Tum Mile

wogma rating: Watch if you have nothing better to do ^(?)

quick review:

Love, calamity, death all taken way too casually in a drab, still-life sort-of a way. Its unexciting, its slow. But a strong lady character is good because its rare in Hindi films. Little solace that is, though.

Director: Kunal Deshmukh

Cast: Soha Ali Khan, Emraan Hashmi

Running time: 135 minutes

Genres: Romance

More Movie Info

I am one of those who believes that the same old story can be told with a fresh style and thus still entertain. Unfortunately the converse is also true. The same old story can be told in a dull, soporific style and bore you to the core. You know where I'm leading you with this one - Tum Mile falls in the second category - boring.

The one line plot is as simple as it can be. Boy meets girl (as clarified in the title), they fall in love, something happens they fall out of it and the climax will tell you whether finally boy meets girl or not. Now within these confines the freshness could be in how they meet, how they start liking each other, what misunderstanding/personality clash is thrown in, etc. All these things are sort-of close to real-life. We are sure to know people and couples like these. But, here real also translates to hands-down monotonous.

The situations are sorry enough, the dialogues attempt to add flavor but don't succeed very much. And in such state of affairs, how much can the actors do? Both Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan are delighted, sorry, shy, frustrated, helpless as the script requires them to be. All good but still mind-numbing.

And the two of them create nothing special together. No longing in me for them to be together. No reason for me to feel good when they are all lovey-dovey, nor for me to feel pain when they are trying hard to keep those tears in.

In all this mundane humdrum there is one thing that sticks out. The lead lady character has a personality that she stands by. She's not whimsical and neither does she have an obsessive compulsive disorder. She's a regular girl with her own aspirations and easy-going ways. She will bend backward for her man and snap every time her back protests.

And yet I don't empathize with a girl or the boy who have come from South Africa for a day to Bombay and get stuck in the oh-so-rotten monsoons. It's nothing against the characters. It’s the way the entire episodes are narrated. So emotionless, so…so lifeless. Why should I care if they suffer like Rose did in Titanic? They couldn't create an ounce of what I felt for her.

And that is very atypical of a Bhatt film. Whoever the director, there is enough of a twist in the story and enough interaction within the audience for them to react, to love, to hate. But, here I am sitting, bored even to finish writing this review. Nope, no good memorable tunes or lyrics in the songs either! :(

- meeta, a part of the audience

34 reviewers^(?) - 9 yays 11 so-so 14 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Aparajita Ghosh, Apun Ka Choice : ...Soha lends a sophistication to her Sanjana, a shade of which retains in the character even in the moments of panic.... full review

Thumbs up, Indicine : ...The romance is real, effective and extremely engrossing.... full review

Thumbs up, Movie Talkies : ...Soha has that natural air of sophistication about her, and therefore seems to be a good choice for Sanjana... full review

Thumbs up, by Ashok Nayak, Now Running.com : ...The music by Pritam is soulful and the special effects are good.... full review

Thumbs up, by Sonia Chopra, Sify Movies : ...Tum Mile chooses to tone down the devastation. ... full review

Thumbs up, by Eye TV India Bureau, SmasHits.com : ...The most memorable is that Soha kisses Emraan, and that too not once but twice, unlike the past when serial kisser Emraan locked lips with his heroine.... full review

Thumbs up, by K K Rai, STARDUST : ...The director has handled the ego clash between Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan superbly... full review

Thumbs up, by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India : ...Now that's not as important as the fact that the director artfully keeps hopping through different time zones, inter cutting the past with the present, and keeps the interest level high... full review

Thumbs up, by SpiceZee Bureau, Zee News : ...Tum Mile’ comes across as a tremendously mature and absorbing account of a long-lasting relationship... full review

So-So, by Noyon Jyoti Parasara, AOL INDIA : ...Especially Soha, who uses her body language really well.... full review

So-So, by Baradwaj Rangan, Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express : ...the drama is nicely underplayed... full review

So-So, by Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama : ...Mumbai floods should've been given more prominence, instead of using it as a tool to take the story forward. ... full review

So-So, by Daliya Ghose, Bollywood Mantra : ...The song 'Dil Ibaadat' is best composed and sung. The cinematography was excellent. ... full review

So-So, by Anand Vaishnav, Buzz18 : ...The basic problem with Tum Mile lies with its much-too-long flashback. ... full review

So-So, by Martin D'souza, Glamsham.com : ...Mantra, Emraan's buddy is another actor who catches the eye. This lad has talent and essays his role with panache. ... full review

So-So, by Gaurav Malani, indiatimes : ...While the format of storytelling is effective to an extent, the story tends to get one-dimensional after a point of time. T... full review

So-So, by Minty Tejpal, Mumbai Mirror : ...the lead pair lacks any magic.... full review

So-So, by Khalid Mohammed, Passion for Cinema : ...While the first film or the heartistic section is scripted, shot and performed marvellously, the second one, is for want of a better word, sorry. Er..soggy.... full review

So-So, real bollywoood : .... Soha Ali Khan delivers her best performance till date going through a gamut of expressions with amazing ease... full review

So-So, by Sukanya Verma, Rediff : ...Deshmukh handles the frustrations and conflicts between two strong-willed, independent individuals with astounding realism... full review

Thumbs down, by Bobby Singh, Bobby Talks Cinema.com : ...Post interval, the viewer becomes desperate of watching the flood stuff and really wants to see how it is done in a Hindi movie. But he still has to wait till the end... full review

Thumbs down, by Sonal G, Bolly Spice : ...Soha is shown to have maintained the same haircut and hair length for six years straight... full review

Thumbs down, by Udita Jhunjhunwala, DNA : ...As for the flood scenes themselves, unimpressive CG work, limited sets and a casual treatment of the scenario robs it of all suspense and tension... full review

Thumbs down, by Deepa Garimella, fullhyd.com : ... Emraan Hashmi is suave and acts brilliantly... full review

Thumbs down, by Mayank Shekhar, Hindustan Times : ...At some point, only mid-way through the movie, the story exhausts itself.... full review

Thumbs down, by Rajeev Masand, IBN Live : ...The problem is there's not enough drama in the screenplay to begin with.... full review

Thumbs down, by Aarti Natarajan , merinews : ...The music can be called a saving grace though after some time all the Hashmi movie songs start to sound alike! ... full review

Thumbs down, by Tushar Joshi, MiD DAY : ...Constant flashbacks in the first half confuse and somewhat break continuity. ... full review

Thumbs down, by Anupama Chopra, NDTV : ...ostensibly Bollywood's first disaster movie is superbly silly.... full review

Thumbs down, by Subhash K Jha, Now Running.com : ...Emraan Hashmi attempts to infuse his trite and jaded character with a fair amount of conviction... full review

Thumbs down, by Hanumant Bhansali, Radio Sargam : ...Both actors perform out of the box and show every one of their critics that they have what it takes to succeed in Bollywood... full review

Thumbs down, by Janhvi Patel, StarBoxOffice : ...Some scenes are very silly. Does an Indian electrician visit people’s houses in South Africa to check if their meter is working?... full review

Thumbs down, by The Thirdman, Upper Stall : ...You would have saved yourself the trouble of questioning various logical loopholes in the story... full review

Twitter reviews for this movie are not available.

4 readers - 3 yays 1 so-so 0 nays

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Hindilyrics4u.co.in : For all English ongs Lyrics

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Hindilyrics4u.co.in : very atypical of a Bhatt film. Whoever the director, there is enough of a twist in the story and en

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Hindilyrics4u.co.un : Lyricswale.com is acomprehensive website for all Hinidi/Tamil/Telugu songs lyrics fans

So-So, by Consumer Goods

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

Boy, Akshay (Emraan Hashmi) meets girl, Sanjana (Soha Ali Khan), they fall in love, something happens they fall out of it and the climax will tell you whether finally boy meets girl or not.

What Worked

The irony that an art dealer who also deals in modern art wouldn't recognize the beauty of abstract.

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

The coincidences - way too many. But the mother of all coincidences - people finding each other by coincidence in Bombay!!
Okay, I really want to know what Akshay's visiting card said. Table waiter, Delivery boy?! What??
The vagaries of being a restaurant delivery boy. They were blah!
Are you allowed to ride a bike in South Africa without helmets?
The trampoline sequence - not cute!
Soha's cleavage - she wasn't able to carry the low-cut dresses.

Parental Guidance:

Violence: None
Language: Clean
Nudity & Sexual content: A few bedroom scenes.
Concept: Of love and relationships.
General Look and Feel: A little less dark than the usual Bhatt films. But, dark nevertheless