Genre : Romance
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hours 35 minutes
Director : Siddharth Raj Anand
Cast : Ranbir Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone, Minisha Lamba, Puneet Isaar, Hiten Paintal
Kid rating : PG-13
BACHNA AE HASEENO : THE BEAUTY AND THE BADMAASH !
Ranbir Kapoor plays – (any guesses ? This being a Yash Raj film and all ) – Raj, Raj Sharma that is, a cad of the first order. A rich, spoilt Casanova, this pretty boy is thoughtless, immature and selfish, using and discarding women at will. Having gone trough two semi-serious (for him) relationships, he is embroiled in a third, where he actually falls in love with Gayatri (Deepika). However, remember the old adage – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” ? . . .
The film takes us episodic fashion, through Raj’s journey of love. The first entanglement is with the innocent Mahi (Minissha), who heavily influenced by “Diwale dulhaniya le jayenge” (talk about self-promotion !) is starry-eyed with dreams of meeting HER Raj via Euro-rail. The second is with small-town-girl-turned-model Radhika (Bipasha) , with the affair blooming into a live-in relationship. The third and final one is with taxi-driver-cum-B-school-student Gayatri.
At the point of intermission, the film has taken us to the locales of Switzerland and Australia and Bombay, with Raj in love with Gayatri. The prospect of watching a stupid hero get his just deserts spurred me through the interval. However this is a YRF film, and while it tries to tread the fine line between reality and masala, it errs bigtime on the side of masala. Thus Raj is the sexist boy-around-town who’s out to have his fun. We all fall for his boyish charm, and that puppy-eyed innocence, all of which bely his self-serving actions. Bollywood’s double standard allows us to easily forgive his earlier wrongs, while the same qualities in a heroine might have turned her into an ostracized, evil bitch.
Ranbir himself helps to carry forward the illusion. Easy on the eyes, and packing a wallop in the attitude, one doesn’t quite believe his depiction of a cad. Even in the scenes where he’s asking for forgiveness, his attitude is that of someone who already believes he has it. Maybe it’s because he’s Rishi Kapoor’s son, or the knowledge that this is a YR film, but the contrition factor is lacking.
Another thing that jars pretty sorely is the need to cast leading men in the role of saviors of women. Yes, they might be cads of the Grade-A variety, but apparently they can still do world good. There are three very beautiful women in the film, and it’s a pity that their characters are not well-delineated. Mahi, a Sardarni out on a Euro-jaunt with family, is already affianced to a community boy, and once jilted in love, freezes up waiting for a do-gooder to come rescue her from her frigid existence. Radhika, a strong woman, who once spurned, resolves to rise up in the world and does, carries the scars of her first love, waiting for Prince Charming to come around (if he so wishes) and heal her. Both women air-borne on the clouds of love, come crashing down to earth amid a sea of insecurities and self-doubt, once Prince Charming has exited. And Gayatri, the eminently sane one, also pulls out her womanly wiles when she feels like it, with dialogues like “I am a woman. I have the right to change my mind.”. Oh, please ! Where’s a woman with a spine when you need one ?
The film is told semi-narratively, narrated in little asides by Raj. And while I do like this idea of the character talking to the audience, it has to be a character you don’t abhor. Raj doesn’t fit, because really while he’s bemoaning a man’s fallibility to a woman’s tears, you aren’t actually commiserating with him; you long to take a good whack at his head.
Acting wise everybody does good. Even Bipasha Basu. Minisha Lamba brings to her role the naivete of Ms. Goody Two Shoes, while Deepika exudes an understated confidence as Gayatri, a woman who (almost) knows her own mind. And then there is Ranbir, who you cannot help liking inspite of his character’s faults.
While this film is free of cheap innuendo, it does have the patriarchy in full form; i.e.; lots of dialogues about hot chicks in skimpy clothes, and the “boys will be boys” attitude. There are also quite a few liplocks between the leading pairs. Remember the time when the hero-heroine used to be eclipsed by rose bushes while they did the, ahem, dirty ? Well, it ain’t that time anymore. Fine, really – but do bear in mind if you’re considering taking the kids.
While the direction is good (as expected), the songs catchy and the picturisation exquisite, this film fails to move. As a romantic film, this fails to deliver that warm, fuzzy feeling that has you swooning on your way out of the theatre. The director forgets that for a romance to be appreciated, you must like the love-struck duo. That isn’t happening here, chiefly because you can’t feel for the main protagonist Raj. The hero is painted in such strong negative undertones, that even his repentance can’s make him whole again – remember Humpty-Dumpty ?
In quality, this is a typical Yash Raj film ; it’s glossy and slick and ups the glam quotient. It’s characters are “cool”, happy people full of attitude, and their penchant for singing clad in bright colors, under sunny, blue skies in exotic locales is well-known. Thus while it’s definitely a film to watch, it is one because of the packaging – the songs, the locales, the cinematography, and the allure of it’s leading actors. Characterization, depth and feeling are quite another matter.
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