For the second week in a row, we have a film that’s about winning over the girl’s family. If the Pakistani Muslim hero had to win over a jingoistic Indian Hindu family in Total Siyappa , here the stakes are much lower. The boy here just needs to win over the girl’s old-fashioned father who expects him to have a stable job... Except that the boy just got laid off.
Can you live on just love and fresh air when it is actually recession that’s in the air? Writer Habib Faisal, who wrote a meaty part for Rishi Kapoor in the heart-warming Do Dooni Chaar , this time around looks at the upper middle class and modern-day relationships.
But when the girl calls not going to a rock show a “sacrifice,” you know you are dealing with first world problems. This is the modern independent woman who gifts herself a Mango dress on her birthday and still expects the boyfriend to gift her... at least a rose. And the boy is in denial of the reality of the job market, refusing lucrative marketing jobs because he does not want to sell lingerie.
That’s two people with rich people’s problems. And the thing about first world problems is that they are not really problems and hence difficult to empathise with. Not because they are not relatable... we all know people like that but we also know that kids realise sooner or later that the credit card is not a bottomless glass.
So the film then is just an exercise in converting an old school government servant into one of the cool, young and carefree generation that believes in earning only to spend.
It is a frivolous premise and the makers themselves are unable to take this too seriously to give it any deep thought. The boy, overnight, sells a car that he’s still paying EMIs for. If only our banks let us do that!
So what we have here is a film that lacks the depth and detail of the world it explores, except for maybe Sonam’s wardrobe. It is a film that wears its romcom licence on its sleeve to suspend logic.
Sonam once again catwalks through the film, like wearing fashionable clothes is what she was hired for. Which is more than adequate for this role and Ayushmann has very little to do but look hassled and do his thing with the dimple when he has to get romantic. You can count on Rishi Kapoor to deliver and the man does, once again.
But given that Hollywood has already done funnier versions of the plot, the only reason for you to head to the cinema is that you have a date. And, if you want a film that’s telling you what you are already familiar with — your first world problems.
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Director: Nupur Asthana
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Sonam Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor
Storyline: Boy meets girl’s father
Bottomline: A harmless, predictable date movie
