Release date: 11 May 2012
		Bollywood3.com Rating : 3/5
		Director : Habib Faisal
		Producer : Aditya Chopra
		Music Director : Amit Trivedi
		Starring: Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra

It’s been quite a long wait for debutant and Boney Kapoor’s son Arjun kapoor to see himself on screen. The wait now seems to be over, as he teams up with Priyanka Chopra’s cousin Parineeti Chopra for ‘Ishaqzaade’. This Yash Raj Film which is directed by Habib Faisal has hit the screens today and let’s see how the film fares.

Story:

Ishaqzaade has the old school simple story line of a Hindu boy falling for a Muslim girl. Ishaqzaade is set in a small town of Uttar Pradesh, where two political parties are vouching for one prominent Government authority. First there is the Muslim Quershi family and then comes the ferocious Chauhan family. Zoya(Parineeti Chopra) belongs to the Qureshi family and Barma(Arjun Kapoor) belongs to the Chauhan family. Zoya and Barma fall in love with each other in weird circumstances, but their love is not accepted by their respective families. Rest of the story forms as to how Zoya and Barma manage to stick together in spite of their strong negative family backgrounds.

Plus Points:

Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra are the only plus points of the movie. They carry the whole film on their shoulders. A special mention for Parineeti who has done an excellent job as Zoya. Her expressions, body language and dialogue delivery are superb. She is surely going to be an actress to look out for in the future. Arjun does a decent job for his first film. He suits the character or a rustic village stud in the movie very well and has a very strong screen presence. He has shown the negative shades in his character very well. Interval twist is the highlight of the movie as you would never expect that to happen in the movie. Movie has very realistic feel and all the supporting characters which are relatively new faces did a decent job. The nativity of Uttar Pradesh and its political behaviors have been captured well. Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra share an amazing chemistry which comes up mostly in the romantic scenes. First half of the movie is highly unpredictable and very entertaining.

Minus Points:

Pacing of the second half is very slow and the movie gets very predictable right after the interval starts. The hype and hysteria which is created in the first half is just slowed down with a very routine story telling. Too much of nativity is shown which can be a big let down for audience from other regions. There is too much gun culture shown in the movie which looks a bit artificial. Music of the movie is a big let down. Only the title song was decent and rest of the songs were a waste of time. Parineeti’s character in the second half is little hard to believe as she changes her mood too often. There are absolutely no commercial elements apart from a couple of item songs by Gauhar Khan. Most of the people might not like the abrupt ending to the movie and also might not be convinced with that sort of ending.

Technical Aspects:

Cinematography is good and the makers have succeeded in showing the rustic village atmosphere decently. Editing of the movie is apt. Screenplay of the movie is decent but could have been a lot better. Dialogues are of typical UP dialect and show the difference of religions through the conversations in the movie. The director has taken a very simple old story and added a small twist to it only succeeding in the first half. Characterizations are only highlighted to the lead pair and not to the rest of the cast. As said earlier music is a big let down and not even a single song is hummable. Lyrics for the title song ‘Ishaqzaade’ are decent. Picturization of the songs could have been a lot better.

Verdict:

On the whole, Ishaqzaade which starts with a very interesting note does not carry the momentum in the later part. Apart from a superb performance from Parineeti Chopra, this film has its low and dull moments. Ending of the film might shock some of you. This film being a good launch pad for Arjun Kapoor is a decent flick and is recommended only for selected audience who like watching love stories with a twist.

Bollywood3.com Rating : 3/5

Reviewed by Avad

Legend:

5 – Flawless

4 – Must Watch

3 – One Time Watch

2 – Wait for the DVD

1 – Stay Away

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