2 stars
In the cyber city of Gurgaon, an MBA topper-cum-airline marketing executive Mohit Chadda (Ayushmann Khurrana), who recently rose from the ranks at work, is ousted due to the economic downturn all at once. The prospect of making an impression on his high-maintenance banker girlfriend Myrah Sehgal's (Sonam Kapoor) ex bureaucrat father, Vinod Kumar Sehgal (Rishi Kapoor), who believes that only a rich man can bring happiness to her daughter and a mid-level executive like Mohit simply isn't worthy, goes nonsensical with a depleting bank balance and no likelihood of finding employment. Comedy of errors befall the private sector's credit card junkies, Mohit-Myrah........
The story (Habib Faisal) seems like a slothful rip-off of 2000's American comedy film Meet the Parents and it's 2004's sequel Meet the Fockers - first things first. The knock backs of a confirmed lover by his ladylove's tyrannizing, old-school in thoughts father are portrayed in a desi avatar, to suit the Indian sensibilities. The plot raises a deeply rooted question apropos to taking the mickey out of young lovers -- Money or Love? Though the quirky one-liners fall flat after a given point of time, but right from the fights between the couple to the synchronous dialogues (Leepakshi Ellawadi) are almost palpable. Nupur Asthana (director) focusses mainly on the linchpins -- the two leads, instead of giving the plot some heft. Mukund Gupta's production design is exquisite, teetotally. The DoP (Neha Parti Matiyani) cinematographs the picturesque locales of Delhi and Dubai with majestic grandeur but a dearth of an overall peppy soundtrack (music: Raghu Dixit), to compliment the opulence of the proceedings, acts as killjoy. The background score (Hitesh Sonik) is ordinary. There is not an iota of doubt that the leads are styled fashionably (costumes: Leepakshi Ellawadi) and look marvellous in every frame they appear but they regrettably lack that vibe/experience to entwine this slice of life story into something emotionally rewarding or uplifting genuinely. The domineering father's scolding and pooh-poohing his future son-in-law and to put him on probation, packs a solid punch. The first half is fast paced and promptly moves from one situation to another. The penultimate & the ultimate moments are the highlight of the enterprise, just because of Rishi Kapoor's acting prowess. The continuous bantering in the climax over a scooty ride is a delight scene to watch.
The movie succumbs to the curse of second half. Clocking on the dot at 119 minutes 40 seconds, the editing (Antara Lahiri) is lazy, with unwanted scenes galore. For instance, Mayera’s decision to take up a job in Dubai scene and VK Sehgal digging into Mohit’s traffic fines, income-tax returns and all sorts of document verification, add to losing momentum. The flick gets underway with Ayushmann's character trying his hands on driving and in the following scene, he buys a car and drops Sonam home as if he's an accomplished driver. In a scene, Ayushmann, Sonam and their bunch of friends are shown enjoying a holiday trip, that too after Ayushamann lost his job to recession. C'mon, where is the logic? The wooden expression of the leads too, lack any real endearment. The hurried turnaround in the character of browbeating dad lacks meat. Director Nupur Asthana, who had given us Hip Hip Hurray and Mahi Ve on the small screen, fails to rise above the normal in her breezy outing.
Both Ayushmann Khurrana and Sonam Kapoor have got thier mirror images' characters. Ayushmann has nothing histrionic to portray as an urban cool guy. Sonam gives a plain ordinary performance of a rather dreary character of a demanding girlfriend while Ayushmann needs to work on his dialogue delivery. He tends to sotto voce in some scenes. Rishi Kapoor suffuses life into a muddled character, exhibiting once again his acting prowess. He's the saving grace of the film along with Gurpal Singh (fantastic), in my humble opinion, (as Gursharan). Take Rishi & Gurpal out of the flick and the result will be unbearable. Pratap Hada (as Ayushmann's office friend) is supremely talented.
To sum it up, BEWAKOOFIYAAN is cheerful; optimistic but lacks the heart. Rishi Kapoor's virtuoso act is not enough to buy into this love story. The story on paper is great but the execution keeps on meandering right from the onset, with no clear aim to make the viewers 'bewakoof'. Skip it! Wait for the DVD release.
first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/bewakoofiyaan/md3177.htm
In the cyber city of Gurgaon, an MBA topper-cum-airline marketing executive Mohit Chadda (Ayushmann Khurrana), who recently rose from the ranks at work, is ousted due to the economic downturn all at once. The prospect of making an impression on his high-maintenance banker girlfriend Myrah Sehgal's (Sonam Kapoor) ex bureaucrat father, Vinod Kumar Sehgal (Rishi Kapoor), who believes that only a rich man can bring happiness to her daughter and a mid-level executive like Mohit simply isn't worthy, goes nonsensical with a depleting bank balance and no likelihood of finding employment. Comedy of errors befall the private sector's credit card junkies, Mohit-Myrah........
The story (Habib Faisal) seems like a slothful rip-off of 2000's American comedy film Meet the Parents and it's 2004's sequel Meet the Fockers - first things first. The knock backs of a confirmed lover by his ladylove's tyrannizing, old-school in thoughts father are portrayed in a desi avatar, to suit the Indian sensibilities. The plot raises a deeply rooted question apropos to taking the mickey out of young lovers -- Money or Love? Though the quirky one-liners fall flat after a given point of time, but right from the fights between the couple to the synchronous dialogues (Leepakshi Ellawadi) are almost palpable. Nupur Asthana (director) focusses mainly on the linchpins -- the two leads, instead of giving the plot some heft. Mukund Gupta's production design is exquisite, teetotally. The DoP (Neha Parti Matiyani) cinematographs the picturesque locales of Delhi and Dubai with majestic grandeur but a dearth of an overall peppy soundtrack (music: Raghu Dixit), to compliment the opulence of the proceedings, acts as killjoy. The background score (Hitesh Sonik) is ordinary. There is not an iota of doubt that the leads are styled fashionably (costumes: Leepakshi Ellawadi) and look marvellous in every frame they appear but they regrettably lack that vibe/experience to entwine this slice of life story into something emotionally rewarding or uplifting genuinely. The domineering father's scolding and pooh-poohing his future son-in-law and to put him on probation, packs a solid punch. The first half is fast paced and promptly moves from one situation to another. The penultimate & the ultimate moments are the highlight of the enterprise, just because of Rishi Kapoor's acting prowess. The continuous bantering in the climax over a scooty ride is a delight scene to watch.
The movie succumbs to the curse of second half. Clocking on the dot at 119 minutes 40 seconds, the editing (Antara Lahiri) is lazy, with unwanted scenes galore. For instance, Mayera’s decision to take up a job in Dubai scene and VK Sehgal digging into Mohit’s traffic fines, income-tax returns and all sorts of document verification, add to losing momentum. The flick gets underway with Ayushmann's character trying his hands on driving and in the following scene, he buys a car and drops Sonam home as if he's an accomplished driver. In a scene, Ayushmann, Sonam and their bunch of friends are shown enjoying a holiday trip, that too after Ayushamann lost his job to recession. C'mon, where is the logic? The wooden expression of the leads too, lack any real endearment. The hurried turnaround in the character of browbeating dad lacks meat. Director Nupur Asthana, who had given us Hip Hip Hurray and Mahi Ve on the small screen, fails to rise above the normal in her breezy outing.
Both Ayushmann Khurrana and Sonam Kapoor have got thier mirror images' characters. Ayushmann has nothing histrionic to portray as an urban cool guy. Sonam gives a plain ordinary performance of a rather dreary character of a demanding girlfriend while Ayushmann needs to work on his dialogue delivery. He tends to sotto voce in some scenes. Rishi Kapoor suffuses life into a muddled character, exhibiting once again his acting prowess. He's the saving grace of the film along with Gurpal Singh (fantastic), in my humble opinion, (as Gursharan). Take Rishi & Gurpal out of the flick and the result will be unbearable. Pratap Hada (as Ayushmann's office friend) is supremely talented.
To sum it up, BEWAKOOFIYAAN is cheerful; optimistic but lacks the heart. Rishi Kapoor's virtuoso act is not enough to buy into this love story. The story on paper is great but the execution keeps on meandering right from the onset, with no clear aim to make the viewers 'bewakoof'. Skip it! Wait for the DVD release.
first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/bewakoofiyaan/md3177.htm
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