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The joy of watching seasoned warhorses Ajay Devgn and Tabu in a star-crossed romance is undercut by the movie’s mothballed treatment: instead of being fresh, it feels dated, a vehicle unworthy of its star pair. Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha is a clunky title for a film which should have been anything but. Devgn and Tabu are amongst that rare breed in Hindi mainstream cinema which combines stardom and terrific actorly qualities, but even the best actors need to be used well.
The love story of Krishna and Vasudha, played by Shantanu Maheshwari and Saiee Manjrekar in their younger, carefree chawl-residing days, and Devgn and Tabu in their present day avatars, had the potential to be a thing of passion and beauty. But the exigencies of a plot which strays from the chief thrust, with a couple of accidental killings and a prolonged jail angle, never lets the film bloom into an aching ‘prem kahani’.
Part of the problem is that you never quite believe that the very expressive Maheshwari, with his floppy hair and slight build, is the kind who can decimate anyone who comes in the way of his one true love (Manjrekar, effective). Whispering sweet nothings, sure, but taking on ruffians single-handed, uh-huh.
Their tripping about on the staircases of their chawl, the exchanges of kindling glances, the breaking of the ‘dahi-handi’ with a note from the beloved, all feels sweetly retro, but then the flashbacks start getting weighed under the background music, which tells us exactly how to feel at every step. Nothing ages a movie as much as this device: could someone please get rid of it, or at least learn how to use it as inserts? Also, everything looks like a set: how, even in 2024, can you make a shadowy lanes leading to a chawl look so made-up?
It’s nice to see Ajay Devgn step aside from his ‘Singham’ mode, even if he gets to bash some baddies: how else does he justify being called a ‘hero’ ? It’s even nicer to see him with Tabu: the two starred in the blockbuster ‘Vijaypath’, their first big outing, and have been paired several times successfully since. Jimmy Sheirgill comes on as a third wheel, and he really doesn’t have much to do, even though he owns the film’s best line.
Auron.. tries to be the kind of ‘mature’ romance that Bollywood rarely attempts, but I’m not sure whether it has the courage or conviction, or the tools, to make it’s own version of a bitter-sweet ‘Bridges of Madison County’. This one kept me waiting for those blow-your-socks off moments both the leads are capable of rustling up so effortlessly.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha movie cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Jimmy Sheirgill, Shantanu Maheshwari, Saiee Manjrekar
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha movie director: Neeraj Pandey
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha movie rating: 2 stars
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