Movie Review: Ishkq in Paris is a bland love story

Director: Prem Raj Cast: Preity Zinta, Rhehan Malliek Rating: **

Ishkq in Paris is not a bad film. It's a boring film. And a boring film can be more painful than a bad film. Just before the interval, a voiceover claims 'kahaani toh ab shuru hogi'. Somewhere you want to believe in this unpromising claim, considering practically nothing happened in the first half of the film. Alas the second half lives up to the first half in terms of the emptiness in its story.

Borrowing the basic premise from the Ethan Hawke - Julie Delpy film Before Sunrise (1995), Ishkq in Paris is about two strangers who meet on a train and strike a chord, thereby deciding to spend one evening together in Paris. So Ishkq (Preity Zinta) and Akash (Rhehan Malliek) end up doing everything predictable, like any average accustomed couple would do, from partying to dining and whispering sweet nothings (stress on 'nothing'). So, the first half is laden with boundless boredom with one of the most uneventful screenplays encountered in a rom-com.

The two go their own ways by interval and you assume that separation might add some depth to their love story. Alas five minutes in the second half and Akash returns to Paris to be with Ishkq and what follows is almost a rerun of the first half, as the two keep roaming aimlessly around Paris streets once again. Love happens but Ishkq is commitment phobic. Her fear emerges out of her parents' failed marriage. The film tries too hard to rely on this frail conflict. And finally Ishkq in Paris ends up being the zillionth love story where the heroine runs to the airport to stop the hero from boarding a flight.

To its merit, the film has decent production values, showcases picturesque Paris locales and also has a Salman Khan dance-number cameo. Alas beyond this, Ishkq in Paris has absolutely nothing to boast of. Films can charm you with minimalism but not nothingness, which is the case there. The proceedings do not amuse and the chemistry between the lead couple is palpably missing. Ishkq also mentions about her half-baked lovelorn past where she had a failed relationship with someone she refers to as sapera! Not that you care about him but no wonder India is still considered as a country of snake-charmers.

It's nice to see Preity Zinta after a while but the lackluster love story doesn't do justice to her talent. We have seen much better works by the actress, in the past. Rhehan Malliek is not bad but again isn't able to rise over the script. French actress Isabelle Adjani carries a blank expression throughout and seems lost in translation. Also her voice changes when she speaks in Hindi thanks to some pathetic dubbing.

Ishkq in Paris is bland love story!