Roshan Abbas thought it would be a good idea to make a film out of his successful play Graffitti, and Shah Rukh decided to produce it.  Those two were enough reason for me to line up at the theatre ticket counter. When the lights finally went out and the projector started rolling I was praying that this film would be as wonderful as I had pictured it in my head. Well, some prayers are never answered...

Roshan has indeed taken some cues from the Hollywood film, High School Musical, and it seemed to be like a great desi HSM at first, but soon lost steam and when it finally puffed and panted its way to the climax, all we can do is to feel sorry for SRK, as there was hardly anyone left in the theatre to watch his item song.

The story is about four school students, Sameer(Ali Fazal), Aishwarya(Giselle), Nandini(Zoa) and Tariq(Satyajeet) who want to enjoy college life but they all face different problems with only one solution. It is about how the older generation are so caught up in their own lives, their work and their dreams that they forget about their children’s future.

Roshan Abbas's idea is good and so is his story but the screenplay and execution play spoil sport. The movie suffers from pacing problems, mediocre dialogues, trying to be funny moments aplenty, bad characterization, over the top climax and done to death kind of song picturization. In the end, the movie has worked out as more of a showcase of the leads’ talent, and as a platform for hawking brands like Fanta, Cloud-9 and Fortis.

Performance wise, Ali Fazal after his everlasting cameo as Joy Lobo in 3 Idiots, takes the top honor with almost a flawless performance as the friendly and cool Sameer. Giselle gets more scope to act here than her barbie doll act in Love Aaj Kal and she does impress most of the time. Zoa as Nandini is good but better characterization could have made a bigger difference as we just can’t accept that she changed so drastically. Sathyajeet Dubey as the Geeky Tariq is a capable actor who gives a mixed performance that runs the gamut from completely natural to unnatural overacting. The rest of the crew is just there to lend support or at least they try.  Talented actors like Satish Shah and Vijay Raaz are under-utilized.

Cinematography by Fuwad Khan and Anshuman is decent.  Art by Mansi Mehta and Tanushree Sarkar is done aesthetically. Editor Sanjay Sharma doesn't impress completely. Music is passable with one or two hummable numbers but the climax song which needs to be the best of the lot just fails.

Overall a complete waste of time. A good idea gone really really bad, it is more like a 2 hour advertisement for the actors and brand tie-ups.

Verdict: Always, Kabhi bhi nahi