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All the praises seem to be going Ranveer and Pariniti's way. Until Don hits , maybe the film can do well. Its a one time watch timepass fare and deserves to do decent business.
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Ranveer Singh charms girls and then cons them to make a quick buck. Three of his victims enlist the support of Anushka Sharma, who has the gift of the gab, to get their money back. Find out more in the review of Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl.
Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh in Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl
Business rating: 3 / 5 stars
Star cast: Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Parineeti Chopra, Dipannita Sharma Atwal, Aditi Sharma.
What's Good: The basic plotline; some con-game sequences; performances; music; song picturisations.
What's Bad: The comparatively slow pace of the film; absence of clap-worthy con games and dialogues of one-upmanship.
Verdict: Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl neither charms greatly nor cons the audience. A plus fare!
Loo break: A couple in the second half.
Watch or Not?: Watch it for entertainment but don't expect the moon.
Yash Raj Film Pvt. Ltd.'s Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl (UA) is the story of a charming conman who operates under different names. The conman (Ranveer Singh) charms young girls, wins their confidence and then cons them into giving him money. He then disappears with the money.
Three such girls – Dimple Chaddha (Parineeti Chopra), Raina Parulekar (Dipannita Sharma Atwal) and Saira Rashid (Aditi Sharma) – cheated by the conman, meet and decide to teach him a lesson and recover their Rs. 90 lakh in all – Rs. 10 lakh of Saira, Rs. 20 lakh of Dimple and Rs. 60 lakh of Raina's boss. The basic plot is hatched by Raina, and as they go along, the two other girls also contribute to the game of conning the conman who had presented himself as Iqbal, Sunny and Dev before Saira, Dimple and Raina respectively.
First and foremost, Raina enlists the support of Ishika Desai (Anushka Sharma) who is a super-efficient salesgirl working in a departmental store. After tracing the conman to Goa, the four girls reach there. Ishika Desai checks in into a hotel as Ishika Patel, daughter of Himesh Patel, a rich hotelier in the USA. As per plan, Ishika makes it known to the conman, who now presents himself as Vikram Thapar, the owner of a water sports firm, that she is in Goa to buy land for a restaurant she intends opening as the first of a chain of restaurants. Seeing a potential victim in Ishika, Vikram begins to impress her with the ultimate aim of duping her and making good with her money as is his wont. He doesn't know that Ishika is acting on behalf of his three earlier victims and is actually out to con him.
Slowly but surely, Ishika manages to get Rs. 45 lakh out of Vikram by promising him partnership in her proposed business. With Rs. 45 lakh still left to recover from the conman, the three girls move further in their plan. Even as the plan is being unfolded, Vikram and Ishika fall in love with one another. Or is this also part of the con game?
Do the three girls get the balance Rs. 45 lakh back? Or are they duped again by the conman? Or is Ishika also into conning the three girls?
Aditya Chopra's story is a simple tale of a conman using his charm to make quick money and how his victims join forces to get back at him. Devika Bhagat and Habib Faisal have penned a screenplay which is enjoyable and entertaining in some portions but dragging and boring in others. Probably, since the pace of the drama is slow, it gives the viewer time to think, which prompts him to discover the weak points and drawbacks of the screenplay. For instance, all the three victims are conned by the conman so easily that it would appear that they were very dumb and deserved to be duped, which, of course, is not the intention of the writers. The ease with which the victims fall prey to the conman's games also takes away the thrill element of the con drama, to some extent at least. In particular, the track of conman Dev selling an M.F. Hussain painting to Raina for her office looks rather unbelievable. For that very reason, this is also the most boring track of the film. Another weak point: each of the three victims hears the Baazigar dialogue caller tune on the conman's mobile phone only when she/her family is duped, which gives the impression that the conman uses this caller tune to only convey that the victim has been cheated; yet, the three victims hear this very caller tune when they are trying to trace the conman, and actually locate him in Goa, thanks to this caller tune. Why would the conman have this caller tune while he is supposedly waiting for his next victim in Goa? And if this is his regular caller tune, why is each victim shown to be alarmed at understanding that she has been royally cheated, only on hearing this caller tune? In other words, if this were his regular caller tune, why does each victim behave as if the caller tune were meant to pass on the message to her that she has been fooled, duped and cheated?
The interactions between Vikram Thapar and Ishika Patel are not as thrilling and exciting as they ought to have been. Of course, the land deal towards the end brings in that much-needed excitement. The love track has been intelligently woven in the drama by the writers. What also keeps the interest alive in portions which aren't otherwise very exciting are Dimple's rants and the songs and song picturisations. Dialogues, penned by Habib Faisal, should have been more punch-packed. But it must be said that the dialogues he has written for Dimple Chaddha and for Ishika are rather entertaining as well as meaningful. What is missing in the dialogues is the excitement of one-upmanship in the second half.
Ranveer Singh acts with effortless ease and plays the conman very ably. He is also suitably different and restrained in the romantic portions. His dances are excellent. But, in spite of the fact that his is the central character in the drama, there is not a single scene for him which could have made his performance brilliant or memorable. Anushka Sharma also does a very fine job. She looks glamorous and her bikini scene will be loved by the youngsters. Her dances are superb. Of the three other girls, Parineeti Chopra is undoubtedly the best. She has the best role, the best lines and hers is the best performance among the three. In fact, she provides a lot of light moments in the first half and, more importantly, in the second half too. Dipannita Sharma Atwal is good. Aditi Sharma delivers a restrained performance as is the need of the character she plays. Dimple Shaw Chauhan is okay as Mrs. Chaddha. Shireesh Sharma leaves a mark in the role of Mr. Chaddha. Avijeet Dutt is okay as Raina's boss. Dr. Rishad Rizvi plays Saira's considerate father-in-law effectively. Neetu Jhanji is alright as her mother-in-law. Imtiaz Ahmed shines as waiter Shankar.
Director Maneesh Sharma has handled the con drama very well. Despite not having the best script, he has been able to keep the audience interest alive throughout the drama. His characterisations are very good and he doesn't let his characters waver. Salim – Sulaiman's music is a major asset of the film. All the four songs – Jazba, Jigar ka tukda, Adat se majboor and Thug le – are extremely well-tuned. Song picturisations (three songs by Vaibhavi Merchant, and Thug le by Shruti Merchant) are excellent and deserve distinction marks. In fact, the songs and the choreography will attract the youngsters a great deal. Aseem Mishra's cinematography is first-rate. Namrata Rao's editing is sharp. Sets are good. Production values are of a nice standard. Technically, a polished product.
On the whole, Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl is a fair entertainer which will fetch returns for the producers and the distributors. It neither charms greatly nor cons the audience because it has its highs and lows. Around 60-70 per cent of the total investment of approximately Rs. 25 crore would come from non-theatrical sources like satellite, audio and video.
'Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl' was being touted as the comeback of the magic trio of 'Band Baaja Baraat'' Maneesh Sharma (director), Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.
Sadly, the film ends up as a mediocre attempt at entertaining the viewers. Rather than Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh, whose explosive chemistry in 'BBB' had impressed people, it is the other three ladies who take home the trophy for putting up a stupendously fun act.
The surprising part of the movie is Aditya Chopra being the story-writer. The story, is clearly 'inspired' from the Hollywood movie 'John Tucker Must Die' despite the film's crew denying it vehemently. While the makers of the film might say that it's about a conman who cheats beautiful girls for money, the similarity between the two films is too obvious to ignore. Also, I usually expect stories of a different level from Adi Chopra rather than what I was fed.
Ranveer Singh as the "bloody kamina" Ricky Bahl is initially believable, but his real-life narcissism seeps into his character. After the second half, the character takes a backseat and its more of Ranveer- the star in it. Also I'd like to see a lot more than his toned (and oiled) body and (pushy) suave moves to give him full credit for good acting. What also tags constantly on my mind is, how exactly is Ricky Bahl so good at everything?
Coming to the highlight of the film- the girls (not including Anushka Sharma), it is a sheer delight to watch them on screen. Aditi Singh as the naive and demure Saira is extremely endearing throughout. Dipannita Sharma as Raina Parulekar does total justice to her part and her meter of acting has definitely risen with this film. I really hope we get to see more of them in the future.
However, it is Parineeti Chopra who is the scene stealer as the typically brash Delhi girl. She fits the role to the 'T' and personifies the typical characteristics of most (if not all) Delhi girls. She is loud-mouthed, is a spoilt brat and also 'healthy'. Her unabashed acting blows away the mind of the viewers and I guarantee that the most 'seeti'-worthy moments will always be when she comes on screen.
Anushka Sharma, who is said to be a bigger star than the rest of them, is a disappointment to watch. She definitely needs an image makeover, at least in terms of character. She is credible but not extra-ordinary enough to be given special mention.
Maneesh Sharma appears to suffer from a hangover of his last film just like Imtiaz Ali in 'Rockstar'. His desire to create yet another entertaining blockbuster gets in the way of his creativity and hampers the progress of the film. The second half, unlike the fun first half, gets way too predictable for any enthusiasm and by the time the film ends, you tend to heave a huge sigh of relief. The film is just too ordinary and doesn't stay with you once you leave the movie theatre.
Throwing in the last word for all the filmmakers of Bollywood: please get rid of the clichd introductory song for the lead characters. We really don't need them! (Entertainment, MensXP.com)
MensXP rating: **
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Ladies vs Ricky Bahl Review| |
 Advertisement | Ladies Vs. Ricky Bahl may not be another Band Baaja Baaraat but undeniably calls for a good one time watch! - Mansha Rastogi Fri, 09 Dec 2011 1 The film opens with a loud, brazen and brash Delhi kudi Dimple Chaddha (Parineeti Chopra) excited about showing her cleavage sheavage to her gym instructor turned boyfriend Sunny Singh. She regales in calling herself red hot and is head over heels in love with Sunny but even before their love graduates to something serious Sunny sweeps away a fat sum of 20Lac from her father and vanishes in thin air. While Dimple nurses her heartbreak, somewhere in Mumbai the conman is locating his next victim - Raina Parulekar, a calm and stoic corporate woman who has to comply to her bosss whims and acquire a MF Hussain painting in just 72 hrs. Enters Deven Shah, an art curator and dealer who has exactly the painting she is looking for. So while Raina thinks herself to be smart enough to acquire a painting that wasnt even for sale initially, Deven sweeps away a staggering 60Lacs cash from right under her nose. A conning of such a level calls media attention and Raina gets posted on national TV owing to which she gets connected not only with Dimple but also Saira and we are introduced to yet another master plan of the conman. Iqbal Khan, a coy businessman from a small town moves to Lucknow to find buyers for his goods. Saira (Aditi Sharma), a shy young widow, gets attracted to Iqbal and decides to help him with an order of worth 10Lacs! The three forces get together eventually to avenge themselves. And in a bid to seek revenge hire Ishita Desai, a hardcore sales girl who can even sell spectacles to a blind man, to con this conman. Whether Ishita succeeds in doing so or gets conned in return follows through the rest of the plot. Filmmaker Maneesh Sharma's biggest asset has been his fast paced direction. Never for once in the entire first half does he leave room for the audience to breath or think in order to analyze the plot. He packs his first half with razor sharp editing, exceptionally well written dialogues and outstanding acting. The second half however takes a beating by falling into the John Tucker Must Die mode with an addition of love track, romance and melodrama and also a traditional and tripe end. The film can easily be reviewed and rated in a compartmentalized format and each and every aspect about it is distinguished. 1 complete star to Parineeti Chopra, this girl is a real revelation from the YRF banner. Her act of a loud Delhiite is a complete winner and also forms the best chapter of LVRB 1 star for Ranveer who proves with this film that he definitely isn't a one film wonder. The Goa portions of the film that have a chiseled Ranveer oiled and sizzling will surely attract hoards of female frenzy at the theaters. 1 star to the storyline that despite being run of the mill provided a much needed entertainment quotient. Anushka Sharma's portions in the film are well shot but she doesn't take the cake this time around. Although her bikini clad avatar will definitely win her excessive male attention. Over all, Ladies Vs. Ricky Bahl may not be another Band Baaja Baaraat but undeniably calls for a good one time watch! |
Director: Maneesh Sharma
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Dipannita Sharma, Parineeti Chopra, Aditi Sharma
His name, though prominently makes its presence felt in the title, is revealed in the very last scene of the film. That's because he's a conman by profession who changes identity by the day. And like the title, the viewer is openly informed about Ricky Bahl's job profile though people around him take a while to figure it out.
So Ricky (Ranveer Singh) is Sunny, Dev, Iqbal for different girls who he cons in individual instances. Charm or cleverness, he uses whatever works best to his advantage to swindle the unsuspecting target. But then three of his female victims - Raina (Dipannita Sharma), Dimpy (Parineeti Chopra) and Saira (Aditi Sharma) team up to get even with him.
They hire the services of a smart salesgirl Ishika (Anushka Sharma) who they use as a bait to trap the conman. Ishika poses as daughter of a NRI hotelier who's on a business visit to Goa to invest in property. The idea is to lure him into a business partnership and rip off his riches for revenge. But then cupid strikes and everything goes for a toss.
The film starts off impressively and comes straight to the point without wandering aimlessly. At times it seems too convenient for the victims to part off with their money at the drop of a hat. And consequently it seems even more convenient for a certified conman like Ricky to fall for the trap set by the girl gang. However, the con-games are crisp and executed with such swiftness that you never get time to notice any loose ends. Since we are conversant with the con artist from start, any major suspense element in the plot is ruled out.
Structurally the film reminds of the Hollywood flick John Tucker Must Die with it's plotline of three girls trying to get even with a guy by setting him up with another girl. What saves it from getting into the chick-flick mode is that the girls are not merely betrayed in love but also in business and their revenge mechanism involves smarter cons over momentary cheap-thrills. That takes Devika Bhagat's screenplay a notch higher (though the confessional climax is evocative of her earlier work in Bachna Ae Haseeno where Ranbir Kapoor seeks forgiveness from three girls). Also the Ranveer-Anushka smooching chemistry seems directly derived from their last flick Band Baaja Baaraat.
The major hiccup in this otherwise engaging film is that it falls prey of the typical trappings of Bollywood. As romance takes over the con-games, the smart-n-saucy film is substituted by a tepid tale where the conman wants to come clean and change his ways for that one girl in life. That makes for a lame climax and a conventional end. The graph of the narrative drops somewhere in the second half and plunges even further as one realizes mixing con with cupid might not be the best of ideas. Thankfully the pacing is perfect and the film never seems stretched.
Irrespective of its minor blemishes, director Maneesh Sharma succeeds in striking a constant connect with the audience and also extracts decent performances from the entire cast. Ranveer Singh glides into his multiple con-artist characters effortlessly and radiates such charm that you don't blame the ladies while falling for him. Anushka Sharma comes across as affable but a standard smile pasted on her face sometimes seems overdone. Nevertheless she is alluring in her act and appearance. Thankfully the other three ladies never get overshadowed. Dipannita Sharma is amazingly confident. Aditi Sharma is endearing. Debutante Parineeti Chopra as the blabbermouth gets the best lines and never overdoes her Punjabi kudi part.
While Ladies vs Ricky Bahl doesn't exceed expectations (like Band Baaja Baaraat), it doesn't con you in the name of entertainment either.
Verdict: Good
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One suspects that Aditya Chopra (credited for the Story once again), Commander-in-Chief of YRF, may have written a bunch of half-baked concepts and story ideas after the overwhelming success of DDLJ. His creative heads must have then categorized these stories under a bunch of categories - complete with color labeling, filing and marking - and deposited them in the YRF 'Brainbank' under the VIP section. One of those categories may have read 'Desi Con Job'' or 'Love Heists' with a whole bunch of reference DVDs like Ocean's Eleven, 12 and 13 for further "styling tips', Catch Me If You Can, Matchstick Men, The Italian Job and many more. The stories in this category involved well-known YRF con-jobs like Bunty Aur Babli, Bachna Ae Haseeno and even Bluffmaster (which got displaced, obviously). After tasting moderate success with eager second-time directors and first-time writers (all with immense promise and potential) with these heist scripts, Chopra decided to - in a span of two delusional years - green light daft projects like Badmaash Company and Luv Ka The End (YRF Youth) with debutant directors, no less. Didn't exactly work out. Hence, he goes back to one of his favorite YRF-commissioned directors and asks him to put things right once and for all - make the MOTHER of all con-job films.
Maneesh Sharma, punch-drunk from the success of his delightful first charmer Band Baaja Baaraat, may have misinterpreted the man's words - because he decided to combine the salvageable elements of all these previous YRF attempts, take them up a notch by involving the sassy writer combination of Devika Bhagat and Habib Faisal (Screenplay and Dialogue, respectively), mix it with the tried and tested Dilli-flavored formula of BBB, and use the hottest heartthrob - his own discovery - in the form of Ranveer Singh as the ultimate conman. Surely, Abhishek Bachchan and Shahid Kapoor could learn a thing or two then, right?
Wrong.
Ladies v/s Ricky Bahl is a great example of a typically Indian perspective of this particular genre of filmmaking - logical loopholes the size of Ranveer's biceps can be forgiven if stylized enough and flashes of intelligence appear momentarily to remind the audience that they're watching a smart film: one that they're not meant to second-guess. And finally, there is NO law or annoying little elements like cops, crime branches and courts. Fair enough, because Hell has no wrath like a woman scorned. All you need is a small little world inhabited by brunette flussies who decide to turn on their 'lightbulb' switch in the second half - enough to be able to pull an elaborately-planned job on their own. How weren't they smart enough earlier? Never mind.
Why didn't Ranveer (Sunny in his first con of delightfully crass Delhi kudi Dimple Chaddha) just make away with the 20-lakh Land Rover offered by her Daddy instead of pulling off a painful property scam that instantly nullifies the significance of Khosla ka Ghosla? Never mind.
Why didn't the three jilted women just lead the cops to Goa after discovering Bluffmaster Ranveer there, considering his was a high profile case that dominated news channels for days? Never you mind.
Are the girls daft enough to lower themselves to the school level 'cons' of the girls of Luv Ka The End, and then get conned twice over, by the SAME man? Oh, stop it. Never mind.
How will the film take off and charm us into the no-holds-barred world of Ricky Bahl if we're so concerned about logic, anyway? Or atleast that's what the writers seem to be wondering, after being handed over the red-taped story of Ladies vs Ricky Bahl by Aditya Chopra himself. There's only so much they could do, and Habib Faisal tries his very best to even distract us from the cotton-and-fluff idea with his pitch-perfect rendition of Delhi girl Dimple Chaddha (played effortlessly by a glowing Parineeta Chopra) and Lucknow dame Saira Rashid (a supremely talented Aditi Sharma in another Devika Bhagat script). Dipannita is back, after a long layoff, as corporate dimwit Raina Parulkar, and almost doesn't pull it off. Sadly, she does.
You have to give it to YRF, though, for consistently going all-out to achieve technical consistency (production design, locations and costumes) and leaving no stone unturned to make sure that if they're going to do something even as undercooked as this, they will do it in inimitable style. Also, we're willing to overlook the blatantly stolen theme (that appears in Goa once the…women are on top) - The Santa Esmereralda version of Please don't let me be understood (snow duel in Kill Bill Vol. 1).
Maneesh Sharma directs his actors well, but seems to be unnecessarily spellbound by the now-overcooked pair of Ranveer and Anushka, who fail to recreate the magic of their first film together, with Ranveer clearly auditioning and rehearsing for bigger things. His next project, not coincidentally, is called Lootera directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, the boy wonder behind Udaan. Yes, it is a heist love story. Just saying.
Anushka Sharma must now work hard to exit her own shadow - one that she has so expertly created over the last few years, for danger of being stereotyped, and maybe return to her roots…a Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, maybe?
Actually, never mind.
- Reel Reptile
Originally posted by: kshreya2002
All reviewers have rated the movie as good...which isnt bad for a movie which looked nothing great from its promotions.
https://www.indiaforums.com/article/vash-level-2-review-a-rare-sequel-that-unsettles-in-the-best-way-and-lingers-long-after_226452...
https://x.com/vivekagnihotri/status/1946940660067803443...
https://x.com/UmairSandu/status/1954571916745794046
https://x.com/umairsandu/status/1954950592771895651?s=46 Tis is review thread ?
Tehran Reviews- John Abraham and Manushi Chillar...
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