User Reviews

Maniratnam is famous for making realistic portrayals on Indian politics and to spread righteous awareness among public. Although, this is a masterpiece by Maniratnam and went average on box office but I should tell you, this movie is quite biased on Indian political system and what modern changes could soar up the levels of India among world's other well- established nations. What India needed now in politics was well judged by this effective filmmaker long back in 2004. India needs no gray haired, old skinned sixty-plus men to run India in this era. India needs fresh, well-equipped with highly educated youth to spread their knowledge to make one unique India. One who can persuade common people by his/her essence of creative skills to build up something unique and which can last for years is needed in politics, as a leader, as a front man and a politician.

Coming to the film, story of three guys interfere in a way to survive their own lives but also to gain power of supremacy. A single event can change the course of life. But on the way to become superior, if you gain lust for money, hitting out anyone blindly just to become wrongly influenced among others, can hit you and your life so hard, you cannot even imagine. Yet, being made in 2004,this film is somewhat still effective in present years. Indian politics needs to be changed and only youth can change it positively. Youth knows what it takes and what is essential for all and different kinds of people situated in different parts of the country. They have courage and grit to expand their knowledge and fortify their country. But if any man chooses wrong path in need of making easy bucks and doing wrongs getting persuaded by well staged politician, no one can measure what lies in destruction of him and his life.

Maniratnam has crafted well film. His work is substantially amazing. Story, direction, making actors act, everything is beautiful. Ajay Devgan and Abhishek Bachchan are a treat to viewers. Film lacks some technical background but it doesn't glitches the whole film. Cinematography is awesome. Film shot in 2003-04 having such class camera work is an icing on an ice-cream. 7.5/10.

Finally! A memorable Abhishek performance. The type expected of Amitabh's son by hardcore fans like myself when he came to Bollywood and we saw glimpses of in REFUGEE and never again. Reminiscent of the types of "Angry Young Man" performances such as in DEEWAR and ZANJEER that propelled his father to the top.

This movie is worth seeing for him alone in my opinion. Oh, and the song FANAA is perpetually stuck in my head. Sounds very Oakenfeld-ish.

On the flip-side, Vivek Oberoi is going in the other direction. After thoroughly dazzling me in his performances in COMPANY and then SAATHIYA, he's showing to be flat and one-dimensional.

Ajay Devgan was okay in his role but I think he could have done better, but I think that's because he's raised the bar with some terrific performances lately in movies such as COMPANY, DEEWANGEE, and KHAKEE. Still, I think he was miscast in this movie as a noble student leader. He's a bit too old to be a credible collegian.

As far as the actresses go, Rani Mukherjee did an excellent job playing her character, but I've been noticing that her roles of late are quite similar -- The nagging, mistreated, and argumentative wife/gf (SAATHIYA, CHALTE CHALTE).

KABHI KHUSHI KABHIE GHAM is probably the worst thing that ever happened to Kareena Kapoor as she seems to be perpetually stuck in the high maintenance, spoiled hot chick role.

Esha Deol has yet to give any sort of performance that leaves behind an impression on me.

Although this movie got very prolonged as well as ridiculously implausible (the fight on the bridge was ridiculous) toward the end, overall it's still a worthwhile view as Mani Rathnam makes a visually slick and well directed piece, as usual.

Now,when i watched the trailers of this movie when they came out in April last year,i was excited.that's coz i'm a fan of Mani Ratnam and liked his previous works like Nayakan(dubbed in Hindi),Roja,Bombay&Dil Se.That's because his movies are the thinking man's delight.when it released,the reviews didn't sound too hopeful.So i thought i'll give it a miss in the theater.BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!!When I got the DVD 2 months later and watched it,i was left kicking myself about why i didn't watch it in da theater.

Okay so here's the story in a nutshell.

The lives of 3 men,Lallan Singh(Abhishek Bachchan),Michael Mukherjee(Ajay Devgan)&Arjun Balakrishnan(Vivek Oberoi)are intertwined on Howrah Bridge under forced circumstances.Here Lallan Singh is the kind of guy u don't want to be,Michael is the kind of guy everybody admires(ideologist)&Arjun is the typical guy next door.Each man has his own life.

Lallan lives with his wife Sasi(Rani Mukherjee)who is madly in love with him even though he beats her up often.He works for his brother Gopal(Sonu Sood)who in turn is working for a slimy,smooth-talking&ever smiling politician Prosenjit Bhattacharya(Om Puri).Michael lives with his mother who is worried about him as he is growing up like his father who also was an ideologist and died for his cause&his 2 sisters who are proud of him as of his father.He has a girlfriend Radhika(Esha Deol)who teaches French and is the niece of Michael's family doctor(Saurabh Shukla).He is a student leader and wants to clean up Indian politics of dirty and slimy politicians namely Prosenjit.Arjun is a Mechanical engineering student who dreams of making it big by living the American Dream.His father(Anant Nag)however wants him to join the Indian Administrative Service.He falls in love with Mira(Kareena Kapoor)whom he meets at a disco which evolves into a series of meetings over coffee and in a tram.Mira however is getting married to a guy her parents have chosen for her.

The story begins when Michael gets shot by Lallan acting on Prosenjit's orders and Arjun ends up saving his life.The climax is Utopian with Michael and Arjun winning the elections and making it to their state assembly and Lallan getting arrested and being taken to court.

It has some amazing music by A.R.Rahman who seems to excel with each movie with foot-tapping songs like Fanaa,Dol Dol etc.The movie has some of the best acting performances,but Abhishek Bachchan is the pick of the lot.I have never seen such an intense performance.

If u find a copy of this in u'r video library,give it a try.I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Mani Ratnam and his films have always been a subject of notice, be it BOMBAY,ROJA.etc, Even DIL SE was praised though it flopped YUVA was also an important film cos it gave Abhishek Bachchan an authorbacked role when his career was slowly picking up but yet needed that push. The film however didn't work at the B.O. and won brickbats by many critics like Taran Adarsh who praise films like Main Hoon Naa which released that year. The film is divided in 3 chapters which are linked and the film speaks about politics in colleges and how the events involve all 3 characters. The film starts with Abhishek's story which is well handled, while Vivek's love story is not too compelling yet it's good, Ajay's story could be better, his romantic track could be avoided, what also disturbs is Ajay doesn't look a college student. The romantic tracks could be avoided though as they stagnate the main story. Also the going ons get slowpaced in second half and also things do get predictable, The climax however has a superb fight scene involving all 3 shot on a busy road.

Direction is good but writing at times could be better Music is decent,the songs were good and well interwoven,Anjaana is a good song, Kabhi neem too is good rest are okay

Abhishek Bachchan steals the show and is superb, he plays the uncouth character very well, this was a turning point in his career though at times his effort is too evident but yet it's a superb performance Madhavan played the same role in the tamil version however even though he was better but Abhishek too is superb. Ajay Devgan however doesn't look a student and his performance is good but his track could be better.Vivek Oberoi is superb, he plays his part very well and doesn't overact, this was his next film after MASTI Amongst heroines Rani Mukherjee is superb, she nails her part brilliantly,Kareena Kapoor and Esha Deol are good but their roles are not demanding Vijay Raaz is awesome,Sonu Sood is terrific, Om Puri is good as the evil stereotypical politician rest are okay

The first review I ever read for this film was on IndiaFM and that was after I watched it. That review completely underrated this film. Just from looking across the web I've come across a couple rotten reviews too, all of which I don't agree with.

SPOILER WARNING:

A lot of people complain about a "real" ending for Little B's character Lallan - not just the scene in jail before he goes for sentencing. But did anyone ever care to use their imagination for a change? The problem with a lot of Indian cinema is that most times they are very predictable and feed you detail for detail everytime. It's disgusting sometimes, because it's overdone in so many ways. I find it very refreshing to see a film come along that doesn't do that.

I've also read a lot of complaints about how the Kareena/Vivek story doesn't strike as a deep, heart-wrenching one. Does it have to do that to be good? Less is more no? Why should it have to be overdone in the Muhjse Dosti Karoge-Main Prem Ke Diwani Hoon format? Can't simple, sweet love be acceptable? Did anyone see the ending for Bichhoo? or the infamous Lagaan for that matter?

Then there is the Ajay/Esha story that I read was no big "woop". 'The fact that they win elections doesn't make a difference, you aren't leaving your seats jumping up in the air'. I beg to differ...

While Politics plays a large role in this film, intelligent movie go-ers who can read between the lines and appreciate the film for what it is, looking beyond the politics of it all, will disagree.

This movie reminds me very much so of an IFC production of some kind - rich in raw emotion, with clean and simple real acting.

Speaking of the IFC I read that this film 'wouldn't appeal to the masses' because of the politics and thus, it wouldn't be a 'worthy' film... hmmm where have I heard that before??? Oh yeah! Michael Moore "Bowling for Columbine" - yeah! and he won an Oscar! So much for not appealing to the masses - that DOES NOT mean it's a bad film. And it is NOT grounds to call it a flop either. Come on people use your brain, that's what it's there for!

Abhshiek is amazing in his negative role as Lallan and I would not be surprised if he won Filmfare's Best Villain. In this role he really did squash doubts that he isn't a Baachan(sp?).

Rani is as beautiful, and talented as always. She really did this role justice as Lallan's wife.

Esha was sweet and simple, she didn't need to do extreme acting - less is more.

Ajay - well he doesn't disgust me anymore. Another surprise - he did his role well. Who knew he could play a college student and do it well. Too bad, he won't let Kajol do another film with Shah Rukh (but that's another review).

Kareena, good role, she played it well.

Vivek surprised me - he did his role justice.

The music is amazing! From the techno, to the ethnic to the chorale sounds, it was awesome. First class on that!

Final verdict - forget the critics - they know nothing anyway - WATCH THE FILM!!! Make your own decision.

This was a very well made and very well cast film! It's so ironic because the thing that will draw you to watch this film is its lack of appeal. You see it and it looks so dreary, so damp like a murky rainy day and yet there's just that light at the end of the tunnel that sucks you into it.

Yuva is the very beautifully shot story of three men, whose lives are impacted by one another one faithful afternoon when their paths cross aboard a bridge. It all begins with Michael Mukherjee (Ajay Devgan) seemingly being assassinated at the start of the film by Abhishek Bachchan's character, Arjun (Vivek Oberoi) a casual bystander is caught in the cross-fire and in a series of flashbacks, their stories are told one after another in sequence that updates the viewer with what led to the violent scenario.

In flashback, we learn that Bacchan's character is a wife-beating thug who has just been released from prison and is about to get his hands dirty again by meddling in dirty politics with Om Puri's sinister politician character. Rani Mukherjee, Bollywood's "go-to poster girl for the role that might lead to Oscar" plays Bacchan's battered wife who wishes he would quit his wild ways.

We find out that Michael Mukherjee is a student body union leader who is trying to challenge society at all costs and will go to any length to uphold justice. A cross with Sonu Sood's Gopal (also Bachchan's character's brother) is what leads to the ill-fated occurrence aboard the bridge. A radiant looking, French teaching Esha Deol plays the love interest of Michael's and never mind the age difference, their chemistry is hot and they sizzle! We also find out via flashback that playboy Arjun (Oberoi) has just return home to Kolkata from college and plans on going abroad when he meets at falls in love with a supposedly non-makeup wearing Kareena Kapoor at a nightclub. It is in his quest to get the girl that he gets caught in the cross fire aboard the bridge.

Everybody holds their own in this gritty drama of politics and patriotism. Yuva is a Hindi cinema accomplishment and not to be missed by anyone.

The songs are exceptional, the music is hauntingly beautiful and relevant. Yuva has worked its way into my top ten list of great Hindi cinema films. I subtracted one point though for the violence. ;-)