Laila Majnu starts with the introduction of Laila, a free-spirited girl from a conservative family falls head over heels for a spoilt brat who turns out to be successful in wooing her out of all the guys who wait for her to pass by outside her college. Qais imbues his Laila with his non-caring attitude, wooing and finally with the arduous love which he felt for her. There is a genuine fondness between them which can be witnessed in various scenes of the movie.
Both the newcomer actors, Avinash Tiwari, and Tripti Dimri, have left a fresh impact. Tiwari has intensity in his performance which makes him stand apart in the queue. The coordination of stars with the locals have been greatly managed throughout the movie. The characterization is highly flawed yet they partake something special in them. The way the relationship between Laila and Qais unfurls it appears frivolous and makes it hard to believe over their later devotion which they show towards each other. Several twists turn and situations are present in the movie to make this classic tale “contemporary”.
Tripti Dimri, who plays Laila, is a winsome girl who looks both suitably smitten and suitably struck down by circumstances, and hers is a performance laudably free of overwrought histrionics. Avinash Tiwari plays her lover Qais Butt, and this young man is a strikingly self-aware actor. He was excellent as a hoarder in Tu Hai Mera Sunday, and here he uses his great voice to solid effect as the charmer early on, then switches gears impressively as his character embraces the impossibility of the situation and begins to reel under the mania of his love. The crazed lover is one of Imtiaz Ali’s recurring themes as a storyteller — he even told the Laila-Majnu story within a sequence of Tamasha — but here, writing a direct adaptation, freed of the need to rationalize the romance, it works better.
Directed by Sajid Ali from a script by his illustrious brother Imtiaz Ali, here is a romantic drama that has the capacity to surprise. This is no small feat considering we have known of the age-old Persian legend about the star-crossed lovers for longer than we can remember, and it has been interpreted by artists as far removed as Rishi Kapoor. It is about young lovers torn apart by their families and the world, till they lose their minds and their lives.