A Christmas gift!. Review on Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi

Just one word of caution:

Don't go for this film if meaningful or sensible story is what you are looking for with logic dominating the show.Mahesh Manjrekar's film ''Life Ho To Aisi'' is a pure entertainment...In fact one of those films where you would walk out with a broad smile on your face! Feel good, feel nice and generally feel that it was time well spent.Not to mention ,the film is one joy ride!

Plot

Shahid Kapur is living in a huge, inherited house in Mumbai, with his grandmother Suhasini Muley, sister Antara, brother Mohnish Bah and his[Mohnish] children, Rohan and Rinky.He is an automobile engineer by profession....

Amrita Rao who stays two blocks away, is the children’s tutor. The children, dadi and Antara all want Shahid to marry Amrita, but Shahids wants his sister to get married first.

Actual drama takes place when Shahid arranges Antara’s match with Vineeet, who demands Rs 50 lakh as dowry; 50 per cent in advance — Shahid agress .

But Kahani mein twist

He doesn’t have the money, so decides to mortgage his house for the Rs 25 lakh advance. He is confident that he will repay the loan back in time, because he and his partner are about to bag a huge contract.The money changes hands, and Antara is engaged. Shahid agrees to marry Amrita. But destiny has something in store for them!

Shahid meets with an accident. He is in critical condition in ICU and that is where he takes his last breath!

A well-dressed Yamraj [Sunjay Dutt], with a small boy, Soham, arrives from the terrace of the hospital and through the wall. He removes his laptop; taps on some buttons and starts the timer.

As the timer approaches zero, Shahid’s soul is picked up by Yamraj[Sanju Baba], and they leave through the ceiling.Sunjay, Sahid and Soham are in the clouds, driving away in a luxury car. Shahid wakes up and wonders who the stranger is and where he is taking him. Sunjay tells him he is Yamraj. Shahid impresses upon him his death will ruin his entire family. He tells him to see in fast-forward mode what the future holds for the kids, dadi and others. Yamraj starts crying when he sees the flash forward.

Another turn....

Shahid requests Sanjay [Yumraj] to send him to earth for a few days, to settle matters. Sanjay reluctantly agrees, but warns him that he wouldn’t be seen or heard by any human being. A compromise is reached, on the condition that Soham will accompany Shahid. Shahid enters the house and sees a forlorn family, soon to become homeless.

But he cannot console them as he can’t be heard or seen. He and Soham are sitting on a pavement, crying, when Arshad Warsi [who has that power to see them!] gets up from his sleep and shouts, asking them to shut up. Shahid tells Arshad to help him.Arshad says he can teach him a meditation course, through which he will get supernatural powers for ten minutes, every 24 hours. Shahid and Soham meditate, and realise they have supernatural power for ten minutes. Now Shahid realises that in seventy minutes, in seven days, he has to get rid of all the problems faced by the family.What happens next?

Critical analysis

As a director it has been a while since Manjrekar has made something worth your while.So Life Ho To Aisi is a good effort in that direction! In terms of a story Mahesh Manjrekar is definetly inspired by Ghost but it would be unfair to call the movie a ''remake'' as it has its own touch.

One just wishes he was able to keep the film moving at a tight knit pace throughout yet he falls prey to commercial conventions at times by having songs in the incorrect places, cliched scenes which have been witnessed before and some dull characters.

But the fact is the film does make you laugh, it also makes you cry and has several feel-good moments that the viewer carries back home after the show concludes.The first half of the film is akin to a joy ride! Manjrekar never takes the viewer to the ''ultra'' serious level and never lets the movie turn to melodrama. He is successful in living up to his tag line for the most- celebrate the Christmas with us!Infact the film is akin to a christmas gift!

However ,the film starts to drag after a point and specially the second half almost bores the viewer. Furthermore the pacing is uneven throughout.The characterisation of villians are very weak.Infact they are a throwback to those snarling and gnarling 70's villans made famous by the likes of Pran and and Amrish Puri .The character that Prem Chopra has entacted is akin to that to one he played in films like Raja Babu!

Technically the film deserves a 9.5/10.0 in my view. SFX depicted in LHTA is one of the most breath taking pieces of work I have seen from Bollywood of late. Some may call it Hollywood inspired-I don't necessary see that as a bad thing. Each frame....each visual...is simply magnificent. Right from the colour scheme of the movie ranging from hell to heaven ,SFX commands respect and attention throughout.Dialogue deserve a special mention as they are extremely well written.

Performances

Shahid Kapoor plays his part with utmost ease.He has given the movie his heart and soul and from the comic scenes to the romantic scenes and dramatic scenes he impresses throughout and enacts his part like a seasoned performer. His cute looks, innocent eyes make him the winner and he fits into his part like a glove.One can clearly see why he has bagged all the big projects of late .

Apart from Shahid the other performance which is worth mentioning and which is best in my view is the that of Sanjay Dutt.After irritating performance in fiasco called Shaadi No.1 ,Sanjay Dutt is in complete form! He delivers the part of Yamraj with perfect understanding.Just witness the scene where he compares the look of Modern Yamraj with Sanjay Dutt!So funny....

Amrita Rao is good in her part but one feels that Mahesh Manjrekar hasn't made the most of her talent. The essential bonding scenes between Amrita and Shahid are missing for the most as well.

Arshad Warsi as Fakira gives a flawless portrayl and a truly brilliant portrayl of his character. His facial expressions, dialogue delivery and body language are just spot on. One sorely misses him in the second half where he is side lined. His chemistry with Shahid is great and I seriously feel that if Warsi was there throughout the movie LHTA would've been a whole lot better. One can say that Warsi steals the show ! Prem Chopra is average and fails to register impact.

conclusion.....

All up LHTA is a good movie..but not great!Still it is worth a watch once simply for Shahid and Arshad's performances as well as SFX...