Just to let you know I am a big believer in old-school romance. The kind of love that is defined by self-sacrifices and selflessness. Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha starring Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari and Saiee Manjrekar takes us back to the good old times when love like this did not seem like a fairytale. But did I enjoy sitting through the almost three-hour-long film directed by Neeraj Pandey? I would probably yawn and say, not really! However, the film’s length was not the sole issue here, the storytelling, direction, pauses and script, everything added up in making Auron Mein Kahan Dum a boring musical love story that could not save itself with a mind-bending climax (did you hear the sarcasm here?). So here’s a rant, oh review on how the Neeraj Pandey directorial made me feel!
Plot
Auron Mein Kahan Dum starts by introducing us to the character of Krishna (Ajay Devgn) and within the first few minutes the film establishes that he has been in jail for the last 23 years after being proven guilty in two murders. However, these murders were committed by Krishna after he and his girlfriend Vasudha (Tabu) met with an unprecedented situation. While Krishna awaits his pre-release from jail on good behaviour, his love story with Vasudha is shown in throwbacks. Shantanu Maheshwari plays the younger Krishna while Saiee Manjrekar plays the character of young Vasudha. The Neeraj Pandey directorial mostly revolves around establishing the strong love story between them, and only in the second half does the film unfold some twists in the plot after Krishna meets Vasudha’s husband Abhijeet (Jimmy Shergill).
Negatives And Mostly That!
Storyline
The film is so slow, that it became the death of me! The storyline is like beating around the bush and both of us were equally confused. The scenes were moving at the speed of 0.5x, and the entire focus was on presenting each scene for 10 mins. If a character is thinking about the past, or if there are any romantic moments where the characters are just looking at each other, every scene is dragged to the limit where I went like, please now can we forward this? The climax made no impact whatsoever because the pace of the film was so slow that we just predicted the ending (yeah, we had a lot of time for that). The characters took their own sweet time to deliver the dialogue! Also, the main character in this film were the songs because their placement throughout the narrative was given more importance than the plot itself.
Also, the plot twists in the second half of Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha proved that the story was directionless and somehow it was trying to join the dots! The plot build-up was quite exhausting and no reasonable justification could be given for what was happening in the story. A very naive and illogical narrative was presented just to show that some love stories do not end, and while people can only boast about love, Krishna showed how it’s done!
Performances
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha mainly revolved around the performances delivered by Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Saiee Manjrekar and maybe a little of Jimmy Shergill. Unfortunately, Ajay Devgn was just underwhelming throughout. He had one expression in the entire film and his character just falls flat. Tabu hardly had much to contribute to the film and her character was mostly seen with a feeling of repentance. Shantanu Maheshwari delivered a standard performance but since the character was so poorly written and the scenes were so badly executed, all these negatives overshadowed the performance. Saiee Manjrekar was refreshing as the young Tabu and did her part well. Jimmy Shergill’s character was just used as a middleman to bring out the real truth behind Krishna and Vasu’s life and what exactly happened on the night of the murders. The actor did do justice to his role. Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha is not a performance-driven film, anyway!
Direction
It is quite disappointing to see that Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha was a product by Neeraj Pandey, a director who has given us films like Special 26, M.S Dhoni and Rustom among others. There was a brief action sequence in the film between Krishna and a few prisoners inside the jail, and it was hilarious. The entire sequence was directed in a very unserious manner as if I was watching some cartoon in which the bad guys were just pretending to fall after getting a few punches from the hero. The conscious decision to drag each scene with a depressing background score does not work for this love story, it only backfires.
Also Read: Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha Trailer: 5 Thoughts We Have On The Tabu, Ajay Devgn Starrer
Length
The attention span of the audience was not taken into consideration while making Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha. The idea of slow-burn romance was killed in the film. The film is a masterclass on how to make a three-hour film by stretching scenes (basically editing was a joke here), giving forced plot twists and showing how not to do love stories. After a point, staring at the ground became more interesting for me.
Tabu And Ajay Devgn Wasted!
NGL, the two really looked good on screen and shared an impressive chemistry too. But the story, direction and everything in between just destroyed the presence of this on-screen jodi! I can’t believe that it became painful for me to watch Ajay Devgn and Tabu together. I was all there, seated for an old-school and meaningful romance but Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha turned out to be disappointing that way.
Also Read: Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha Releases First Song Tuu Ft. Ajay Devgn, Tabu. It’s A Romantic Masterpiece!
Music Album
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha has a soulful music album and, sadly, I was introduced to it most depressingly. The album was composed by the famous MM Keeravani, the composer of RRR’s ‘Naatu Naatu’. I wonder why the makers did not promote the soundtracks of the film!
Also, another best part of the film was Krishna’s friend Jignesh (Jay Upadhyay). the kind of friend that we all deserve. His character was on point with the punchlines that made the audience get a breather from the exhausting plot.
Verdict
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha directed by Neeraj Pandey is almost a three-hour film that is built on a not-so-engaging storyline and an even more disappointing direction. If you are an Ajay Devgn and Tabu fan, the film may come across as a disaster or look like a wasted potential. The slow, old-school love story would have been a good idea if it was not forced on the audience with lengthy and unedited scenes. The suspense is very much predictable, and the plot twists make no sense! The performances are not a concern here because they fail to save the film! Well, that’s pretty much for the rant, I will let you decide for yourself!