Yuva !

Well , saw Yuva about a week ago . And contrary to waht some ppl may believe , I think it was a very good movie . I went in with huge expectations , seeing that its Mani Ratnam's first movie in more than a year , and I walked out pretty satisfied .

The story is about the lives of 3 men , AB , Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi.

AB is a crook livin in one of those "jhopadpattis" in Calcutta . He's the kind of guy who'll sell his mother for the right price . Rani Mukherji plays his wife in the movie , and I must say se's put on a lot of weight . The 2 make a good pair on screen , with Rani playing the devoted wife , willing to forgive AB's mistakes at every part of the movie . I loved her last scene in the movie , where she board's her train without AB and makes her way back to her village .When the TC askes her where her husband is ... she says " Main kya jannon , hooga koi Rakheil ke pass ya Raand ke pass . Tum saale sabhi mardh aise he hain " . Fantastic dialogue . I ordinary Hindi/Tamil movies , the bad guy is all bad . There is only Black/White , no grey . But mani has been very successful in depicting both sides of AB . Brilliant is the word to be used here.

Ajay Devgan plays a student union leader , in a role that is VERY unbecoming of his age . I cant understan why Mani chose a 35yr old to lay a 23 yr old student . But I guess he vrings the right kind of intensity to the role . He's this brilliant Physics student who gives up an American scholarship to make a dfference to the Indian political system . Esha Deol plays his girlfriend , and the age diference clearly stands out . But she looks amazing in those designer salwaars . Mani has tried to address some of modern society's questions such as live in relationships , pre-marital sex , etc , through this relationship . Despite the age mismatch , Ajay has done a good job . But I wanna watcbh Surya in the tamil version , in a performance which is supposed to be fantastic , if my friens are supposed to be believed .

And now to Vivek Oberoi . THis is a role that could have been sarificed in the movie , to give the other 2 charcters more screen time . He plays this TamBram , who has just finished college , and wants to push of to the US to study management , despite the fact that his IAS dad , wants his son to study for the IAS . Spoilt brat in a way . Bimbette Kareena plays his love interest in the movie , in another performance which I cant tolerate . CAll me biased , but I just cant stand this female . Something about her is really irritating . They run a round beaches and drink coffee , before Vivek gets his calling in life and decides to join Ajay in his crusade against the political system . There is only one word to describe the Vivek-Kareena aspect of the movie - Bullshit .

BUt the movie was good , great songs and the ending , though abrupt was pretty powerfull in a way . Thw scene when Ajay pushes aside the crooked politician Om puri , just as the song says " Hat jaa , hat jaa re " was very well filmed . All in all , definately worth a watch .

da STIFFmaester