That's exactly what happened when I saw Bachna Ae Haseeno, the new Yashraj romcom featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu, and Minissha Lamba.
I was on the fence about it--When I first saw the promos, it looked like it could be fun, and I enjoyed Ranbir in Saawariya, but as the months rolled by I lost interest. How much did I like Ranbir, anyways? I couldn't really remember. Also, thanks to my blogging friends, my list of Bollywood recommendations grew, and I watched a string of great films. I began to crave more from my Hindi film experience than the same ol' Yashraj fare.
Was Bachna Ae Haseeno any different? Nope, not really. But gosh, it was still an entertaining way to spend a Monday afternoon. I didn't fall in love with the film, but I definitely thought it was better than Kismat Konnection.
Let's walk through it together (There may be some teeny tiny spoilers, but trust me, there really aren't too many "surprises" to spoil. I won't give away the ending, how about that?). The film kicks off with Ranbir dancing in a Shahid-Kapoor style number with the three leading ladies (who I noticed all have big, cat-shaped eyes--which I love because you can clearly see their makeup and imitate the look). I found it interesting that in both of Ranbir's films (the only two he's done so far), he's gotten to make a grand entrance, as if he's already a superstar (I guess that must be one of the perks to being a Kapoor). Yet he lives up to the hype on the dance floor, at least. The man can move, although he's a bit over the top about it. Don't get too excited, he's no Hrithik Roshan, but he's good when he's trying to be kind of Justin Timberlake-ish, all smooth and hip. Anyways, the title song was cool, but it gave me a bit of a Kismat Konnection flashback, so I remained skeptical.
As the movie began, I realized the plot was not what I expected ( I thought it was a love quadrangle starring Ranbir as the three-timing jerk who can't decide who he wants). Instead, it was a story of a man who fell in love with three different women at three different phases of his life. Hmm, I thought, this could be interesting.
A 17 year old Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) is traveling to Switzerland by train with some buddies. On the same train, Mahi (Minissha Lamba) gazes out the window and dreams of meeting her true love. At this point of the film, I sighed with disappointment, smelling another DDLJ knockoff. But the writers did this intentionally--Mahi is actually a huge DDLJ fan, and the "true love" she hopes to find is literally a real-life version of SRK's Raj in that film. The love story between Ranbir's Raj and Mahi develops under somewhat of a parody of DDLJ--and its actually pretty funny (Notably, Ranbir's impersonation of SRK). You don't get irritated when, like Raj and Simran, Raj and Mahi miss the train, because you know it's deliberately set up to play out that way. Even Raj is privy to the joke--In fact, he's the mastermind behind it, using it to win Mahi over. Of course, once he does, he breaks her heart, and we begin to understand why Raj's relationships have never worked out.
Did I lose you yet? Because all this Raj stuff is beginning to make my head spin. Let's move on, shall we? ;)
Fast forward to 2002. Raj now lives with Radhika (Bipasha Basu), his gorgeous new girlfriend. However, once Raj is offered a job transfer to Sydney, he jumps at the chance, planning to drop Radhika and enjoy bachelorhood in Austrailia. Sadly, Raj isn't man enough to be straightforward with Radhika and tell her he doesn't see their relationship going any further, and she mistakenly assumes he is going to marry her and take her to Sydney with him. This segment of the film really proves what a coward Raj is, as he makes several tasteless attempts to get Radhika to break up with him, so he doesn't end up looking like the bad guy. Needless to say, the outcome to this relationship doesn't end up any better than the first, and another woman is left brokenhearted.
The final romance in the film occurs between Raj and Gayatri, played by Ranbir's real life girlfriend Deepika Padukone. This time, it is Raj who falls head over heels in love, yet Gayatri isn't ready to settle down and marry. Raj finally gets a taste of his own medicine! But he isn't ready to give up... He decides the only way he will have a chance with Gayatri is if he makes peace with the two women he has hurt in the past. The second half of the movie follows Raj on this mission, and unfortunately it does drag a bit here.
Still, overall Bachna Ae Haseeno was surprisingly pleasant. I wasn't moved too much by any of the romance stories, but the beat of the film was still witty and the performances solid, making it an entertaining ride. I'll most likely purchase the DVD when it comes out (which will probably be before the ridiculously delayed Jodhaa-Akbar, not that I'm bitter or anything, lol ).
I wasn't as smitten with Ranbir as I was in Saawariya, but I have to say I was impressed by him in this light-hearted role. He was actually pretty funny at times, despite the fact that his character was an immature little prick who liked to use women. Can you believe that after all he did to his first two girlfriends, I couldn't hate him? I wasn't rooting for him 100%, either, but I did give him a little credit for at least trying to make amends--even though his reasons for that also happened to be selfish.
Minissha Lamba was sweet, but she was my least favorite of the three ladies. Her dancing and acting seemed stiff at times, but in all honesty I don't think that's what bugged me about her. There was just something missing--Maybe she didn't spark enough chemistry with Ranbir, I don't know. To be fair, her character was written as the more bland of the three women, which obviously wasn't her fault. And I, for one, would never be able to hold my own next to Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padukone, so she deserves points for that as well. Watch out for a surprise cameo as the man who plays her husband in the second half.
The only other film I'd seen Bipasha in was Dhoom 2, and I didn't feel she was given enough to do in that for me to pass judgement. I really liked her here, though. In the first half, when Raj developed a crush on her, I remember thinking, whoa, buddy, she's totally out of your league. But by the end of their love segment I was convinced Radhika simply didn't care whether or not she could "do better" (because, let's face it, she totally could have)--she genuinely loved Raj.
Bipasha deserves a second paragraph for her performance after the intermission, when Raj locates her to deliver his apology. She's a famous Bollywood star now (and quite the diva), and makes him earn her forgiveness by becoming her personal assistant. Since she verbally abuses most of her staff, this is totally Radhika's way of getting sweet revenge. Gosh, I know its wrong, and goes against the moral code for forgiveness, but could you actually imagine what it would be like to do that to an ex? And one that left you at the altar, at that? It was absolutely hilarious...I couldn't help but root for her here! There's a scene in this segment where Radhika calls Raj over to zip her dress up for her. She's not being seductive, but rather sticking it to him, because she looks amazing in this shot. Both actors conveyed so much without saying a word--it was a very well done scene. I really wish I had a screencap so you could see how picturesque Bips looks in this white dress, but watch for it if you go see the film. Eat your heart out, Raj!
Deepika Padukone wowed me with her charm in Om Shanti Om, and she managed to do it again this time. In Bachna Ae Haseeno, I noticed her talent even more without the glitz of Shahrukh and his 31 friends to distract me. Deepika is once again more than I expect her to be, and everything I wish Priyanka Chopra was. She shines onscreen, whether she is dancing, smiling, and yes, even acting. If she keeps this up she may make it to my list of favorite actresses someday, but its still too early to tell.
Shockingly, I thought all of the comedy in Bachna Ae Haseeno was well done, and didn't find any of it weird or over the top. I really expected some oddball side performance from one of the Bollywood comedians, but there was none of that here (No disrespect, but that can be distracting sometimes. A glaring example would be Rajpal Yadav in Waqt, a film I haven't gotten around to even watching the second half of). The jokes were sharp and flowed with the context of the film, and I appreciated that.
Bachna Ae Haseeno tries to subtly slip a few commentaries on love and romance in today's era, but thankfully the messages aren't drilled into our brains. The film did an excellent job portraying the man who isn't ready to commit, something that was also well done in Salaam Namaste, which had the same director.
I'm glad I decided to see this film instead of the more popular Singh is Kinng (I just couldn't do another Welcome). This may be because my expectations were so low after the Kismat Konnection disappointment, but it was surprisingly not bad. Not bad at all.
Text © 2008 Nida Nazir
Bitten By Bollywood
