Right
from
the
lofty
title,
Auron
Mein
Kahan
Dum
Tha
keeps
aiming
to
be
an
epic,
and
keeps
falling
short,
discovers
Deepa
Gahlot.
Neeraj
Pandey’s
thriller-heavy
filmography
has
given
him
enough
of
a
following
for
aspiring
writer-directors
to
want
to
emulate
him.
But
when
so
many
film-makers
around
him
want
to
be
Quentin
Tarantino,
Neeraj
Pandey
wants
to
be
Yash
Chopra
—
the
spirit
of
Veer-Zaara
hangs
heavily
on
his
latest,
Auron
Mein
Kahan
Dum
Tha.
The
legacy
of
men
in
love
sacrificing
themselves
for
their
beloved
in
Indian
cinema
goes
back
much
further,
and
generations
of
audiences
have
wept
over
tales
of
star-crossed
lovers.
But
times
changed,
and
an
urban
romance
is,
by
and
large,
bolder
than
cute
gazing
from
balconies
and
passing
of
notes.
Self-flagellating
heroes
are
out
of
vogue.
Right
from
the
lofty
title
(nobody
is
trying
to
oppress
the
hero!),
the
film
keeps
aiming
to
be
an
epic,
and
keeps
falling
short.
For
a
pair
to
go
into
slow
combust
mode,
the
romance
should
have
greater
intensity
and
a
smoulder
that
goes
beyond
popping
peanuts
and
have
inane
dialogue
like,
‘Why
does
love
make
us
lose
sleep!’
Still,
there
is
a
youthful
charm
to
Krishna
(Shantanu
Maheshwari),
an
orphan
who
has
pulled
himself
up
by
the
bootstraps,
and
has
a
career
in
computers
lined
up.
He
falls
in
love
with
chawl
neighbour
Vasudha
(Saiee
Manjrekar),
who
also
has
dreams
of
becoming
successful
and
helping
her
family.
These
two
are
so
sweet
and
earnest,
they
are
watchable,
even
though
the
loud
music
(M
M
Kreem)
drowns
out
any
tenderness.
Krishna
ends
up
getting
a
life
sentence
for
murder,
and
over
the
next
two
decades,
grows
up
to
be
Ajay
Devgn,
denizen
of
Arthur
Road
jail,
loved
by
cops
and
fellow
inmates.
Vasudha
(Tabu)
is
now
a
wealthy
businesswoman,
married
to
Abhijeet
(Jimmy
Shergill).
The
plot
actually
moves
after
the
first
half,
when
Krishna
is
released
from
prison
after
22
years.
Meanwhile,
flashbacks
keep
up
updating
the
viewer
of
his
memories
—
the
good
ones,
and
that
fateful
night
that
wrecked
his
life.
There
was
a
tragedy
right
there
—
a
man
reluctantly
emerging
after
nearly
a
quarter
of
a
century
into
a
world
that
has
moved
on
without
him.
But
there
is
a
loyal
chawl
buddy
Jignesh
(Jay
Upadhyay)
waiting
outside
to
ease
his
path,
and
an
escape
route
from
the
city
so
absurd
that
it
must
have
been
thought
up
just
to
give
Devgn
that
big
prison
brawl
scene.
A
gang
comes
out
to
attack
him
—
of
course,
it
is
raining
at
add
to
dramatic
effect
—
and
they
stand
at
a
distance
and
come
an
him
one
by
one.
The
prison
compound
has
been
cleared
for
this
fight,
and
there
are
no
repercussions
to
these
murders.
The
audience
—
somewhat
deafened
by
the
relentless
background
score
—
waits
for
the
Krishna-Vasudha
reunion.
There
should
have
been
emotional
bombs
but
there
is
some
banal
dialogue,
before
Vasudha
takes
him
to
her
palatial
home
to
meet
her
civilised
husband,
with
whom
Krishna
has
an
equally
banal
conversation
over
tea.
Because
a
twist
was
promised,
it
is
seen
coming
a
mile
away,
and
turns
out
to
be
something
that
makes
no
difference
to
the
outcome
of
the
story.
Or
perhaps
it
just
makes
Krishna
a
bigger
saint
or
a
chump,
depending
on
who’s
watching.
At
the
end
of
all
the
sighing,
soulful
looks
and
controlled
emotions
—
both
Devgn
and
Tabu
can
do
this
with
practiced
ease
—
there
is
no
storm,
no
catharsis,
not
even
mild
turbulence.
Not
an
audible
sniffle,
leave
aside
sobs
of
collective
heartbreak
into
hankies.
Still,
old-style
romance
in
the
age
of
Tinder?
Neeraj
Pandey
deserves
a
hat-tip
for
that
alone.
Auron
Mein
Kahan
Dum
Tha
Review
Rediff
Rating:
