Mausam

The screening of Mausam was cancelled at the last minute during the Toronto International Film Festival because the Indian Air Force did not provide its approval of the final cut to the filmmakers in time. However, the sharp shooters need not have worried as, like Top Gun, this movie makes being an airline pilot look like the best job in the world. The tributes to Tony Scott go as far as our Hindu hero Harry (Shahid Kapoor) wearing Aviator sunglasses and riding motorbikes next to planes. But it's his range of tank tops that are most fetching in the opening scenes as we see Harry coming of age in the fictitious town of Mullokut. The self-proclaimed most handsome boy in Punjab is breaking hearts, most pertinently that of local girl Rajjo (Sharma), until Aayat (Sonam Kapoor), a Kashmiri Muslim, rides into town. Smitten, the pair exchange glances, letters and romantic gestures before their romance is railroaded by the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. Seven years later and with a Dickensian level of coincidences, the wannabe lovers find themselves in Edinburgh. Unfulfilled love taking place over several years and constantly hitting roadblocks tied into the Scottish capital make this the movie that One Day wishes it was. The romance is mesmerising and beautiful to watch until the final overblown acts in Switzerland and India, in which the story suffers from having more endings than The Lord of the Rings.