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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