Movie: Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas

Cast: Sahher Bambba, Karan Deol

Rating: 2 stars

The Deol family has been in the industry for ages. If at first, it was Dharmendra, followed by Mr. ‘Dhai Kilo Ka Haat’ Sunny Deol, now it’s finally the turn of the latest ‘chirag’ of the Deol Family, aka Karan Deol. He has been paired opposite the gorgeous Sahher Bambba from Shimla and the project has been helmed by Sunny Deol himself. So has Sunny managed to do justice to his son’s spoonfed debut? Let’s find out!

Bollywood has seen innumerable love stories in the past and if one takes a close look, the 90s was filled with only romantic films. As years passed, content evolved and more variety started rolling in with respect to stories. However, no matter how much variation comes in, the feeling of love is such that no matter what, it can never be old and it is this particular angle that Sunny Deol tries to use in Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas.

The movie doesn’t lack anything that is required to set the tone for a quintessential Bollywood movie. It has the perfect scenic beauty, mountains, waterfalls, and a young pair to deliver. But the primary element, however, still remains the performance and that’s the biggest issue in Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas.

Karan Deol, aka Karan Sehgal, hails from Manali and owns his own adventure camp that organizes adventure treks at and around the place. The opening sequence of the film itself establishes Karan as someone who is a loner, an orphan and who has missed the feeling of ‘love’ throughout his life as he, unfortunately, lost his parents at a tender age due to an avalanche. On the other hand, Sahher Bambba, aka Saher Sethi, is a young, modern and gorgeous video blogger from Delhi. A young girl with an inquisitive mind, Saher smells something fishy, something like a scam, at the treks and hence decides to come down to the camp to apparently expose the scam. On the other hand, she has just taken a ‘break’ with her boyfriend. The guy, as usual, and as typical as any Hindi film could get, is a spoilt brat hailing from a well-connected political family.

Karan and Saher initially find it difficult to bond, and go through arguments and anger episodes over even the smallest of issues. But then, remember the ‘Jhagde se hi pyaar badhta hai’ wala common dialogue from daily soaps? Sunny Deol seems to believe in it a lot and hence has applied the same in the project, due to which, after the fights, they fall head over heels in love with each other and are absolutely inseparable.
A furious ‘ex-boyfriend’ realizes Saher is going out of hand and hence comes out all guns blazing at Karan to separate the two. Eventually, do they manage to do so? Find out.

IWMBuzz Verdict: For any film to work, the basic crux and base is always a good story and narrative, and ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’ has neither of the two. The story is extremely common and there’s absolutely nothing new to offer, except, obviously, two new faces. As heartbreaking as it may sound, Karan Deol disappoints. Yes, it’s unfair to compare him to his father and grandfather’s standards right away, but keeping all that aside, Karan simply looked out of place and just not ready for the big stage. Yes, efforts have been put in and everyone realizes that, but till the time it transpires into performance, it’s of no use to the audience and that’s where Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas struggles. Karan Deol needs to seriously bring in more variety to his expressions. However, the best part of the movie, and if one would say the surprise element, would be Sahher Bambba. Not only does she look gorgeous but she also performs graciously. Karan Deol shows a lot of potential in several scenes, but it doesn’t come out entirely. Blame it on the direction or the weak screenplay, Karan has not been utilized to his fullest potential. The direction and the screenplay is poor and it’s the compiled failure in all the individual elements of filmmaking that makes Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas a disappointment at the movies. Watch it if you are into the romantic genre come what may and if the same kind of romantic movies appeal to you. But otherwise, if you are going with the expectation to witness something ‘unique’ in this love story, you will struggle to bear the 2 hours 36 minutes. A one time watch.

2/5 stars