‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ review: Appealing story, but unimpressive

As a matter of fact, there is not much that can be expected from a Karan Johar film, or to be more precise, from a Punit Malhotra film. There was nothing to love about ‘I Hate Love Story’. Period. 
After watching ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’, it is clearer still that Punit is not over the ‘I Hate Love Story’ hangover, at least in the first half of the film.

So there you have a flirty, fun loving, non –serious and happy-go-lucky Sriram Venkat (Imran Khan) who has been hooked to Vasudha (Shraddha Kapoor), thanks to his parents who want to ground him. But Sriram has a past, as does his to-be bride which keeps getting revealed in flashback mode. After being consistently nudged by his fiancée, it dawns upon Sriram that there are indeed strings attached between him and Dia (Kareena Kapoor Khan) despite their chalk and cheese like character traits. He is off to Jhumli, a village on the skirts of MP and Gujarat, in order to win back his Gori, who resides there doing social work. 

When it comes to the things that work for the film, it is the storyline and direction that are worth writing home about. The film is funny in parts and keeps the interest intact right from the word ‘go’. The soundtrack of the film has an urbane and romantic feel. The song ‘Naina’ sung by Neeti Mohan and Kamal Khan stand out for its superbly classical tunes. 

Although Imran Khan has more screen moments in ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ than Kareena Kapoor, he fails to make an intense impact. Had it not been for the story, the film would have been a complete letdown. Kareena, on her part, dances well, looks stunning, and even manages to act reasonably well. But we have seen her doing that in other films, and we have also seen her doing better roles.

Anupam Kher as the baddie collector of the Jhumli village has a short role which he amply justifies. Also, another gripe is that an actor like Vineet Kumar Singh has not been used properly at all. His status in the film has been arbitrarily reduced to that of a village extra. It will be a disappointing sight for someone who loved watching Vineet in ‘Gangs of Wasseypur 2’ and ‘Bombay Talkies’.

Generally speaking, ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ is a clean, light hearted and fun film, but don’t go to watch it keeping your expectations too high. If you are sucker for Rom-Coms, especially the Karan Johar variety, and if you have not watched a film in a long while, then chances are you might enjoy it.