Very few actors can carry off Tapori-speak in style. Vivek Oberoi isn’t the best of them. But to his credit, he tries. In fact, he’s better off in the more serious scenes than when he’s trying to act cute with the lingo.
But once you are used to it… er… Or if you ignore that fake filmy Tapori-speak, Jayantabhai Ki Love Story does have a few moments that make sure it isn’t entirely unwatchable.
Like most Bollywood romantic comedies, this one too requires quite a bit of willing suspension of disbelief.
A girl like Neha Sharma moving next door to a gangster? In your dreams.
A girl like Neha Sharma falling for the gangster next door? In your wildest dreams.
A girl like Neha Sharma, drinking and dancing with the gangster next door? Inception -esque dream within dream within your wildest dreams scenario!
You get the picture. Every scene is more implausible to believe than the previous one.
One moment it’s a love story, suddenly it’s an action film, and suddenly it’s a realistic film.
In fact, the moments that flesh out the romance are probably the best parts of the film, and they somewhat work only because of the actors than the characters they play.
The action film subplot has a caricature of a villain. Nasser plays a South Indian villain with a flair for movie references — Alex Pandian .
And there’s the occasional streak of realism to show the hero getting bruised and beaten up because he’s well… human!
This inconsistency shows in the climax too. The film has three multiple endings — three climaxes stacked up one after the other — each climax catering to a different sensibility.
But if you are willing to overlook that too, just for the sake of seeing Neha Sharma all dolled up with glycerin flowing from her eyes every few scenes, looking like the damsel in distress, you might actually like the film… But well, that doesn’t mean the movie is good. It just means you have a crush on Neha Sharma. And yes, the girl is pretty.
***
Genre: Romance
Director: Vinnil Markan
Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Neha Sharma, Zakir Hussain, Nasser
Storyline: A gangster falls in love with the girl next door
Bottomline: Bhai meets girl. Bhai loves girl. And surprise! No, not really
