Story: A Hindu boy falls in love with a Christian girl. The difference in religion makes it a no-no relationship. But the boy is determined to find love
Movie Review: He sees her for the first time on the street, walking slowly towards him like poetry in motion. She is dressed in a black sari and matching blouse; her pitch-dark hair caressing her body. And in that singular moment, Sachin ( Prateik), a mechanical engineer who wants to make movies, is transformed into a butterfly of uncontrollable desire. He is smitten and finds himself walking on air.
But love never comes easy. Especially if the boy belongs to a family of Marathi Konkanastha Brahmans and the girl Jessie (Amy Jackson) is a Malayali Christian. There are other 'pangas' too. The girl is older than him and her father and brother abhor the boy. But Sachin is too besotted to notice.
Intense stories of first love are rare in Bollywood Lite nowadays. But Ekk Deewana Tha, originally made in Tamil, takes the route of extreme ardor. Love isn't a walk in the park here; it is the war of life itself, a battle that envelops those involved and almost consumes them. Love is like a buried treasure that lies only at the end of a hard journey - and one doesn't know till the very end whether it is really attainable at all.
The good thing about Ekk Deewana Tha is that it chooses deep conversations and not deadly fists to reach where it finally wants to. It doesn't offer any insights into the art of love; rather it merely lays bare the regular confusions - is it love or friendship? - of young hearts. Exquisitely lensed in lush Kerala by cinematographer M S Prabhu, the movie gets too self-indulgent in the end; the last 20 minutes could have been trimmed to 10. The love story of Sachin and Jessie never becomes your own though the lead pair is okay. Prateik's voice is evocative; Amy Jackson, a former Miss Liverpool, reeks of an understated sensuality, though strangely, her skin-tone keeps varying with every scene. But together they fail to synergize their performances. Ramesh Sippy's presence too doesn't add any sholay to the proceedings. May be the movie needed more spunk in Manu Rishi's dialogues, to elevate itself. Even A R Rahman's music wouldn't figure among his Top 20 films.
Ekk Deewana Tha has its moments but it doesn't really put you in the mood for love.
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