love story that emulsifies that piousness of love in a present-day setting – the result can perhaps reach two extremes – be a total knockout that reinvigorates your belief in such romance or be a total snoozefest. The Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari and Saiee M. Manjrekar starrer Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha always stays in the middle, and that is reaffirming in a few instances while disheartening otherwise.
What you see in the trailer is exactly how much I can reveal to you considering there’s a certain spoiler that ties the story (at least in theory). Two timelines, one incident that changes the course of a love story in a way that they never anticipated.
You totally get writer and director, Neeraj Pandey’s vision and attempt here. To be churning out a saga that never crosses the anticipated lines when it comes to romance between two individuals, the story of a man’s unconditional (literally unconditional), undying and unbelievable love for a woman. It almost perturbs you to an extent looking at the decisions the man takes as it bewilders you more and more.
And that’s possibly the primary takeaway from this saga which Pandey succeeds in. Making you go down memory lane and get uncontaminated which we so easily get even with our loved ones in today’s times. It’s a winner with the intended message.
It helps that Ajay Devgn is in his comfort zone being subdued, almost tired and as mellow with his character as you can imagine him to be. It’s a pity that with such a layered character in essence, Tabu is never given an apt opportunity to shine or so much except for her sequences towards the end. We don’t see Tabu much and that’s a pity. Saiee Manjrekar showcases the innocence and naivete that was apt for Vasudha and does well with it. But the standout amongst all of them is Shantanu Maheshwari – the man can portray a fantastic blend of showcasing the ambition, vibrancy and freshness as a young Krishna, the unparalleled and ubiquitous love he has for Vasudha, and then even the angst and worry as he finds himself in a soup he wouldn’t have wanted to. Maheshwari shows what he is capable of after impressing in Gangubai Kathiawadi.
The music and background score of the film are divine as you would expect from the legend that is M.M. Kreem and while it fits in a few situations, it ends up bludgeoning you in situations where you don’t even want it to. For instance, there’s a scene when Devgn’s character learns about Jimmy Shergill’s character knowing about him and Tabu’s character – it did not need any background score to accentuate it but there is – and that too the classic loud music that you’re used to in daily soaps. Not needed, doesn’t aid.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha is such a missed opportunity whose intentions scream to you loud but never clear – and that leaves you with mixed emotions. A case of could have been but never entirely is – still not a total dud.