Launch of a new star. A mushy love story. A conflict between families. A delightful entertainer.

These were some of the expectations that one had from the movie 'Dil Jo Bhi Kahey' that was released this Friday. Does the movie meet all the expectations? Well, not to an extent as one would have liked!

Written, produced and directed by Romesh Sharma, DJBK is the launch pad of his son Karan Sharma who is paired opposite yet another debutant Annabelle Wallace, a British girl. The movie begins on an interesting [though often seen] note with introduction of Jai [Karan Sharma], who is studying Hotel Management in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a jovial person who loves hanging around with friends and enjoys life to the fullest without trying to be ultra cool or a smashing dude. In one of the chance meetings in a music store, he and his friend Gaurav [Manuj Gulati] come across Sophie [Annabelle Wallace]. A couple of smile-on-your-face sequences later, they both fall in love.

Jai and Sophie start dreaming about living life together when reality. Sophie’s father Norman Besson [Malcolm Doddard] still lives in the days of colonial rule and treats Indians as nothing more than slaves. Meanwhile Jai's mother Sandhya [Revathi], a traditional woman originating from Chappra, Bihar too believes that Indian and Western culture won't gel in a long run. In this conflict of cultures, it is Jai's father Shekhar [Amitabh Bachchan] who is his only hope. Inspite of the differences between the two families, he gives them a go-ahead to secretly get married in a church.

Shocked Sandhya gets a heart attack, Jai decides to forego his beloved for his mother, Sophie never comes to know about the reason of Jai's flip while the loop is closed with Sandhya finding a 'susheel-sundar-samajhdaar-paramparaik bahu' Gayatri [Bhoomika Chawla], a doctor for her son.

For a change, a hero is not on crossroads here. Troubled from his mother's condition, he surrenders and promptly gets engaged to Gayatri. This is when Gaurav enters the scene and tried to unite the two love birds together. But is it too late by then........?

There have been hundreds of love stories in the past, especially when a fresh face is being launched. Either it’s a rich boy-poor girl story or a 'do khaandanon ki dushmani' saga or 'hero falling in love with villain's daughter' drama. But rarely has any movie being made that had cultural difference between West and the East as a backdrop. On these grounds, DJBK is a novel attempt. Rather than making a Western girl a mere prop, the story has Annabelle as an integral part of the movie. There is no nudity or no titillation that would make her appearance for mere glamour quotient. Karan's character too doesn't aim at being an ultra-modern dude fused with rich-Indian-culture a la Chopra-Johar hero.

These are some of the factors that catch your attention and in fact the first few reels go at a lively pace with an occasional chuckle or two. Though there is a nice built of drama in the reels to follow, surprisingly things do not turn as dramatic as anticipated. Karan returns to Mauritius and things turn a bit stagnant, especially in the father-son number 'Mere Munna' that seems to be forced. Things turn a bit interesting with Amitabh and Malcolm confrontation but a couple of scenes later, the young couple is back at being cozy on a beach.

Movie continues on a sedate pace with flicker of hope of some twists and turns, but still nothing exciting happens. One could understand the meek submission of Karan to his mother's wishes but how come Revathy doesn't even give a thought around her son's sad condition? Just happy with having found a new bride for her, she is in her own world altogether! There is a promise of some interesting moments when Karan and Annabelle are brought face to face but that too doesn’t lift the proceedings.

Ending of the movie is quite tame with the intended twist hardly succeeding in creating any mirth. It appears as if the film has been just wrapped up abruptly at that point. One more factor that disappoints throughout the length of the movie is voiceover by Danny whenever there are any English dialogues. With number of scenes requiring English dialogues, either the scenes could have been left as it is or dubbed in Hindi. For 3-4 scenes in a movie a voiceover may work but in case of DJBK it’s a distraction, especially when Big B is delivering his dialogues.

So does Karan Sharma come up with a notable debut performance? Answer is yes, but only to an extent. If his length of role and performance in the first half are something to be noticed, he gets a good platform and does well [though nothing exceptional]. His boyish charm, a few light hearted scenes, chemistry with his parents - all this work well. He handles a few emotional scenes [when he confronts Annabelle or his tiff with his mother at the temple]. But his poor characterization in the second half is what takes away some chunk from his overall performance. Also he has an inconsistent look in the first 30-45 minutes. While he looks quite nervous and overwhelmed in 'Mere Munna' with Big B, he looks good in his introduction song 'Dil Jo Bhi Kahey'. Another area where he does well is his dialogue delivery that speaks of his confidence.

Amitabh Bachchan is fine, but except for a 2-3 scenes, he too just goes through the motions. Revathy too follows the same graph as Amitabh in the movie and just about fits in her role. Malcolm Doddard seems to have walked straight out of 60s Technicolor Hollywood cinema.

Annabelle makes a fine debut and looks good too. Even in her case, while she looks quite attractive in the first half and comes up with varied range of expressions, the second half takes away some sheen from her. Bhoomika does well in the little role she plays and that's about it. Manuj Gulati, a popular face on advertisement circuits, impresses and comes up with a worthy performance.

Shankar Ehsaan Loy's music doesn't really ring much after the movie's show is over except for the title song, though the soft background music by the composer trio is pleasant on the ears. Thanks to directors of photography - Binod Pradhan and Gopal Shah, film has a consistent rich look, especially in the first half when there is a good dose of outdoor shooting. Dialogues by Romesh Sharma are routine.

In nutshell, DJBK is an average fare that had in it to be a dramatic fare but didn't really turn out to be so. Though the movie is a sincere attempt with good performances, the end result is just about passable. At the box office, no major releases for next 4-6 weeks may just about help DJBK have a continued run and earn some moolah.