‘Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha’ review: A protracted, outdated love story

Director Neeraj Pandey has for long been associated with films and web series built on espionage, terrorism, action and crime. The writer and director ditches political intrigue and action thrillers for a patience-defying, old-fashioned love story.

The 145-minute-long film (and you feel every single minute of its running time), opens in Mumbai in the early 2000s when a young couple of professing undying love to one another. What if someone comes in the way of our love, rues college-going Vasudha (Saiee Manjrekar), to which the young techie Krishna (Shantanu Maheshwari) replies that if anyone tries to do so, he will burn their world down. Dust down those VHS cassettes and revisit 1980s Bollywood films and TV serials where big gestures of sacrifice and bombastic declarations of love underpin the narrative.

Twenty-two years later, Krishna (Ajay Devgn) is on the eve of his early release from jail, but he claims he’s unprepared for what lies beyond those iron bars and high walls. This notion was interesting but it doesn’t last long as the flip-flopping Krishna quickly sets a plan in motion. The jail scenes are the highlights with a mix of characters (among them a gangster played by Sayaji Shinde), events and—interestingly—supportive police officers. 

Krishna’s best friend Jignesh (Jay Upadhyay) calls him out for the mixed signals but dutifully plays messenger between his buddy and the now much-married Vasu. Tabu plays the grown-up Vasudha, an entrepreneur married to Abhijeet (Jimmy Sheirgill).

Indolently, with little help from the editing pattern of the film, back stories are revealed and blanks filled in. How did Vasu and Krishna meet, how did he end up in jail, what kind of future can someone like him hope for. Dated tunes, composed by M.M. Kreem, with artless lyrics by Manoj Muntashir and repetition of camera movements like dolly shots (filmed by Sudheer Palsane) further the film’s tedium. 

Pandey’s dialogues are often effective and delivered with conviction by the impressive Maheshwari and Manjrekar as the younger pair, and with a resigned world-weariness by Devgn and Tabu, neither of whom are really challenged as actors here. Maheshwari and Manjrekar bring a freshness to their characters and are interesting to watch. Sheirgill infuses the proceedings with a much-needed pick-me-up, but the ember of intrigue is meekly diffused.

A hint about the plot curveball comes early in the slightly better paced second half, but one doesn’t feel invested in these characters and their trials, especially when we are shown the same event from varying points of view. It’s also hard to connect to this microcosm which seems untouched by technology, practicality and reality. For example, how does a murder within the prison walls not impact the perpetrator’s prison sentence? 

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha recasts retro movies and endless soap operas. The final frame carries the line “Sometimes it never ends”. It’s the one ironic moment in a film that I often wanted to fast forward to the end.

Also read: Plan the week ahead with art, poetry and a classic film