Movie Review: Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014)

24 Replies

Humpty_Sharma_Ki_Dulhania_Poster3 Stars (out of 4)

Buy or rent the movie at iTunes
Buy the DVD at Amazon
Buy the soundtrack at Amazon

First Student of the Year, then Main Tera Hero, and now Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (“Humpty Sharma’s Bride“). Three films into his career, and Varun Dhawan has positioned himself as Bollywood’s hero of the future.

Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (HSKD, henceforth) is made in the mold of classic romcoms, most explicitly Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. [Though references to DDLJ are sprinkled throughout, one need not have seen that movie in order to appreciate HSKD.] This requires Dhawan to carry the film with his dancing, crying, and goofing around, and he’s more than up to the task.

Dhawan plays Humpty Sharma, a good-natured college student prone to slacking off. He’s destined to take over the campus bookstore from his tolerant father (Kenny Desai), so why push himself in school? Humpty’s constant companions are Shonty (Gaurav Pandey) and Poplu (Sahil Vaid).

The trio are busted by Kavya (Alia Bhatt) when they try to extort passing grades from their history professor, her uncle. When Kavya agrees to fix their grades behind her uncle’s back in exchange for a bribe, the guys recognize a kindred spirit and friendship blossoms.

Humpty and Kavya fall in love, even though she’s engaged to an American guy she’s never met. Humpty must convince Kavya’s father (Ashutosh Rana) to let him marry Kavya instead of her betrothed, Angad (Siddharth Shukla), a nearly impossible task given that Angad is perfect.

Angad’s perfection sets up some especially funny scenes. Despite his loyalty to Humpty, heterosexual Poplu finds himself becoming enamored of Angad’s winsome demeanor, delicious cooking, and chiseled abs. Big thumbs up to the casting department for hiring Shukla, who looks like Superman.

Angad is also great for driving home the film’s theme that most people aren’t perfect, but that doesn’t preclude us from being loving partners or from striving to be better versions of ourselves.

In an effort to differentiate Angad from Humpty, debutant writer-director Shashank Khaitan finds the right balance in making Humpty flawed but likeable. None of his weaknesses are deal breakers, and values like love and loyalty govern all of his decisions.

Kavya is likewise written with a moral code. Her sense of justice is what first appeals to Humpty, making up for her short fuse and selective materialism.

Bhatt — whose had an even stronger start to her career than Dhawan after debuting alongside him in Student of the Year — is very good again, especially in quieter interactions between Kavya and Humpty. It’s a shame that her character’s dynamism is sublimated in the second half. Humpty must try to save their relationship mostly by himself, whereas he and Kavya had been partners to that point.

Dhawan is the total package: good looks, dance moves, and nuanced acting skills. He comfortably transitions between comedy and sexually charged romance.

Strong performances by Pandey and Vaid augment Dhawan’s performance and reinforce Humpty’s status as a good guy. The supportive and empathetic women of Kavya’s family make the story feel complete.

The story’s weakest point is that some of the supporting characters are denied satisfying conclusions, or any conclusion at all. Khaitan so effectively populated this universe that the movie becomes about more than Humpty’s and Kavya’s will-they-or-won’t-they romance.

But for light romantic comedy, HSKD hits the spot. It has some inventive dance numbers and strong turns by a pair of Bollywood’s brightest up-and-comers. It’s definitely worth a watch.

 Links

 

New Trailer: July 11, 2014

Leave a reply

With just about a month to go until its theatrical release, Reliance Entertainment released the trailer for Singham Returns. I suspect that if you enjoyed the 2011 original, you’ll enjoy this one, too. I’ll be curious to see how they explain having replaced Kajal Agarwal’s character with a new female lead, played by Kareena Kapoor Khan. Singham Returns opens on August 15.

New Trailers: July 10, 2014

5 Replies

Fall is going to be a lot of fun if three newly released trailers are any indication of the quality of Bollywood fare that awaits us in a couple of months. The first of the three films to hit theaters is Daawat-e-Ishq (“Feast of Love“), releasing September 5. More Parineeti Chopra is always a good thing.

The following weekend sees the release of Finding Fanny, an offbeat road trip film starring Deepika Padukone and Naseeruddin Shah. The movie’s dialogue is a mix of Hindi and English. I cannot wait for September 12 to come around, because I am dying to see this.

On October 2, director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider hits theaters. A Hindi interpretation of Hamlet set in Kashmir? Sign me up!

Stay up to date with Bollywood Hungama’s list of Bollywood release dates.

Opening July 11: Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania

Leave a reply

After a pair of releases last weekend, Chicago area theaters get another new Bollywood movie on July 11, 2014. The last scene in the trailer for Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania — in which Humpty (Varun Dhawan) cries while watching Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge — charmed me.

Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania opens on Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 18 min.

Only one of last weekend’s new releases sticks around for a second week (and it ain’t Lekar Hum Deewana Dil). Bobby Jasoos carries over at MovieMax, South Barrington 30, and Cantera 17. All three theaters are also holding over Ek Villain for a third week.

In case you missed The Lunchbox during one of its earlier local theatrical runs, Doc Films in Chicago is carrying it for one day only: Saturday, July 12.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend include Punjab 1984 (Punjabi) at Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale, Drushyam (Telugu) at Muvico Rosemont 18 in Rosemont and MovieMax, which is also carrying Angry Babies in Love (Malayalam), Arima Nambi (Tamil), and Bangalore Days (Malayalam).

 

Bollywood Box Office: July 4-6

Leave a reply

July 4-6, 2014, wasn’t a great weekend for new Bollywood fare in North America. Lekar Hum Deewana Dil reaffirmed how hard it is to launch new talent overseas by earning just $10,529 from 33 theaters in the U.S., according to Bollywood Hungama. Its $319 average per theater is sixth worst for the year.

Bobby Jasoos wasn’t the hit I’d hoped it would be. Its earnings of $143,559 from 71 theaters in the U.S. and Canada ($2,022 average) is still in the top half for the year among opening weekends. Still, given how cute, accessible, and family friendly it is, I’d expected better.

One possible explanation is that — with the exception of superhero flicks like Krrish 3 and Ra.One — kid-friendly Hindi fare is a hard sell in North America. Compared to other family oriented films of recent years, Bobby Jasoos actually performed well (figures below are total North American earnings):

Bobby Jasoos producer Dia Mirza tweeted:

There’s a need for movies like this. However, those movies have to be high quality. I wouldn’t recommend any of the movies in the list above. Perhaps years of uninspired family fare has parents feeling burned, and they simply stayed home rather than take the risk on Bobby Jasoos.

Several other Hindi films remained in theaters. In its second weekend, Ek Villain earned $115,022 from 78 theaters ($1,475 average), bringing its total in North America to $678,258.

Now in its nineteenth week, The Lunchbox added another $7,302 from five theaters to bring its total earnings to $4,004,347.

Humshakals earned $304 from three theaters, bringing the total from its three-week theatrical run to $412,000.

Holiday closed out its fifth week by earning $274 from one theater. Its North American total stands at $840,628.

Movie Review: Lekar Hum Deewana Dil (2014)

4 Replies

Lekar_Hum_Deewana_Dil_poster2 Stars (out of 4)

Buy or rent the movie at iTunes
Buy the DVD at Amazon
Buy the soundtrack at Amazon

Everyone does stupid stuff during college, but rarely something as reckless as getting married on a lark. The characters in Lekar Hum Deewana Dil (“With Our Joyful Hearts“) take that matrimonial leap and spend the rest of the film paying the consequences.

Dino (Armaan Jain) and Karishma (Deeksha Seth) are best buddies, though their university chums suspect that their feelings for one another are more than platonic. Karishma’s father insists that his daughter marry at age twenty-one, citing a vague family tradition as precedent.

To save Karishma from an arranged marriage, she and Dino elope on his motorcycle. They get married, but they never actually consummate it because neither of them thought to buy condoms, and they’re constantly on the run from their parents.

When they do find a peaceful moment, Dino and Karishma are faced with the realities of married life. They don’t have jobs, they’re running out of money, and they know nothing about how much it costs to run a household. Practical pressures strain the couples’ relationship, and Karishma calls the road trip off when she is forced to poop in the jungle.

The second half of the movie deals with the fallout from the elopement. The focus on practicalities that dominated the first half disappears, and the second half centers more on whether or not the couple is destined to be together.

Given the tenor of the first half, whether the couple is meant to be together isn’t of utmost importance. The question is whether they are ready to be together, but Lekar Hum Deewana Dil glosses over that. By the end of the film, Dino and Karishma are mostly unchanged from the privileged, immature kids they were at the beginning.

That’s not to say that Dino and Karishma are bad characters. They just don’t evolve. If anything, they devolve, spending most of their time after the interval screaming at each other.

Jain — who looks like a young clone of Saif Ali Khan — and Seth are competent, but they’re not asked to display much range. Few other characters get much screentime except for Dino’s older brother Dev (Sudeep Sahir), who is fine until a bizarre romantic subplot turns him into a stammering oaf.

One of Lekar Hum Deewana Dil‘s selling points is a soundtrack by A. R. Rahman. The music is good, but it’s hard to enjoy within the context of the film. Director Arif Ali favors jerky handheld cameras and claustrophobic closeups on faces. Combine those with quick edits, and the song-and-dance numbers — especially the opening one — become an exercise in avoiding motion sickness.

Links

  • Lekar Hum Deewana Dil at Wikipedia
  • Lekar Hum Deewana Dil at IMDb

Movie Review: Bobby Jasoos (2014)

14 Replies

BobbyJasoos3 Stars (out of 4)

Buy or rent the movie at iTunes
Buy the DVD at Amazon
Buy the soundtrack at Amazon

Vidya Balan shines again in Bobby Jasoos (“Bobby the Detective“). Her contrarian tomboy private investigator makes for a charming lead character whose independent spirit gets her into trouble.

30-year-old Bobby (Balan) wants nothing more than to work as a detective in Hyderabad. Rejected by a proper investigative firm, she scrapes by on minor jobs, such as steering prospective brides away from TV news anchor Tasawur (Ali Fazal), who wants to stay single but is too cowardly to tell his parents. She even extorts money from her cousin Afreen (Anupriya Goenka), whose secret affair with the goon Lala (Arjan Bajwa) would displease the family.

Bobby gets her big break when a rich man, Aneez Khan (Kiran Kumar), asks her to find a young woman, with no information other than the woman’s name and the location of a birthmark. When Bobby succeeds, she gets a big payday and the name of another girl Khan wants found. But why is Khan looking for these women?

Lacking formal training and an office staff, Bobby’s methods involve a lot of trial and error — and a lot of costumes. The disguise gags are cute, but ultimately Bobby solves her mysteries with her wit and not silly outfits.

She’s assisted by a trio of sidekicks: restaurateur Munna (Aakash Dahiya), internet cafe owner Shetty (Prasad Barve), and mobile phone seller Sohail (Tejas Mahajan). Their friendships with Bobby are sweet, establishing her as likeable as well as talented. They also stand in contrast to her difficult homelife.

Despite the support of a doting mother (Supriya Pathak) and a younger sister, Noor (Benaf Dadachandji) — who perfectly encapsulates their sibling rivalry with the hilarious line “Go die! Come back soon.” — Bobby can’t win over her traditional father (Rajendra Gupta). He’s past the point of tolerating her career ambitions, and he only wants her to get married like all the other women her age.

The conflict with her father helps flesh out Bobby’s character. She’d headstrong and confident, but she’s also desperate for her father’s approval. Nevertheless, she can’t be someone she’s not. Balan is the perfect choice to portray a character who is feisty yet vulnerable, and a fine role model for girls. The film is extremely family friendly.

Another selling point in Bobby Jasoos‘ favor is Ali Fazal. His subtly humorous reactions are pitch-perfect, as poor Tasawur tries to cope with Bobby’s impulsiveness while unwittingly falling for her. Fazal and Balan share a wonderful chemistry.

The mystery at the center of the movie is its weakest element. It’s not particularly challenging, and the payoff is melodramatic. However, if this movie is just a setup for future mysteries starring the character Bobby Jasoos, I can happily live with it.

Links

Opening July 4: Bobby Jasoos and Lekar Hum Deewana Dil

2 Replies

July 4, 2014, sees two new Hindi movies opening in Chicago area theaters. First up is one of the two movies releasing in 2014 that I have been most excited about (the other was Highway): Bobby Jasoos! Vidya Balan plays a woman who aspires to be Hyderabad’s number one detective.

Bobby Jasoos opens on Friday at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 1 min.

The other movie releasing on Independence Day is Lekar Hum Deewana Dil (“With Our Joyful Hearts“), a romantic drama featuring newcomers Armaan Jain and Deeksha Seth.

Lekar Hum Deewana Dil opens on Friday at the South Barrington 30, Cantera 17, and AMC River East 21 in Chicago. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 10 min.

Ek Villain carries over for a second week at the AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles, South Barrington 30, Cantera 17, and MovieMax, which also gives a third weekend to Humshakals.

As far as other Indian movies go, the Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale has Punjab 1984 (Punjabi w/English subtitles), while MovieMax carries Ra Ra Krishnayya (Telugu), Arima Nambi (Tamil),  Autonagar Surya (Telugu), Bangalore Days (Malayalam), Oohalu Gusagusalade (Telugu), and Mundasupatti (Tamil).

Streaming Video News: July 2, 2014

Leave a reply

Two Hindi films were recently added to Netflix for streaming. The 2013 anthology Bombay Talkies celebrates 100 years of Hindi cinema. The second and third of the four short films are the best.

Also new to Netflix is the 2013 comedy Fukrey. It doesn’t translate well from Hindi to English, so much so that I couldn’t tell what lines of dialogue were supposed to be funny.

To view the rest of the massive collection of films just added to Netflix, check Instant Watcher.

Bollywood Box Office: June 27-29

Leave a reply

Ek Villain‘s impressive opening weekend performance in the U.S. and Canada shouldn’t come as a shock. High profile adult thrillers are rare commodities for Bollywood fans in North America, and fans tend to reward them by showing up at the theater.

According to Box Office Mojo, Ek Villain earned $414,116 from 104 theaters in its opening weekend in North America. Its per-screen average of $3,982 ranks sixth among opening weekend averages this year, just above star Sidharth Malhotra’s other 2014 release, Hasee Toh Phasee.

High profile Bollywood thrillers don’t come along often. (I’m not counting racier fare like my beloved Jism 2 and Murder 3, which opened in 19 and 12 theaters in North America, respectively.) The last was arguably Talaash in late 2012, which debuted on 172 screens and went on to earn $2,871,956. Earlier that year, Kahaani premiered on 45 screens but earned enough money to add theaters in its second weekend. It went on to gross $1,017,960.

Both of those movies featured established stars, but there seems to be a consensus that Malhotra is a star of the future. That’s evident in the number of theaters carrying his films. Distributor Reliance Big Pictures opened the romantic comedy Hasee Toh Phasee on 88 screens, and Eros International released Ek Villain in 104 theaters

Compare that theater count to Eros’ other North American theatrical releases this year. It’s obviously lower than the number of theaters allotted to Salman Khan’s Jai Ho (195) and Rajnikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan (161), but it’s only four fewer than Farhan Akhtar’s and Vidya Balan’s Shaadi Ke Side Effects (108). Most notably, Malhotra’s theater count for Ek Villain is significantly higher than the count fellow emerging star Varun Dhawan got for the comedy Main Tera Hero (77) and nearly ten times that of Harman Bhaweja’s Dishkiyaoon (11).

As for other Hindi movies showing in North America June 27-29, Bollywood Hungama reports a steep decline in receipts for Humshakals in its second weekend. Business fell by almost 90% as the comedy earned $33,398 from 73 theaters ($458 average). Its total stands at $393,557.

Other Hindi movies still in theaters:

  • Holiday: Week 4; $12,245 from 12 theaters; $1,020 average; $839,183 total
  • The Lunchbox: Week 17; $10,980 from 12 theaters; $915 average; $3,989,032 total
  • Miss Lovely: Week 2; $143 from one theater; $1,100 total

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama