This Yashraj film marks many things: Kajol's return to the silver screen after a five-year hiatus, her first on-screen pairing with the talented Aamir Khan; Khan's next release after the superhit Rang De Basanti; director Kunal Kohli's follow-up act after the successful Hum Tum (2004). The big question is whether the movie lives up to the hype. Well, the movie is worth watching for the lead star cast's onscreen chemistry alone - the screenplay, unfortunately, leaves a lot to be desired.
Zooni Ali Baig ( Kajol) a blind Kashmiri, visits Delhi as part of the Indian Republic Day celebration troupe. There she literally falls ?blindly' in love with Rehan Qadri (Khan), a flirtatious tour guide. After the audience is entertained to a Delhi sightseeing trip and Qadri's verbal skills with Urdu poetry, disaster strikes in the form of a terrorist attack, masterminded by Qadri.
Cut to seven years later. Zooni lives with her father Zulfi ( Rishi Kapoor) and her son Qadri Jr. (Master Ali), presuming that Qadri Sr. was killed in the terrorist attack. Faith, fate, love or rather a face-off with the Indian anti-terrorist cell brings Qadri Sr. (now one of the most wanted terrorists) to Zooni, who is blind no more, but alas, gone a bit deaf as she fails to recognise her lover's voice for a long period in the second half.
We have the nuclear bomb angle thrown in between the family emotions till the movie ends on a shocking note (at least for some sections of the audience).
The terrorist part of the story is ill-defined and makes the proceedings in the second half unconvincing. I could not figure out whether the film was sympathetic towards or against the independent Kashmir issue. Moreover, the editing is loose. Performance-wise Kajol is brilliant and proves that she is worth the five-year wait. Aamir Khan is dependable and reliable, but his character is often sketchy and inconsistent.
Tabu's role does not have enough meat for her to sink her teeth into. Rishi Kapoor is effective and well supported by Kirron Kher. Master Ali is cute and endearing. Shiney Ahuja is wasted in a miniscule role. The Lara Dutta scene was unwarranted. Jatin-Lalit's soundtrack is mediocre, barring the tracks Chand Sifarish and Mere Haath Mein. Cinematography by Ravi K Chandran is first rate and the way he captures Poland (depicted as Kashmir) is cool. The action sequences are decent.
Ignore the blemishes in the script if you can; the sheer screen presence of Kajol with Aamir will make you drool over this movie.
