The story revolves around modern day relationships and their tempestuousness in the fast-paced times we live in. The screenplay is set to some fabulous music by brothers, Salim and Sulaiman Merchant, Rozana being my personal favourite. Jai, played by Zayed Khan and Naina, played by Dia Mirza are in love with two different people and right from the start, you know that they will get together — it’s a matter of how, when and where. But the ‘why’ is a little sketchy especially in the case of Dia’s busy boyfriend Dhruv, played by the earnest Vaibhav Talwar. The way you understand it that she is isn’t too happy with his heavy work schedules and not getting enough of his time and attention, but it is a little flimsy to base that on her falling out of love with the guy just because of that. Jai’s reasons to breakup with his girl, Radhika, played by Pallavi Sharda, are more convincing since she is like a hyper Monica Gellar from Friends, give or take a couple of OCD’s. But their breakup scene is way too easily filmed — no drama, no crazy, out of control crying etc … No girl would let go from a committed relationship so amicably, especially one as hyper and controlling as Radhika. That aside, the film has a super comedy track, not the contrived, slapstick kind — but real, situational humour. The Mai Se Meena Se track from the 1987 hit film, Khudgarz, during the Chandigarh wedding is choreographed and filmed beautifully. Cyrus Sahukar who plays twice-divorced Govind and Jai’s close buddy in the film is just so funny and the comic exchanges between him and Zayed in the film are the best parts in the film. There is a particularly funny sequence in the film where Cyrus goes to pick up his older love interest, a 38-year-old Sheela, played superbly by Tisca Chopra, for a coffee date. She is no cougar, but that doesn’t stop him from pursuing her. The interaction in the house with her father, Boman Irani in a cameo, will have you rolling off your seats! The Govind-Sheela love story unfolds exceptionally well. Cyrus became a household name with his television spoof, Rendezvous with Semi Girebaal, which mocked Simi Garewal to the core and was way too funny and went on to playing character parts in films subsequently. When I asked him to spoof her latest show, Simi Selects India’s Most Desirable which is on air currently, he simply said, “That is already a spoof in itself!” [caption id=“attachment_102678” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Poster of Love Breakups Zindagi from their Facebook page[/caption] LBZ moves at a very slow pace — almost in real time and that’s the biggest negative in the film’s narrative. A tighter edit would have made the film far more enjoyable than it already is, but it still is a good watch. The film’s characters speak in English and Hindi, but the odd thing is when they utter a line in English, they immediately repeat the same line in Hindi. I think that too played a part in increasing the length of the film. Hinglish would have worked just as well, without the translations every time. The climax of the film, where it all ends well and everyone is happy, is better than the pre-climax of the film which just meanders along the old, Bollywood formula of sacrifice and race to get the girl in the nick of time. It’s very predictable and just doesn’t blend in with the film’s modern tale. Debutant director Sahil Sangha has a few hiccups in his screenplay as well as in fleshing out the characters and their graphs. Nevertheless, his treatment of the story is new and refreshing, even though some parts are interspersed with the old Bollywood usuals. Zayed Khan’s performance in the film as a young executive is wonderful and endearing. His comic streak in the film will have you in splits. LBZ is his first home production under his banner, Born Free Entertainment in partnership with Dia and Sahil, the director. He has slave-driven himself to make it all come together and worked very hard on himself as far as his acting is concerned, and it shows. Dia Mirza looks beautiful in every frame. Aseem Bajaj’s cinematography is spectacular and is one of the main reasons LBZ looks and feels this good — every thing and every one looks wonderful. The production design is top class as are all the ensemble characters performances. Some of the best talent in the business have done cameos in LBZ right from Shah Rukh Khan, Shabana Azmi, Boman Irani, Farida Jalal, Soni Razdan to Riteish Deshmukh. In the scene where SRK meets Zayed for a lunch meeting for D’décor — a brand he endorses in real life with wife Gauri — for a split second you are taken back to the time Zayed and he played brothers, Ram and Laxman, in Main Hoon Na (2004). And the cutest appearance in the film is that of Zayed’s three-and-a-half year old son, Zidaan wearing sunglasses in the end credits. LBZ is a great first date movie and just the right film to watch with family and friends during the festive season.
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