Movie Review : Bewakoofiyaan (2014)

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Rating : Above Average (3.5/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2014
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Nupur Asthana
Cast : Sonam Kapoor, Ayushmann Khurana, Rishi Kapoor, Gurpal Singh
Kidwise : PG

Mohit Chaddha and Mayera Sehgal. Two yuppies in love. Disagreement. The crash of breaking hearts. A stark, cold breakup just when the family is warming up to the idea.

That’s the gist. And really while this luv-shuv ka drama was going on, it was like deja vu. How many love stories have trodden this weary path? (Yup, rhetorical question.) So, interval time comes, and I’m preparing for a snooze-fest. And that is when this film really gets going.

First things first – is this a predictable film? Of course! It is a love tale in Bollywood complete with BF-hating Papa. We know that that there is love story in trouble, and rescue will come by the time the film ends. The question is the how.

Well, the how is charmingly done. The lead pair are fresh and young, and look realistically in love. The story has these authentic moments I’ve come to associate with Habib Faisal’s writing, where the twosome look adoringly at each other or coo sweet nothings, and we are with them, hoping that they have this happy future with each other that they are dreaming of. Sonam and Ayushmann are good actors, and it is to their credit that they look appropriately besotted, and have us so invested in their happiness.

The first half does stretch the overbearing-father-in-law joke a tad, and the humor is forced at times. Rishi Kapoor is the rotund, retired bureacratic servant, all puffed up in self-importance (and fat). He does well, his jowls quivering with the indignation that is the birthright of all good Bollywood-ian dads with daughters of marriageable age. Sonam looks lovely, and acts appropriately high-maintenance as the indulged beti of above dad. Ayushmann is our hero with that heart of gold. And he looks it – there’s something like-able about that boy.

Then there are the nicely etched minor characters – another Faisal speciality. One is Gursharan uncle (Gurpal Singh), Sehgal’s PA/friend/sounding-board who offers his opinion on most things plaguing Sehgal; i.e.; the troublesome, good-for-nothing boy-friend the daughter has brought home. Singh does a wonderful job as slow, cloying, stick-in-the-mud Gursharan. Another great minor character is Radha, who keeps house and cleans for the Sehgals.

“Bewakoofiyaan” is a feel-good movie with the happy buzz of romance. And it oozes charm. And some appropriately peppy music. Granted the story is not the creative concoction that “Mujhse Fraandship Karoge” was, but it is a pleasantly told tale, once it gets past the cliches clogging the pipeline. Hold out till interval time and all will be well.

Kidwise : The lead pair kiss and cuddle; further encounters of the closer kind are implied. Nothing to scar the young ones with though.