Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha bears a slight resonance of 2023 English-Korean drama Past Lives. It tracked the lives of two characters over a period of 24 years as they go their separate ways and reunite after years under different circumstances, only for one of them to realise they never stopped loving the other person. It was straight to the point, and the emotions felt raw. Minimalism sadly isn’t friends with Bollywood’s style of storytelling.

This Hindi drama kicks off with convict Krishna (played by Ajay Devgn) who doesn’t want to leave prison. He’s serving a double murder sentence for 23 years now. Why he did what he did is basically the plot of Auron Mein, quite wafer thin indeed.

Shantanu Maheshwari plays Ajay’s younger self in 2001, in love with Vasudha (a sprightly Saiee Manjrekar). Their chemistry is believable, and that was important because their older selves are played by Ajay and Tabu, who are doing their zillionth film together. But one night changes their lives forever. Why does Vasudha not wait for Krishna? Why does he not want to come out of jail? Who makes them meet finally?

That daily soap aesthetic

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha is both conventional and unconventional at the same time. I am all for making love stories about different age groups. Here, we see how rash young love is. Also, how practical love becomes as one grows older.

The first half is excruciatingly slow. The story has multiple flashbacks, and we try to keep up with the pace. The premise wants to be intriguing, but… is too stretched. The first hour feels like a three hour long ‘maha-episode’ of a daily soap.

As we are finally told what happened on that fateful night years ago, the interval comes along to let us breathe. But you aren’t ready for what’s coming next. Without giving away anything, this is the dramatic version of what happened in the second half of Anees Bazmee’s hilarious 2007 flick Welcome. Only, we are shown the same sequence of events from different POVs three times. Did we mention daily soap parallels already?

Funny bits shine-- in a drama?

What saves us are some smartly written one liners and cheeky references. At one point, the theatre erupted into cheers as Ajay’s friend puts on the radio in their car, and it plays Jeeta Tha Jiske Liye, from his own film Dilwale. When the film stays light, it shines. Some unnecessary songs like Ae Dil Zara Ke wear you down.

Actors' report card

Ajay Devgn doesn’t have to do any heavy lifting here. He just has to be his quiet, brooding self. Tabu manages well but again- this is cakewalk for seasoned actors like them. Jimmy Sheirgill, stereotyped now for never getting the girl in his movies, gets the short end of the stick once again. However, in a slightly different format.

Shantanu is a dependable actor, who brings a certain charm to the screen. After duddy Dabanngg debut, Saiee gets a meaty role to dig her teeth into, and she makes the most of it. The music of the film, by Oscar-winner MM Keeravani, is nothing to write home about.

Some trimming would have made this a good watch. Alas, Neeraj Panday, who also gets writing credit, gets carried away. The film’s last shot says ‘Sometimes, it never ends…’ Exactly what I felt about the film at one point.