Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rajkumar Santoshi
Produced by	Ramesh S Taurani
Written by	Rajkumar Santoshi
Screenplay by	Rajkumar Santoshi
Starring	Ranbir Kapoor Katrina Kaif Upen Patel
Music by	Songs: Pritam Background Score: Salim-Sulaiman
Distributed by	Shemaroo
Release date(s)	6 November 2009 (2009-11-06)
Running time	161 minutes
Country	‹See Tfd› India
Language	Hindi
Budget	25 crore (US$4.99 million)[1]
Box office	96.63 crore (US$19.28 million)[2]

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (Hindi: अजब प्रेम की ग़ज़ब कहानी, Ajab Prēm Kī Ġazab Kahānī ^?; English: Unique Prem's (Love's) Amazing Story) is a 2009 romantic comedy film. It stars Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif in lead roles.^[3] Salman Khan and director Rajkumar Santoshi appear in cameo roles in the movie. The film was shot in Ooty, Mumbai, Pune, Goa. The song Tu Jaane Na was separately shot in Aspendos, Perga and Pamukkale of Turkey, and the song Tera Hone Laga Hoon in Istanbul.^[4] The film was released on 6 November 2009, and received positive reviews upon release. It was a super hit at the box office.

Plot

Prem (Ranbir Kapoor) is a happy go lucky person who resides in his small town and runs "Happy Club" - a club which aims at making people happy. A case of mistaken identity leads Prem to kidnap Jenny (Katrina Kaif). He is immediately besotted with Jenny and tries to impress her in numerous ways. Jenny is a sweet and simple girl, who was adopted and brought up by indifferent and uncaring parents.

Love for Jenny makes Prem turn over a new leaf. From hardly working vagabond Prem begins working hard to earn money. For him Jenny's happiness becomes everything in life. As for Jenny, she is in love with her college friend Rahul (Upen Patel). Prem is heartbroken but still loves her and for sake of her happiness he plans get her together with Rahul. When Jenny finally meets Rahul, she realizes that she had made a mistake and she really loves Prem. In the end she is united with Prem and marries him as she realizes Prem loves her and Rahul had only liked her.

Cast

• Ranbir Kapoor as Prem Shankar Sharma
• Katrina Kaif as Jennifer Pinto (Jenny)
• Upen Patel as Rahul Jalan
• Salman Khan as himself (cameo)
• Darshan Jariwala as Shiv Shankar Sharma
• Govind Namdeo as Pitambar Jalan
• Smita Jaykar as Sharda Sharma
• Navneet Nishan as Mrs. Pinto
• Mithilesh Chaturvedi as Mr. Pinto
• Zakir Hussain as Sajid Don
• Viju Khote as Robert
• Pradeep Kharab as Tony
• Sanatan Modi as Tony's father
• Rati Shankar Tripathi as Bhairon Singh
• Abhay Bhargava as Terror Tej Singh
• Niharika Bapna as Herself
• Gaurav Saxena as Niharika's Bodyguard

Crew

• Director - Rajkumar Santoshi
• Producer - Ramesh S Taurani
• Screenplay - Rajkumar Santoshi, R D Tailang
• Cinematographer - Tirru
• Creative Producer - Jay Shewakramani
• Production Designer - Nitish Roy
• Music - Pritam
• Choreographer - Ahmed Khan
• First Assistant Director - Manish Harishankar
• Editor - Steven Bernard
• Background Score - Salim-Sulaiman
• Lyricist - Irshad Kamil, Ashiesh Pandit, Hard Kaur
• Action - Abbas Ali Moghul, Tinu Verma
• Sound Engineer - Rakesh Ranjan

Reception

Critical response

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani received generally positive reviews. Subhash K. Jha (film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood) states: "If you've ever wondered what on earth is on-screen chemistry here's your one-stop all-purpose encyclopedia on celluloid magic. Fasten your 'see'-it belts, as veteran filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi sheds all his Lajja, and pulls out all stops to do a wacky goofy edgeless weightless comedy of characters who walk in and walk out of frames leaving behind fumes of old-fashioned funnies. Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is an airtight trapeze down that familiar romantic lane."^[5] Nikhat Kazmi of the Times of India gave it four stars out of five and states: "The newly formented Ranbir-Katrina chemistry sets the screen on fire in this mad hatter's tea party. Adding to this is Pritam's peppy music score with Neeraj Shridhar, Atif Aslam, Hard Kaur, Sunidhi Chauhan and Mika raising a toast to high-spirited song and dance and Raj Kumar Santoshi penning some of the funniest dialogues in recent times and you have a great escape awaiting you at your favourite audi this weekend. Go, have a ball."^[6] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film four out of five stars arguing that it "entertains majorly" and that "the romantic moments are endearing. Most importantly, the on-screen chemistry is electrifying. Ranbir and Katrina look great together!".^[7] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India gave the movie 3 out of 5 stars saying, "Its strong point, apart from Ranbir, happens to be its clichéd settings."^[8] Omar Qureshi of Zoom gave the film 3.5 out of five stars saying that "The main point to be noted in the film is that, the film is totally dedicated to love and all the things that are related to love and so, it will leave an ever lasting impression on youth."^[9] Minty Tejpal of Mumbai Mirror gave the film 3.5 out of five stars, saying that "It seems that Ranbir Kapoor can do nothing wrong. He is just fantastic through the film."^[10] Mayank Shekhar of the Hindustan Times gave the film one star and said that "The film has no comic bone at all. There is certainly no romance either."^[11] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it two stars and said that "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is a silly comedy that goes for slapstick gags and juvenile jokes that are hard to appreciate."^[12]

Box office

The film grossed a net take of about Rs. 96 crore in its theatrical run and is the third highest grossing film of 2009 behind 3 Idiots and Love Aaj Kal.^[2] It was a 'Super Hit' at the box office.

Awards and nominations

• 2010 - Winner, Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor - Ranbir Kapoor^[13]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Pritam while lyrics were penned by Irshad Kamil and Ashish Pandit. The songs are remixed by DJ Suketu and arranged by Aks.

Track listing

Reception

The soundtrack received generally favorable reviews from critics. Samir Dave of Planet Bollywood gave it a rating of 7.5/10 and said, "If you are looking for an enjoyable potpourri of different musical styles, and melody, then you will love what Pritam has served up for, “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani”. It deserves to be at the top of the charts".^[14] Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama rated it 3.5/5 and praised the music composer saying, "This is Pritam's year, delivering chartbusters by dozens all through the year, he can now look forward to another bountiful of hit songs up his sleeves with Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. Also, Ranbir and Katrina can enjoy a hugely popular track for themselves in the form of 'Main Tera Dhadkan Teri'. Go, pick this one up from the shelves!".^[15] The songs Tu Jaane Na, Tera Hone Laga Hoon, Prem Ki Naiya and Mein Tera Dhadkan Teri became chartbusters.

References

External links

• Official website
• Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani at the Internet Movie Database