3/5 Rated ‘Hum Tumhein Chahte Hain’ is a delightful blend of love, laughter & romance!

The dialogues are intensely dramatic and are delivered most sincerely and naturally.

The film, as the title mentions, focuses mainly on the enigmatic Surya Kumar (Janmejaya Singh) and how he becomes the center of attraction to Maya (Rituparna Sen), an older woman, and Vani (Anusmriti Sarkar), his young eighteen-year-old neighbor.  

The film begins on a peculiarly conflicting note, with businesswoman Maya bumping into a soft-spoken Surya Kumar at the gym. It’s his first day at the gym as a trainer, and as she throws her weight around, her second glance at Surya makes her go hook-line and sinker for him.

The narrative moves on to give us an insight into the relationship between Maya and her ambitious politician husband, Mayapati (Govind Namdeo). To complicate issues- there are Vani and Aarti (Tina Ghai), an intriguing character and a whole lot of politicians, with Anup Jalota playing the Party President.

There are not just one but three sub-plots at play that propels the story, and eventually, the inciting moment and the climax arrives in quick succession after Maya tells Surya, “Aaj ke shyam mere naam kardo.”

What follows is an unexpected twist that makes the film wholesome and meaningful.

Janmejaya Singh in his debut performance as Surya Kumar, is endearing. There is intensity in his eyes, honesty in his demeanor, and subtleness in his performance that makes you root for him. How he juggles uncomfortably between Maya’s instructions and Vani’s obsession is a point to be noted, and he does it gracefully. There are moments when he outshines his co-stars with his confidence and charisma.

Acclaimed award-winning actress Rituparna Sen- as the understanding cougar delivers what’s expected from her, and similarly, Anusmriti Sarkar is equally competent.  

Coming from the late ace music director Bappi Lahiri’s stable, the film is mounted with ace production values and boasts five good songs that mesh the storyline. Each song has a stamp of Bappida and is well-picturized. They are worth your ticket price. But the best of the numbers is   “Seva Seva”. Rego B, 13 years old, the youngest singer in the Indian Music Fraternity has made his playback debut in Bollywood with the song which is picturized on Rajpal Yadav, an entertaining, comic item song. Apart from his debut, he makes history by being the only grandson of a celebrated singer & music composer late Shri Bappi Lahiri who will sing on the tunes of his grandfather. The Indian Music Fraternity has never witnessed a grandson singing to the composition of his grandfather. In fact he is the fourth generation in the Lahiri family who will be making his Bollywood playback debut with Saregama which holds an emotional meaning to the entire Lahiri family.

Overall, the film sparkles and touches an emotional chord with the viewers.

Film: “Hum Tumhein Chahte Hain” (Showing in Theatres near you); Duration: 146 minutes; Directed by Rajann Lyallppuri, Produced by Govind Bansal and Rema Lahiri, Cast- Janmejaya Singh who marks his debut in Bollywood, Rituparna Sengupta, Govind Namdev, Anup Jalota, Rajpal Yadav, Zakir Hussain, Anusmriti Sarkar, Arun Bakshi, Surendra Pal, Tinaa Ghaai, Anil Nagrath, Kaushal Shah, Sangeeta Singh, and Hitesh Sampal. With such a stellar lineup.