6 years ago today… Revisiting ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’

Release date: 15 August 2008
Director: Siddharth Anand
*ing: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu, Minissha Lamba, Kunal Kapoor

In what was his third offering as a director and fourth as a writer, Siddharth Anand brought to the screens a very fresh and appealing story in ��Bachna Ae Haseeno�۪. The cast was definitely a lot to talk about with Ranbir Kapoor being brought smack bang into the contemporary following on from his debut and Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu and Minissha Lamba as the very fitting beautiful ladies by his side at different stages in Kapoor�۪s character�۪s life. The film was indeed refreshing and a very preppy take on love and karma.

Raj Sharma (Kapoor) is a very laidback guy who doesn�۪t seem to take himself very seriously. Whilst on a trek break, he comes across the very filmi Mahi (Lamba) who is looking to meet her ideal guy in real life ��� Raj from ��DDLJ�۪. When she meets this Raj she almost instantly falls for him, not knowing that he is not looking for a serious relationship. He leaves her broken hearted when the break comes to an end. Some time later, Raj meets Shreya (Basu) when she moves in next to him. He finds her appealing to look at and the two eventually move in together and are in a relationship for a couple of years until Shreya looks for marriage as the next step but Raj just isn�۪t ready. During this time, Raj comes across Gayatri (Padukone) at various intervals in various avatars. He starts falling for her, not knowing that she doesn�۪t believe in the institution of marriage because she�۪s not ready for it. His heart is then broken for the first time when he proposes extravagantly to Gayatri only for her to turn him down. He immediately walks away thinking that this is God�۪s way of paying him back for the hearts of the two girls he broke and he then sets out to make amends.

As a second movie, Kapoor�۪s performance is far removed from his bubbly debut. He fits into the character of Raj with much ease and makes you believe that his actions are always justified. It is a film that sees his dancing skills put to the audiences for the first time and he manages to wow every time in tracks like Jogi mahi, Small town girl and, of course, the title track which bears a similarity to his father�۪s song of the same name. The three actresses are also commendable in their performances, each providing a different kind of perspective and lesson to Raj�۪s life and each one fulfilling a part in the film which made it complete.

As far as the soundtrack goes, Vishal-Shekhar come up trumps for the movie. Where Khuda Jaane was a timeless love song picturised on Kapoor and Padukone, the title track gives respect to the popular original song and yet also manages to give a modern treatment that works wonders. The soundtrack very much captured the essence of the film overall and this was perhaps what made it one that contains songs that are very well remembered and still listened to even today, six years on.

During the film, Kapoor and Padukone became close in real life and then were very public about their relationship through the promotional period of the film pre-release. It is the first film they were seen in together and they didn�۪t come together in a movie after that until post their break-up in last year�۪s ��Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani�۪.

BizAsia would like to congratulate the team of ��Bachna Ae Haseeno�۪ on their sixth anniversary and thank Vishal-Shekher for such an unforgettable soundtrack. Aside from that, the film also put Kapoor very much on the map as a sex sympbol, thanks to his topless scenes. No doubt many will also thank the team for that!