Positive Vibes

CAST: Seema Rahmani,Manu Narayan

Rating: ***

She is alone on New Year’s eve drinking at a bar near Times Square. He is with a group of friends who try to hit on her. She says no.

Later that same night,she gets a call from him. And then starts a conversation that lasts an hour and a half,beginning with a woman and a man gently flirting,going on to pop psychology,and ending up talking about life,rejection and love.

The film,directed by Sudhish Kamath and co-written by him with Shilpa Rathnam,acknowledges the influence of Before Sunrise,the Ethan Hawke-Julie Delpy movie where two strangers spend a magical night together,just talking,in Vienna. This film’s task,however,is harder,given that the main actors (Rahmani and Narayan) are restricted to a car travelling from New York to Philadelphia and a hotel room respectively,and are not talking face to face but over the phone.

Kamath and Rathnam find a way around it,thinking up different scenarios where their stories could converge or diverge.

The best parts of the film are its beginning,with witty,risque dialogue and a long exchange one rarely hears in Indian cinema (he believes the defining movie of the past decade has been Matrix,she believes it’s a show and it’s Friends). Rahmani is bright,on top and in control. Narayan is delighted and willing to play along. They are uninhibited with each other even as they go round in circles wondering what lines they can cross,and it’s a charming flirtation to watch.

When they veer around to break-ups and love,it does get to drag a little particularly as the film takes so long to say what it has to. Given the beginning,and the hilarious middle with Narayan doing a proficient SRK parody,the film falling back on mushy is a tad disappointing.