Movie was entertaining but there were many things that didn’t work for me!
What didn’t work for me
It didn’t show women in great light. The female protagonist’s point was bang on. She wanted an independent life, not living with her in-laws but then why did she compromise in the end? There is nothing wrong with wanting space & moving out of your parents’ house when you get married (for both genders). It strengthens the relationship of the couple & helps them learn how to manage a household & in turn makes them more responsible & accountable. It’s a fair ask by anyone & it’s high time we normalise this idea through our movies. Of course, I’m not getting into pros & cons of joint versus nuclear families here but just saying it’s a couple’s joint decision & can be a deal breaker in some cases, which I support.
The boy’s family promised to give the couple space so that they go ahead with the wedding. But clearly it was just to get the girl to give in. Right from the over-the-top airport chase to having a baby in the end credits, they were all there, always!
The actress rightly said it’s easy for the boy to say it’s all okay. Or that my family is different from others. That’s because nothing really changes for him. He continues to live in his own house with his own family. It’s the girl who has to adjust. And if a girl isn’t willing to do so she is blamed for taking the boy away from his family!
If the directors are now attempting new age themes & trying to send progressive messages, they clearly failed to do so with this movie. While it seemed to be going in the right direction, touching upon a topic not covered extensively, the director lost the plot in the last 15 minutes & gave a stereotypical, too good to be true solution that makes for a “happy ending”.
A logical end would’ve been that they both respected each other’s choices & parted ways inspite of being in love. He clearly loved his family too much to live separately (and that’s okay) & she wanted her own place & she had proved that she was capable of doing so already by moving out of her family house in Delhi to work in Gurgaon.
The Indian audience is now mature enough to understand & respect this decision of not getting the fairytale ending but a more pragmatic solution reflecting how the current generation thinks. Rather than make the woman sacrifice & compromise yet again & be shown as the anti-hero just because she wants her independence, they could’ve empowered her to walk out of this relationship.
I can imagine some thinking the movie gives out a good message & instills family values but for me it just reiterated a regressive notion of what family should look like and sold patriarchy in a sugar coated way.
The songs were a buzz kill coming out of context & disrupting the flow. In any case, they were hardly melodious.
There were too many lengthy dialogues that were getting monotonous. At one point I wanted to tell Ranbir Kapoor (RK) to shut up!
I am not a huge fan of Shradha Kapoor so I may be biased but I felt she was just a school girl asked to dress up & deliver dialogues without conveying any emotions.
The characters were not well sketched. It was hard to get attached to them or feel a connection or sympathy towards them. RK manages to act with his eyes & doesn’t need as many dialogues though ironically had the maximum verbiage in the film.
What worked for me
It was a delight to see our very own G town & our regular hangouts shown in a glamorous way.
The supporting cast is powerful & well picked except I didn’t get what Boney kapoor was doing there. He can neither act nor deliver dialogues. Was he the producer of this movie & the director decided to humour him?
The locations covered in the first half of the movie were fabulous & made me want to plan my next travel.
My verdict
Overall I felt, the funny parts really made me crack up but boring parts made me reach for my phone. You can watch it for entertainment but please don’t try to find logic or analyse it.