I have a friend, my dearest friend actually, who lives by a code. It is simple and yet I didn’t quite get it till today, till I watched Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. My friend believes, and often repeats, that she doesn’t want to gift "stuff" on birthdays and anniversaries. She wants to gift her friends experiences. Today, as I was watching the noon show of ZNMD, I finally got what she means, what she’s been trying to do.

Zoya is like my friend Tushita. She takes us on a fabulous, fantastic, life-affirming journey with three glorious boys. She surprises and thrills us, while making us laugh all along, and then returns us wanting more.
Three old school-college friends — Kabir (Abhay Deol) from Mumbai, Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) from London and Imraan (Farhan Akhtar) from Delhi — had made a pact long ago and since Kabir is now engaged to be married soon, it’s time to act on it. As planned, they will fly to Spain for three weeks, each one will pick a city and an adventure sport and the rest have to play along.
Kabir, who has inherited his father’s construction business, is engaged to Natasha (Kalki Koechlin), the daughter of a hotelier whose total worth, Rs 1000 crore, interests Arjun a great deal. Arjun, an investment banker in London, has a purposeful gait but has tangled up his life and work so bad that he has a beautiful house, but lives in it alone.
Imraan is a copy writer in an advertising firm and has just discovered that his Abbu, who passed away recently, was not his biological father.
There’s a lot that the boys don’t know about each other, but we do: For example, Imraan writes poetry (which will come alive during long drives, to guide us to an emotion, a thought...) and plans to look up his real dad in Spain.
All three arrive in Barcelona and even as the itinerary is being discussed, the group dynamics become clear: Imraan and Arjun’s relationship is tense and they have some unfinished business. Kabir is the glue holding the three together and this trip is very important to him. Imraan is the joker of the pack and his jokes are at Arjun’s expense. That’s mostly because Arjun talks a lot about money, speaks Spanish (thanks to Barbara Mori, I’m guessing) and takes work calls all the time.
And so the journey begins, with Kabir taking pictures, Arjun making money on his laptop and Imraan maaroing PJs and insulting the 12,000-euro Kelly handbag Kabir has bought for Natasha. There’s hysterical banter at the expense of Arjun, but when Imraan crosses the line, stories from the past come tumbling out. Kabir puts a lid on things, temporarily.
The first stop is of Kabir’s choice and the activity planned is deep-sea diving. Arjun can’t swim, but their diving instructor is the gentle and luminous Laila (Katrina Kaif), an Indian who flits between countries living life as she wants to. She holds Arjun, helps him let go of his fears, shares oxygen with him... the moment they swap spit we know the two are set.
Next stop is the Tomatina festival in Bunol where there is a lot of tamatar squishing and chucking and much simulated revelry. Here we also meet Laila’s cute Spanish friend with whom Imraan is immediately, gainfully occupied.
Meanwhile, Natasha is not too thrilled about Laila, so she crash lands into this extended bachelor party, to talk of life after marriage, responsibilities, priorities... The air turns frosty and Kabir’s face begins to droop. But it lifts again when Laila rides a Royal Enfield to plant a sweet kiss on hunky boy’s lips, and Natasha is dropped off at the airport.
The holiday is now truly underway. Planes leave contrails in the blue skies, there’s freedom in the air and life is full of possibilities. The boys are happy, they talk and drink a lot, often till very late. Arjun and Imraan sense something’s not right with Kabir when Natasha is around, so they ask. He fobs them off. They also skydive, dance with flamenco aunties, pull pranks on unsuspecting foreigners, get arrested, meet dad, outrun angry bulls and, finally, before it all comes to an end, the one marked by cupidity finds love, the one marked by stupidity gets closure, and the one marked by timidity develops a spine.

ZNMD DOES two things: First, it tells us how to holiday. It showcases exhilarating experiences that can be had for money — as the boys jumped out of a plane 15,000-feet above ground (body-doubles or computer images, I didn’t care), I wept. Often we admire films, but it’s rare that we want to be part of the masti and the gang. Here we do. The film is an anthem for wild and wicked holidays with friends.
And second, ZNMD reunites us with the joy of good old escape cinema — gorgeous people, soaring visuals, touching emotions, life-supporting friendships and grand romances.
ZNMD seduces you instantly with beauty — the villas, the hills, the ocean, the men and women. I bet visa applications for Spain are going to rise, but that won’t be entirely because of the picture-postcard visuals. It’ll be largely due to the promise of fun that ZNMD holds.
Zoya Akhtar’s ZNMD is not as significant as her debut, Luck By Chance. It’s neither as naughty nor as shrewd. But it is a lot of fun. Zoya, who is Farhan’s sister, revisits bhai’s Dil Chahta Hai 10 years on, taking her cue from Hangover. Zoya’s story is predictable, but her canvas is her own — large — and she fills it up with fun, interesting stuff, a high-power cast and holds it all together with smart direction. The music is lovely, dialogue witty and the vibe zesty.
The college boys may now be middle-aged men, but they are still seeking love and answers, and will drop everything for a few days of hijinks. They are still silly, funny, cool and hurt easy. And, boy, do these dudes glow. Our heart hangs around the three boys and we love them all. The girls are nice, too.
Often, when our Bollywood stars venture out — girls in chiffons in the Swiss deepfreeze, garrulous lovers in Australia, whimpering grownup men wandering around Wilhemina — we cringe. But not while watching ZNMD. I was certain that no matter what Spain throws up, the cool quotient of our three amigos will be higher.
Farhan has most of the zingers and he delivers them, well, with bounce. Kalki is very good as the controlling fiancée and appropriately tetchy. Abhay’s sexy quotient is a little low but he’s a nice foil to so much gorgeousness. Katrina is one of the boys and twinkle toes and twinkle eyes have really nice chemistry. Hrithik’s eyes linger on...