Ta Ra Rum Pum

I had planned, and was pretty excited actually that I'll be watching Spiderman 3 over the weekend. But..it was not meant to be..thanks to my little cousin Jagrat(10 yrs old) who said "bhaiyya, abhi mujhe ye America waali English nahi samajh mein aati hai". So we decided on Ta Ra Rum Pum...the latest flick from the oh-so-prolific house of Yashraj. Saif is a pit-crew member who turns into a star racer and Rani is a well educated pianist who falls for Saif's charms.

First half is a typical love story--Poor guy meets rich babe.....the guy charms her...the guy then makes it big...he gets rich n famous....they decide to get married...the babe's father doesn't approve...they get married...have two kids.It is largely uninspiring and actually drags a lot. Saif and Rani's courtship and then the marriage is so so silly!! One of the worst romantic build-ups I've seen in recent times. Javed Jaffery's character, in the first half, looks like a rehash of his Salaam Namaste days with his not-so-good Indianized English. I even fell asleep a couple of times during some songs and silly sequences. Rani just couldn't pull off the "babe" attitude and looked very uncomfortable. The restaurant scene, where she is drunk...is laughable(not because it's funny). Saif also hams his way through the better part of the first half.

This is where the bad stuff ends though, and it's ironical because this is when the story turns bad. Saif has an accident and he loses the confidence to win again. The family now has to abandon their house and their lifestyle because they have no money. The family scenes where Saif and Rani try to cheer up the children, and the bonding between all of them is just brilliant!!! Both the lead actors more than make up for their first half's hamming in the second half. Javed Jaffery also comes into tremendous form as the guy torn between friendship and family responsibility. Both the children, aka Champ and Princess also deliver commendable performances. One more thing I'd like to add, is that, when it comes to emoting...no actress can touch Rani, as of now. The second half, in fact, is so grippingly emotional that I'm tempted to say this movie is a Must-Watch(only once though). And last, but not the least....the main attraction....the car races!! Truly amazing stuff...the final race is such an awesome adrenaline rush!!, which makes this movie's climax one of the best I've seen in recent times. You know who's gonna win, but that still doesn't stop you from getting butterflies in the stomach and then clapping and cheering when the Hero finally wins..it took me down the memory lane to Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. Though still flawed in a lot of departments, esp. the music, the emotional scenes between the main characters, the immaculately picturized car races and connection you develop with the protagonists are what make Ta Ra Rum Pum an excellent entertainer.

The Good--Excellent screenplay(2nd half), Great performances by Saif, Rani and Javed & the car races.

The Bad--Uninspiring first half and below average music(except for the title track).No repeat value

Overall Rating--***1/2