I remember when I was a teenager not too long ago. It was a time when bunking lectures and going for movies with friends was cool. I remember how my friends and I would get off a few stops before our actual destination just so that we could save the extra pocket money to spend it buying 'cute' cards for the 'cute' girls to say 'I'm sorry' or 'I love you.'
It was an age when love was our priority, emulating Shah Rukh Khan from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge the mantra and every decision was pure, unadulterated and direct dil se.
MP3 or Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar takes us back to the time when all you need are great friends to unconditionally support you, a private room to watch stuff that adults won't let you, generous parents to loan you their car keys and a cute girl to hold your hand.
Sure, it's not award-worthy cinema but then again, it isn't trying to be. It's just a fresh, cute teenybopper that wants to tell the bubble-gum generation a romantic story they can identify with.
In fact, this film will appeal to people of all ages because we've all been teenagers and we've all been in love. It's sure to bring back fond memories.
So, MP3 has Rohan (Rulsaan) is the stud of his high school and the leader of a brat pack. It's a typical Band of Boys, a kid obsessed with the sexy schoolteacher, the prankster who rags everybody and the iPod loving cool dude who is great with computers and the internet.
Rohan meets Ayesha (Hazel) a sweet girl who loves to paint and who has just moved to town from London. The two steadily fall in love. Rohan's friends begin to tease him about the new girl, Ayesha's hip friend tells her not to get too 'emo' and the jealous college villain tries to create misunderstandings between the two.
The situations are full of teenybopper romance and the characters go through all of sorts of childish arguments. After one such silly fight, Ayesha takes off to Paris.
Rohan reminisces about the good times (while his friends call him Devdas) and on an impulsive moment, decides to follow his heart and propose his love under the Eiffel Tower in true 'filmi' style.
His adventures in the second half are enjoyable, as he overcomes every possible situation to find Ayesha and proclaim his love for her.
Ruslaan makes an impact. He looks convincing as a guy in love for the very first time. His comic timing (and that of his friends) is also very good. Hazel is exceptionally pretty and does a decent job in the acting department.
Hazel's mom and aunt do a good job and come across as regular folk. Kanwaljeet Singh as Ruslaan's dad is very good; we all wish we had fathers like that. Manoj Pawha is efficient as usual but Gaurav Gera is wasted.
Robby Grewal has definitely improved with his second offering (his first was the Sushmita Sen-starrer Samay). He has done a good job of telling a simple story in an interesting way.
The cinematography is picture perfect, especially in the second half where the locales of Paris and Prague are beautifully captured on celluloid. The scenes in the Metro are also nicely captured.
The music is efficiently used and the songs are intelligently picturised. However, what was surprising was that the much publicised title song was missing from the film.
MP3 works on many levels. It's fresh, funny and real. All the characters are straight out of real life and the audience will definitely find a character or situation that they can identify with.
Rediff Rating: 
