As the title, trailers and promotions leading to the release have adequately revealed, I Me Aur Main revolves around Ishaan Sabharwal (John Abraham), a snotty, self-centered successful music producer. He is inconsiderate of other’s feelings, chauvinist, an incorrigible flirt and the kind of guy all of us women would’ve known in real lives at some point where we’ve exasperatingly sighed ‘he’s such a child’.
Being the man in the spotlight, as Ishaan, John smirks and sulks confidently, playing out the character with much promise. It’s pretty visible that he had a frolicking time acting the role, which in turn ends up being quite enjoyable for the audience though that’s just limited to the scenes where Ishaan is being his flirty, obnoxious self. The female leads on the other hand are short-changed. While Chitrangda as the live-in girlfriend, is a way too subtle, Prachi (as the neighbor) is little too boisterous almost bordering on the line of over-acting, which led to me having a nagging feeling quite too many times that probably would’ve worked better if the female leads had switched roles.
Debutant director Kapil Sharma looks at urban sensibilities with a refreshing angle. In a way the film appears genuinely desperate to break away from the mould, but ruefully while it manages some bits of it, for most part it sticks to the basics. Its run-time of 110 minutes may seem like a blessing but eventually is short to accomplish what the director sets out to do. Many episodes that had potential, put together in hurried sequences do not have the impact that they probably could. The director rushing thru hastily shot scenes leaves no time to allow the audience connect, sympathize etc with the characters which ends up being the biggest negative.
So despite the mountain of drawbacks ranging from average performances to dry narrative, what then works in favor of the film? Handful things, albeit being abrupt stay with you after the movie. Quick references of how the seven ladies in various measures or phases in Ishaan’s life contribute to making him the person he is, is nicely touched upon. While I did feel that the women were unduly stereotyped to some traits, it’ll be a lie to not admit that it is partly relatable especially in Indian relationships context. Secondly, Ishaan’s characterization is well sketched and reasoned for. Here’s a guy who is subconsciously ignorant, apologizes half-heartedly albeit after much prodding, and takes everyone associated with him for granted. But he’s not a bad guy, plain immature, often sparked by jealousy and being threatened by competition, when he is made to feel inferior. This attributed to the way he has grown up being told that he’s the best, which he then lives to believe every second of his life. Lastly, as we were pretty much aware of the setup of what the movies was all about, I was keen to find out if Kapil caves in and has the protagonist mend his ways. Here’s where Kapil scores high. Despite the dullness in the second half, he delights with a fine contemporary ending, easily one of the finest I’ve seen in a while. This comes as a big surprise at a time when you’re almost set to give up on the naivety of script.
With its fair share of pros and cons, each equally forgivable and unforgettable, I Me aur Main is a decent watch, ambitious to be the best like its lead but just as equally self-indulgent.
