Tum Bin is a nostalgic watch, but not for the right reasons because frankly speaking it's not a very good film in and of itself. Something about the film, its music and its style, is very closely associated with the kind of films made during the early noughties, which I'm sure will make many want to revisit it. For some reason, Tum Bin never feels like a regular motion picture, but rather a typical Indian TV serial of the times in terms of its filmmaking style, sound, exaggerated score, production values, and overall feel. This is director Anubhav Sinha's directorial debut, clearly an ambitious one, but much is left desired. The dubbing, in particular, is quite poor and distracting, which was a common problem back then, but it's pretty evident the players' speech isn't genuine.
Where the film scores big time is in the music, which I'm sure contributes to its memorability even today, and some of the cinematography. The soundtrack, mostly composed by the duo Nikhil-Vinay, is quite easily the trump card of the film. "Tumhare Siwa", which opens the film, "Pyar Humko Hone Laga" and "Dekhte Hi Dekhte", are all beautifully melodious; Jagjit Singh's ghazal "Koi Fariyaad", as well as Chithra's rendition of the title song, are stupendous. Except for a few glitches here and there (some crucial), the camera work is mostly quite good. The beautiful locations of Canada are effectively captured throughout. The choice of this setting is very refreshing and helps keep the film visually appealing and sometimes even breathtaking.
Again, strictly as a film, Tum Bin doesn't work. The handling is quite amateurish at points, the script is rather incohesive and is consistently sentimental, and the story hardly ever rings true or attracts great interest. The acting doesn't help it much either, as it's mostly unnatural and stagy by one and all (except for, obviously, the legendary Dina Pathak). The three leads are good looking, but not very credible. Priyanshu Chatterjee is the best of the lot as he slightly outplays the rest with his sincerity and quiet charisma. Sandali is very pretty but quite over-expressive, and Himanshu hardly has a role to speak of. Tum Bin is after all watchable for the some of the aesthetics, the great soundtrack, and the relatively glossy setting. Other than that, it has little to offer.
Where the film scores big time is in the music, which I'm sure contributes to its memorability even today, and some of the cinematography. The soundtrack, mostly composed by the duo Nikhil-Vinay, is quite easily the trump card of the film. "Tumhare Siwa", which opens the film, "Pyar Humko Hone Laga" and "Dekhte Hi Dekhte", are all beautifully melodious; Jagjit Singh's ghazal "Koi Fariyaad", as well as Chithra's rendition of the title song, are stupendous. Except for a few glitches here and there (some crucial), the camera work is mostly quite good. The beautiful locations of Canada are effectively captured throughout. The choice of this setting is very refreshing and helps keep the film visually appealing and sometimes even breathtaking.
Again, strictly as a film, Tum Bin doesn't work. The handling is quite amateurish at points, the script is rather incohesive and is consistently sentimental, and the story hardly ever rings true or attracts great interest. The acting doesn't help it much either, as it's mostly unnatural and stagy by one and all (except for, obviously, the legendary Dina Pathak). The three leads are good looking, but not very credible. Priyanshu Chatterjee is the best of the lot as he slightly outplays the rest with his sincerity and quiet charisma. Sandali is very pretty but quite over-expressive, and Himanshu hardly has a role to speak of. Tum Bin is after all watchable for the some of the aesthetics, the great soundtrack, and the relatively glossy setting. Other than that, it has little to offer.