Film Review - Hamari Adhuri Kahani

 

Strained Relations  

Film: Hamari Adhuri Kahani

Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balaan, Rajkummar Rao

Directed by: Mohit suri

Duration: 2 hrs 8 mins

Rating: *

Hamari Adhuri Kahaani which is supposedly based on the lives of Mahesh Bhatt’s parents, offers the most harrowing times at the cinema. We don’t know for sure what exactly happened to the people in real life, whether they actually suffered so much, but with this film, the audience certainly has. It is the kind of cinema that might prompt a teetotaler to go out and have a peg – a Patiala preferably. 

With the story written by Bhatt himself, there are some absolutely cringe worthy and archaic dialogues by Shagufta Rafique who is a regular in the Bhatt camp. The story is about two men in love with one woman and all three are miserable. Told in flashback, we have a single mother Vasudha (Vidya Balan) whose specialty is arranging flowers in a starred hotel. Her husband Hari (Rajkummar Rao) is missing from the scene and it turns out that he has become a ‘terrorist’ in the naxal area. He is the kind of guy who forced her to tattoo his name on her wrist because of their “saat janam ka rishta.” It is obvious that she has had enough of him in this janam itself but won't say so and suffer in silence.

Enter Aarav Ruparel (Emraan Hashmi), owner of more than a hundred luxury hotels around the world. Impressed with her floral and other skills, he offers her a job in Dubai. One thing leads to another and after a couple of depressing Jeet Ganguly / Arijit Singh songs and skirmishes, they fall in love. At one point, she even takes her bag and starts walking in the lonesome desert as if to save taxi fare to the airport. But just as things are about to look rosy for Ms. Floral, expectedly, her naxalite husband makes a comeback.

Not quite sure where there is more turmoil, in your head or on screen, as you watch watching the drama unfold.

The scenes look synthetic and you don’t feel sympathy to any of the characters either. But it is the painful dialogues (and words like miliqiyat, kaaynat) that take the cake. Aarav sounds more like a poet, not a particularly good one I would like to add hastily, than a rich entrepreneur. “Yeh phool humse kuch keh rahe hain” he declares stopping in his tracks as he is about to board a flight in a rush. A cop goes out of his way to help the lovers, why?  “Kyonki kaaynaat bhi sachche pyaar karne waalon ko milaane ki koshish karti hai.” Move over Paulo Coelho, we have our very own one here. ?

The only silver lining was Rajkummar Rao’s acting, he gives it his best shot. Vidya Balan is a fine actress but here, she has the lets-be-done-with-this-and-move-on look. 

The one word to describe Hamari Adhuri Kahani is, avoidable. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 14th June 2015

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Film Review - Dolly Ki Doli

Hello Dolly

Film: Dolly Ki Doli

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Pulkit Samrat

Directed by: Abhishek Dogra

Duration: 1 hr 40 mins

Rating: * * 1 / 2

There aren’t too many films that rest on such a flimsy premise, have very little logic and yet are pleasant, like the cool evening breeze, Dolly Ki Doli directed by debutant Abhishek Dogra  is one of those. One of the reasons for that is the duration, at a little over an hour and a half, 

Dolly’s tale moves at a fairly reasonable pace speed without too much extra baggage.

The plot has similarities to Daawat-E-Ishq but while the Yashraj production got all bogged down by with the serious nature with which it approached the subject, Dolly Ki Doli has a smooth sailing. 

The film gets on with it right from the word go - Dolly (Sonam Kapoor) is a professional con woman who entraps men, marries them and with the blink of an eye, she disappears after cleaning the up the valuables of the in-laws. She has a whole ‘family’ in place as a part of her team which includes a fake father (Manoj Joshi), mother and brother (Mohd. Zeeshan Ayub).

Sonu (Rajkummar Rao) a sugar cane farmer from Haryana is truly madly and deeply in love with her becomes one of her victims followed by Manjot (Varun Sharma of Fukrey fame) who goes against his mummy’s (Archana Puran Singh) wishes to marry her. Hot on the trail of the gang is a cop (Pulkit Samrat) who is interested in Dolly for professional and personal reasons. 

There are plenty of fun moments when the proceedings are lightweight and don’t take themselves seriously. In this day and age, it is not only improbable but impossible for a bride not to be photographed during the whole wedding ceremony. You have to swallow this and some other oddities and once you do that, it is quite enjoyable till it gets all serious in the climax. 

Even though the film centers around Dolly, the star of the show is Rajkummar Yadav who steals every scene that he is present in. Varun Sharma is also spot on as far as his character is concerned and Sonam Kapoor is likable.

For long I have believed that our films would make for much better viewing experience if they are restricted to two hours or under even if the script has flaws. Dolly Ki Doli shows that the theory also works in practice. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 25th January 2015

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Film Review - CityLights

Sin City

Film: City Lights
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Patralekha
Directed by: Hansal Mehta
Duration: 2 hrs
Rating: * * * 1 / 2

Officially adapted from the Philippines-UK film Metro Manila, City Lights directed by Hansal Mehta for Mahesh Bhatt and co. is a cut above the rest. It is a grim tale of family that moves from the village to the city, not knowing what is in store for them. Even in real life, there are several universal tales about such families that have migrated assuming that the grass is green on the other side. Apart from the adaptation by Ritesh Shah, Hansal Mehta’s direction is most impressive.

Deepak (Rajkummar Rao) hails from Rajasthan and along with his wife (Patralekha) and little daughter they come to the big bad city of Mumbai. Right away, he gets conned by a real estate agent. No job, no money, life is far from being a bed of roses as they expected it to be.

The wife is forced to take up employment in a dance bar while he manages to get a job as a driver for a security agency whose job is to transport valuables for their clients. Manav Kaul plays his supervisor who wants to make Deepak a part of his baleful agenda.

The characters are very well etched – Deepak being a village bloke wants to live in peace honestly and to some extent is quite naïve as well. Without gloating too much, it conveys the harsh realities that people have to go through pushing them in a corner to take extreme measures.

The most jarring part of the screenplay is the background music and songs that pop up from time to time completely undermining the situation. Mehta has a better knack for telling a story through situations, not songs.

The cast plays an important role in City Lights – newcomer Patralekha puts up a good show, she conveys her vulnerability in the right measure and pulls through in the emotional scenes as well. Manav Kaul as the friend is first rate but ultimately the film belongs to Rajkummar Rao who is simply terrific. The film is yet another feather in his cap which is collecting them at a rapid pace. For his performance itself and as a film that has something to say, City Lights is worth a watch.

Published in The Navhind Times on 1st June 2014
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