If Aabeer Gulaal was born in the times of DDLJ or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, one could have turned away from the sheer scripting of it and enjoyed the eye candy, the locations and the oncreen chemistry. Those were the times of romcoms that spun a tale – a lead pair that’s ready to give it their all, locations that ooze dreamy Sunday morning vibes, outfits made and worn to kill, and dialogues that made one go weak in the knees, even the musical score wasn’t half as bad…
But it was the loosely defined storytelling that slipped up and made this movie into a would-have-been near perfect, but missed the bullseye. Which is what DDLJ and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai did not suffer from. It was the era of Bollywood romcoms then, and the makers knew how to shape them. 2025 is a different era, and I got the feeling that both audiences and creators are trying hard, too hard, to turn back the clock.
But let’s start from the beginning.
Catching Fawad Khan in cinema with all the drama that went with it, was a prize indeed. From warm, cozy pullovers that oozed charm, to tailored jackets, a smile that could melt the north pole and dialogues that simply dripped seductive, Fawad Khan had found Aabeer in every turn of the head, intense tone, locked gaze and aura that made one sink deeper into that cinema seat and take it all in – the actor reminded us why he did what he did for a living, and for fear of adding to the refrain, why wasn’t he doing more of it?
Let’s not forget that Vaani Kapoor certainly added to the onscreen chemistry, and though one might argue that Fawad Khan has been paired better, (the man can romance with a stone and we’d still be watching), I feel the vibe was there, perhaps not with the same intensity – cheeky, flirtatious, grooving with the dance numbers and her lead man, these two could have made Aabeer Gulaal the romcom movie of 2025. Add to that the dreamy locations; from city feels to scenic countryside, the songs that added the charm to the backdrops, and the wardrobe that flaunted colorful vintage, Gen Z casual-chic and everything in between, to make this a romance to remember. Aabeer had it in him to tease a smile, a waltz, a throwback to the love stories in the 80s. Gulaal had it in her to be that determined young girl who needed to fix her relationship with her dad, grow up but still keep the mood, meet the man who’d finally allow her to live in her skin and move to the beat, all of it, from vintage Bollywood medleys to rainy coffee evenings – the scene was set in every frame to light up the story, even if a tad cliched, and give us a hit in the feels that romance starved Indian Pakistani cinema audiences were all too ready to feel.
But here’s where the roadblock persisted.
The storytelling failed to match up to the story. From the beginnings of a picture-perfect romance, surfaced a conflict that should have never really existed. Avantika, Aabeer’s ex wife returns after 5 years on the insistence of a young girl she had never met before, Gulaal’s fiance was apparently shipped off to the moon with a one way ticket, and a story that had all the elements, from warm, dreamy moments to dance numbers, all-heart performances to picture-perfect backdrops, just slipped between the makers’ fingers, like a fistful of sand, with a script that failed to hold it together.
From the get-go, first scene, when Aabeer and Gulaal found themselves in a hotel room, the chemistry was warming up to a slow burn. Him revealing his fears and her matching his vibe, even the meeting up of a successful restaurateur and perpetually erring young girl who lands in hot water again and again to have her hero in shining armor (more like tailored jackets), saving the day, was a cute, nostalgic twist. The audience wanted to soak it all in, even though they might have seen it played over a million times. It was fun, it was relaxing, a girls’ night out in cinemas – what more could one ask for but Fawad Khan romancing the screen and a bag of salty-sweet popcorn to take it all in. But what didn’t gel was the bigger picture that felt like the makers wanted to string in tried and tested elements of a romcom – a hero that knows his romance, a heroine that dances to the tune, and looks good while doing it, locations that fit the formula and a story that moves towards slight inconveniences, like Aabeer’s business partner turned love interest, Gulaal’s inability to take life seriously till she follows her passion – dance, and Aabeer’s unclear past. All these could have added meaning and substance to the story, made us spill a tear or two as the two navigated their love story, but only if we had felt for the story with the same emotional intensity we felt for Aabeer’s wardrobe and Gulaal’s dance moves.
Avantika’s return was unexplained. When Aabeer asked her, ‘why did you come back?’ We had the same question looming in our mind. When the two women faced-off over biryani and dahi-chawal, we wondered why the pretend hostility when there was really no need, Gulaal had herself asked Avantika to return, why then? And why would she do so on the insistence of a girl she’d never set eyes upon before?
Gulaal’s dance studio was a great move but here too, an opportunity went missing as audiences missed the chance to watch a once-in-a-lifetime choreographed dance number with these two salsa-ing their way into the sunset. Imagine, if the makers had pulled that one off with Fawad Khan and Vaani Kapoor on the big screen – what more could an audience want? I mean, that’s why the heroine has a dance studio right? Remember Dil Toh Pagal Hai?
Why have a story line and then not follow it all the way? Even Aabeer cooking up a candlelit dinner for Gulaal, and her teaching him a dance step or two might have added miles to the romantic in the romcom. But instead, the makers barely exploited the best part of the story – Fawad Khan, to utter drop-dead dialogues while singing Kuch Na Kaho on a drive. Nobody’s complaining by the way. But that 3-minute sequence cannot make a blockbuster. It was like Shahid Afridi walking in to hit a six and then departing the game, without winning the match. The mood sparked all the love feels we craved, but frankly, there was so much more the makers could have done with these two to win the entire match, one wondered what was stopping them?
Aabeer Gulaal was a story that held so much potential, promise and expectation. Yet the script fell short of the mark. Why?
One wonders if Bollywood today is so stuck in the successes of the past, and in recreating what was, that it fails to realize that what has already been done to perfection need not be repeated. And if you do want to repeat it, then go all the way and give us the song, dance, laughter, tears and plot twists that make us sit on the edge of our seats till the final scene is played out. We know he’ll get the girl, but we still want to laugh and cry through tears. Aabeer Gulaal delivered a lukewarm feel for a movie that had so much going for it, and if it weren’t for the lead man, Fawad Khan, who at times carried the movie with sheer charm, that effortless glance thrown carelessly yet meaningfully, towards his leading lady, and the manner he delivers a dialogue that positively makes one go weak in the knees, it would have missed the mark entirely.
Imagine if you have all this and you can’t quite get the formula right? Too much of a good thing can be hard to handle, not every one can make a blockbuster, but a quiet, unassuming love story, a movie that meets you a little bit more than halfway is all we ever wanted. Did Aabeer Gulaal succeed?
Scripts and performances and production and direction maketh a good movie. But here, the script failed the rest of the formula.
That’s not to say the movie did not carry its cute moments. From Aabeer texting Gulaal’s dad, to Gulaal giving us some feet tapping dance moves, and a musical medley that threw us back to a playlist that’s just as alive today as it was in the day, Aabeer Gulaal had its moments.
Well maybe, just enough to go watch over a rainy weekend. It teases the love feels in you, but just falls short of staying in for the weekend. You will smile, laugh and swoon a bit too, but you might wish there was a little bit more dance, romance, story and more romance in a movie that braved World War 3 to screen in global cinemas and defy Pakistani and Indian audiences to watch together. If that was the objective, then consider it done. The movie met its mark. Indian fans got their Aabeer and boy did he look good with Gulaal by his side.
Verdict: Go watch in cinemas and never to be missed for Fawad Khan fans.
Rating: 3/5 stars.
