It takes just a few seconds of Kumar Sanu’s voice (replacing Lata Mangeshkar’s) in Yash Raj’s signature opening theme in Dum Laga Ke Haisha to transport you to the 90s. Even the title card suggesting 1995 seems unnecessary, considering the ability of Sanu’s voice to define the decade. It was a decade when Zee TV’s Close Up Antakshari overtook Doordarshan’s Chitrahaar, and when cassettes were being replaced by shiny CDs. It is in this era that Prem (played by Ayushman Khurrana in top form) runs his father’s cassette shop.
For Prem, life is a journey he experiences from the backseat. His father decides and he listens. Even the decision to get married isn’t his and when asked to marry an overweight Sandhya (Bhumi Pednekar, a charming addition to the list of Yash Raj’s more common size zero heroines), he agrees.
Sandhya is educated, intelligent, and dreams of becoming a teacher. She believes love comes naturally after marriage, and trusts that Prem is meant for her. Of course, life has other plans. Prem is uninterested in her, embarrassed his friends will see him with his generously proportioned wife. Sandhya soon becomes the lone participant in their marriage, but believes things will get better, buying herself sexy nightdresses and learning how to cook.
Then, one day, in a fit of jealous rage (when his friend Kailash gets engaged to a svelte girl), Prem insults her in front of his friends. A furious Sandhya walks out of the marriage. Her departure pushes Prem to take charge of his life. He starts learning English. And picks up fights with friends.
When Kailash opens a CD shop, in direct competition to Prem, the former challenges him to a wacky race where husbands must carry wives on their shoulders across various obstacles. Sandhya, who has returned to stay the mandatory six months before divorce, agrees. The race changes life in more ways than one.
The film is, after all, about a man who runs a cassette shop. Clumsy a cassette may be but all it needs is a bit of glue and some patience to keep playing. Like marriages. The story of an anachronism, a mismatched couple, and some great acting from the leads ends up making for a charming movie.
