Ek Deewana Tha Review

Ek Deewana Tha starring Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson continues the trend of South Indian remakes in Bollywood. Apart from the ending which has been tweaked to be crowd-pleasing, the film is a scene-to-scene copy of Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (starring Simbu and Trisha).

Directed by ‘Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein’ director Gautham Menon, who predominantly directs Tamil films, Ek Deewana Tha has been promoted as an A R Rahman musical. Does it have anything to offer apart from great music? Read on.

Story: It’s love at first sight for Sachin (Prateik), when he first sees Jessie (Amy). She likes him too, but: Jessie has a strict father who is against love marriages; a rough brother; she’s Christian – he’s Hindu; she’s one year older than him. Oh and they do not want to run away and get married either. Do the lovers finally unite?

Ek Deewana Tha Review

What works for Ek Deewana Tha

  • Unfortunately, not much apart from A R Rahman’s music, especially Hosanna – a melodious track that’s placed right at the very beginning of the film.
  • Kerala, which is known as ‘God’s own country’, has been captured beautifully.

What doesn’t (the negatives)

  • The problem though starts right after Hosanna. The performances ruin the entire experience. Prateik Babbar retains the exact same expression while laughing, crying, dancing, hugging or kissing. He has a LONG way to go as an actor. He was good in Dhobi Ghat, but he’s just completely wooden here. Amy Jackson looks pretty and does well in a couple of scenes. The other actors are way too over-the-top and loud.
  • While Rahman’s music is good, excess of it drags the film endlessly. And compared to Hosanna, the other tracks pale in comparison.
  • *spoiler alert* The twists and turns – the cat and mouse game between the two lovers – just doesn’t work. Several questions  - why does Jessie back out of the wedding at the very last moment? If she could wait for 4 years, why couldn’t she wait for him for 20 days when he’s busy shooting? And a city like Mangalore (Karnataka), which has excellent mobile connectivity, is shown as one of the remotest places in India.

Due to the flawed storyline and weak performances, your heart doesn’t pine for the lovers on-screen, something that is essential for a love story to work. At the box-office, Ek Deewana Tha is unlikely to make any impact. The opening has been poor and going by the audience reaction, the film should be out of theaters by the end of the week.

Rating: ★½☆☆☆ Disappointing.

P.S: It’s hard to be so harsh on someone like Prateik Babbar, who was outstanding in Dhobi Ghat. He’s young and will definitely improve with each film.

How do you like the review? Comments and suggestions are well. Also, do post your Ek Deewana Tha reviews after you watch the film. We’d love to know what you think.

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35 Comments

  • a plain luv story, no dramas…simple yet beautiful typical luv story infact many of us might had encountered it. Amy was fab, very natural superb expression…if u hav own capablities den why to do fake acting, do ur own natural n amy has done so,cute face wid amazing expressions…. Awesome movie

  • i have gone mad…. when i saw this film.. this is one of my best film ever…. i become”deebana” by seeing…”ek deebana tha”….. thanks for making such a film..

  • I cannot agree with this review…

    Cause, the Character “Sachin” in the movie were supposed to be like that. He is “Deewana” for that reason, he was like that. And “Jessie” character was very simple. As she was brought up in a very Conservative family, she was supposed to be like that. And all the situations were very easy to understand. It is better than the Tamil one “Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa”

    And the worst thing about this review is that, all the Songs of the movie were amazingly composed. The music were totally going with the situations.

    So, I would like to rate this movie as one of the best Romance Movie of Bollywood.

    I am Bangladeshi and I am die hard fan of A.R Rahman sir.

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