Laila Majnu - Movie Review
"Woh galat sahi ke paar ek maidan hain, wahan hum tum milenge." Thatโs what I recollected when I got up after watching the โLaila O Lailaโ song in the climax. I saw the same small hut on the hill where Alia Bhatt in Highway wanted to reside. I saw glimpses of Jordan in Majnu when he was going through Ishq ke 7 makaam.
Itโs Imtiaz Aliโs world, and you are living in it.
Very rarely does it happen that a film ends with a seemingly happy song, yet you come out with your heart full of sadness and trauma. My first reaction after watching the theatrical re-release of โLaila Majnuโ was to wonder why I didnโt watch it when it was first released. This was my second viewing of an Imtiaz Ali re-release in theaters after Rockstar.
I got glimpses of what Tripti Dimri is capable of and how she is wasted in current movies. Gosh! Hats off to Avinash Tiwary. I remember watching him in the Hotstar flick โYou Are My Sunday,โ but I canโt believe this was his first film. His transition from a flirting guy to a mad, mad lover who is ready to lose everything was just too good. At no point did I feel like he was acting.
Saajid Aliโs direction and Imtiaz Aliโs writing were superb! In the world of easy love, with swiping right/left, you can feel what it means to wait for your love. When he says, โ4 saal se sirf inteezar kar raha hun,โ your heart aches. Another hero of the film was the beautiful locations of Kashmir. Itโs ironic that while being among Kashmir ki Vaadiyan, Majnu canโt help but feel sadness and pain. I loved "Sarfiri" and "Ahista Ahista," but the next time I hear โLaila O Laila,โ it will bring back the climax.
Itโs one of those films that will stay with me for a long time. I still canโt handle the fact that this film flopped at the box office, and the only ones to blame are all of us. My entire theater was empty while everyone flocked to a mindless action film on the next screen.
I donโt want to give any stars as of now. Iโm still hearing the haunting tunes of โAhista Ahista.โ Please watch it wherever you can.