Monday 10 February 2014

Film Review - Hasee Toh Phasee



 

Rules of Engagement

Film: Hasee toh Phasee
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Parineeti Chopra
Directed by: Vinil Mathew
Duration: 2 hrs 20 mins
Rating: *  *  *

Even though Haseee toh Phasee has a slightly predictable storyline, it is executed with sufficient zing to make it one of the better romcom that Bollywood has dished out. It also helped generously by a top notch performance from the lead pair of Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra, especially the lady who is clearly one of the best things to happen to Hindi cinema.

We’ve seen a young man who is already engaged fall for another girl umpteen times before (most recently in Shuddh Desi Romance) but the progression of the story remains a key element and from that point of view, writer Harshvardhan Kulkarni has done an admirable job (not to mention the Motley crue of dialogue writers that includes Anurag Kashyap).

The film opens at a brisk pace where we are told about two naughty children. The boy, an Agneepath fan (Bachchan one,not Hrithik) and the son of an IPS officer grows up to be a young man (Malhotra) and unlike his IAS, IPS IFS family, he is an event manager for wedding and other occasions or as a relative queries “catering ka kaam karta hain kya?”

In another part of the city there is Meeta (Parineeti) who is a genius of sorts. She has a Ph.D, has invented some kind of a ball that can generate energy and she even speaks Chinese since she has lived there (I couldn’t figure out if it was Mandarin or some other dialect) 

But there is one problem, all is not well with her – she needs medication drugs from time to time and that makes her more hyper. She left her family (Manoj Joshi, Neena Kulkarni) years ago after a discord and her uncle (good old Samir Kakkar) still holds a strong grudge against her is on a slapping spree. 

Now our event manager (he is eyeing the IPL this time) is engaged to Ms.Genius sister
(Adah Sharma) but since she is discarded by the family, circumstantially, he ends up taking care of her. No crorepati prize for guessing what happens next.

As it has happened many a times, the last lap of the film is a bit stretched as the screenplay hits a few roadblocks. You wish they had wrapped it up quickly but that is a minor grouse. The characters are quite whacky like the wedding guest who is an Anu Malik fans and breaks into his songs at any given opportunity. 

The cast is in top form. Manoj Joshi has been around as a supported actor for long and this is one of his best performances till date. The chemistry between the lead players is crackling- Student of The Year Sidharth Malhotra shows that he can act and act well. Parineeti Chopra seems to be making mincemeat of any role that comes her way, she is a natural born actress.  

Hasee toh Phasee is an enjoyable lightweight film that has more than a few things to admire. 


Published in The Navhind Times on 9th Feb 2014
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