Aamras Youthful not enchanting

“Aamras” is a youthful story filled with coming-of-age comedy and is about four 18-some girls. Pari (Natasha) is the upper class snob who often funds the fun ideas of her middle class best-friend Jiya (Vega). Their equation is alike with Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna one in “Namak Haraam”.

Add to the twosome’s on-and-off bonding a couple of more inseparable friends like Rakhi (Maanvi) and Sanya (Annchal) and you have a bubbly brew of bonhomie during times of picnics, parties, growing up and realizing that life is not just fun.

“Aamras” is high on content. Debutant director Rupali Guha, who is veteran filmmaker Basu Chatterjee’s daughter, pays homages to her dad and his colleague Hrishikesh Mukherjee. At the girls’ picnic the man-in-charge is named Parimal Tripathi (Ashish Roy), a la Dharmendra in “Chupke Chupke”. Guha gives a sweet and sometimes slyly amusing spin to the high-school hijinks of a foursome that just wants to have fun, but soon gets to know that life has other plans.

Guha has happily cast a quartet of newcomers seem believable and warm. The film has that quaint cosy feeling but is let down by technicalities. In “Aamras”, the foursome’s friendship is done with sincerity. However, the cosy intimacy wears thin when the principal characters begin to behave like one-dimensional stereotypes rather than the real people you tend to believe them to be initially.

The script crams too much into the narrative’s fragile frame. Loud, malfunctional families, the laughable arrogance of the rich,

friendship and jealousy over parties, stealthily-shot kisses on the phone, a beloved mother-figure stabbed and a painting competition where the middle class girl sacrifices her chance to go to Paris for the rich friend — all this is like placing heavy baggage on a tender shoulder.

Overall, the film’s narration seems to have bitten off more than it can chew. One likes the film for its honest intentions rather than the execution. The performances by the four girls range from the warmly credible to the passable. The supporting cast of veterans is surprisingly impact less.

Cast: Vega, Natasha, Maanvi, Aanchal, Sunil Sinha, Zarina Wahab, Reema Lagoo Director: Rupali Guha