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Mp3 - Mera Pehla Pehla
Pyaar |
By Taran
Adarsh, June 8, 2007 - 10:00 IST
 A
love story set in a school is a rarity in Bollywood.
MP3 - MERA PEHLA PEHLA PYAAR, as the title suggests,
is about the first crush, the first love, which one
cannot erase from memory.
MP3 is different from films of its ilk. The lovers
here face no parental opposition, nor is there a rich
/ poor divide. The problems they encounter are pretty
trivial, so common amongst adolescents.
MP3 isn't great cinema, it promises no path-breaking
story either, but it succeeds in taking you back to
those years in life when even holding a girl's hand
was a big high. There's a certain innocence that this
film captures effectively: the rawness that the
characters exude, the shortcuts that teens undertake
to impress their friends…
All said, MP3 has soul, something that's missing in
most movies these days.
The film opens up with Rohan [Ruslaan], the male lead,
catching a little more than the usual forty winks. As
he wakes up just on time to scuttle away on his
bicycle to school, en route his close friend Sudhir
joins in.
Enter Ayesha [Hazel], a bright young fresher on her
first trip to school, who ends up having this bizarre
first-time experience with Rohan. While the latter is
bunking class, he uses her as a shield to protect
himself from the seething school principle. The meet
ups thereafter are full of drama and gradually, the
two fall in love.
 But
a misunderstanding ensues and an upset Ayesha leaves
for France. Rohan desires to meet his Lady Love again.
But how does he cross the umpteen hurdles to reach the
Eiffel Tower?
There have been school / college romances in the past.
Some worked, some didn't. MP3 doesn't attempt to make
the bachchas behave like grown-ups and that's one of
the reasons why it works.
The pranks are childish, but in sync with the mood of
the film. While there's not much of a story to look
forward to, the wheels start moving towards the
penultimate reels, when the boy flies to Paris to meet
his girlfriend. The last 20 odd minutes, when he asks
her to reach the Eiffel Tower, and their respective
journeys to the monument, is the best part of the
enterprise.
Any shortcomings? Oh yes! For any love story to strike
a chord, it ought to be embellished with a lilting
musical score. In this case, the music is a letdown.
Worse, the song that has been publicized the maximum,
'Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar', is missing from the film.
Strange, isn't it?
Robby Grewal shows a definite growth as a storyteller.
His second outing has a cohesive script and the
execution of a few scenes is just perfect. The climax,
especially, is noteworthy. Cinematography is up to the
mark. The locales of Prague and Paris are enticing.
 Ruslaan
does very well. Good-looking, camera-friendly and
confident, he has the potential to be the new kid on
the block. Hazel looks pretty and compliments Ruslaan.
Ruslaan's friends and also the actor playing Shantu
are natural. Kanwaljeet Singh is nice. The actors
playing Hazel's mom and aunt pitch in fine
performances. Manoj Pahwa is spontaneous. Gaurav Gera
does a fine job.
On the whole, MP3 is a cute film that succeeds in its
mission of pleasing its target audience -- the teens.
At the box-office, the patronage from its target
audience should see the film through to the safety
mark.
Ranking:- * * *
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