So Dharma Productions presents one of its first franchisee films from the ‘ki Dulhania’ series. Does it match upto Humpty or will Badri crack like the good ol’ Dumpty?
This film is a tourism promotional ad for Jhansi, Kota and Singapore. The only difference being, the makers must have milked Singapore Tourism dry and it shows in the second half.
Oscillating between Jhansi and Kota in the first half, where the 2 protagonist’s families hail from, Bansals from Jhansi and Trivedis from Kota. Shashank Khaitan nails it to the T with his dialogues and screenplay about a good at heart, non achiever wanting to get married to an ambitious career oriented girl. His Nashik background shows in showcasing the finer points of the daily lives of our characters and making the audience love them for it.
The entire characterisation of Badri (Varun) and Somdev (Sahil Vaid a.ka. Poplu from Humpty) is the star of the film. Along with able performances from Shweta Basu Prasad, Yash Sinha, the film belongs to Varun and Sahil. An excellent cameo by Aparshakti Khurana is another brilliant casting. Gaurav Pandey after being so well used as Shonty in Humpty, somehow feels wasted here.
Alia, with the additional weight loss, somehow looks ill and this shows in her performances. Purely average, something borderline repetitive, especially in her terrace scene in Singapore, her angst seems similar to Highway & Kapoor & Sons. Also, the fact that her character is shown so amoral doesn’t work in her favour.
The songs of the film are below average, besides the brilliantly choreographed Tamma Tamma by Bosco Caesar. In today’s times, when you present such a realistic film, the flaws are questioned by children also. Like my 8 year old quickly asked after the end of the ‘Aashiq surrender hua’ “if they both just met, how come their steps are synchronised so well?”
Likewise the entire Singapore portion, in an attempt to ‘promote’ Singapore, is a drag and is too stretched. You somehow feel disconnected with the characters then, which makes the climax also seem too pat.
The first half is a breeze and you will love it. Shashank scores brilliantly as a writer / director. But the film is worth watching only due to the performances of Varun and Sahil. Their chemistry, bromance is simply to die for, innocent and true, epitomised in the scene when they both walk holding Varun’s pinky finger. Something we notice so often on the streets.
Worth a deko once, but you leave the film with no great connect, unlike Humpty.
RATING: 3/5
By: Yusuf Poonawala
