Hum Tum: When Harry met Sally!

Cartoonist Karan (Saif Ali Khan) is the one who tries to flirt every beautiful girl he meets. He asks for their addresses wherever he meets them — at airports, in trains and in streets. Infusing enough spark in his role he ensures a steady flow of fun-filled moments. He has blossomed into a confident director here.

Ria (Rani Mukherjee) finds him irritating and ill-mannered. She is looking for a husband who is not towel-type (Those who shout from bathroom for towel). And they bump into each other at every impossible place in — New York, in Italy and in New Delhi. So we have scenes of farewells and reunions in excess. The director turns a bit playful. He fails to handle the theme in depth. There are no touching scenes either.

On the sideline is the Rishi Kapoor-Rati Agnihotri pair. They are separated but still gauging the magnitude of what they are missing. Abhishey Bachchan appears for a while to deliver some good lines. Kiran Khen’s Punjabi is relishing. The cinematography is excellent and the soundtrack fairly good. The title song “Hum Tum” leaves an impression. The movie does succeed in lifting your spirits as one of its song — “Chak de saare gam” goes.

In short, Hum Tum is a man-woman, Venus-Mars comedy, a date flick that is clearly inspired by When Harry Met Sally and Annie Hall. And that’s fine, because the script succeeds in capturing several nuances of the way men and women view the world from their individual orbits rather well. Unfortunately, a flagging second half mars an upbeat first half. Weak conflict points between the lead pair take us on a slow trot to the close.

On the upside, Rani ably works her way through Rhea’s emotional graph, performing best as the mature woman. But the film belongs to Saif Ali Khan. His comic timing, spontaneous performance and sportingly going through some questionable hairdos, is reason enough to see Hum Tum.

HUM TUM also has a host of guest appearances. Abhishek Bachchan's entry is sure to be greeted well. And his scene with Saif at the airport confirms yet again that he's carved a niche for himself. Jimmy Shergill is another actor to watch. He is perfect in that one scene with Rani, after she has had a heated argument with Saif. Isha Koppikar is adequate. Shehnaz Treasurywala is alright.