Film review: LAILA MAJNU

140 minutes 

Director: Sajid Ali

‘A modern-day love story’, proclaims one of the film’s publicity posters. Well, it certainly is — part of the blossoming romance is on the mobile phone.
Possibly the eighth Hindi film to be so titled (two of them during the silent era), this latest, co-written by the Ali brothers, is directed by Sajid Ali while clearly retaining influences of brother Imtiaz.
Laila (Tripti Dimri) is the most sought after beauty in college, being followed by hordes of ‘majnus’. One day Qais (Avinash Tiwary) accidentally comes across her and, lest we forget, is smitten by her. Qais is suave, besides having the reputation of being a casanova and a druggie. Love still finds a way into their hearts and images of QSQT flash by as the story unfolds — Qais’s father Ghulam Sarwar Bhatt (Benjamin Gillani) and Laila’s father Masood Ahmed (Parmeet Sethi) are traditional adversaries. The liaison seems to be eternally doomed.
The love-struck youngsters thus become pawns in the hands of the elders in a story which is as old as the hills and vales of Kashmir. Cinematographer Sayak Bhattacharya does the best he can in the outdoor locales he was given access to.
Cinematic liberties are an accepted norm in this genre besides  some forced twists and turns in the overstretched 140-minute long film. Avinash Tiwary (‘Tu Hai Mera Sunday‘) lacks the chocolate-boy looks — “shakal achhi  nahi hai na meri” he tells his ladylove at one point — but makes up in the dialogue delivery department. Tripti Dimri (‘Poster Boys’) does her best. Sumit Kaul, as Ibban, the local aspiring politician Laila is forced to marry infuses the film with a dash of comedy. The local actors all help in giving an authentic Kashmiri feel to the film.
The script is the weak link in the second half — Qais, instead of rejoicing at ultimately having the opportunity to win over his lady love —
The music (by eminent sitarist Niladri Kumar and Joi Barua), such an integral part of such a film, fails to rise above the ordinary. Of the ten songs (one of them being a version), only two impress — ‘Lala zula zailo’ is catchy while ‘Katyu chuko’ has a distinctly Kashmiri flavour.
Exactly a half hour before the film ended, Qais repeatedly yells ‘Intezar, Intezar’. I found myself wondering whether it was a warning to the viewers.