The title translates into carefree, no worries. But writer-director Aditya Chopra needs to seriously worry about his writing and story-telling skills. Love is like bungee jumping, jump in without thinking too much about it, says Aditya at the end. Cinema is story-telling, don't jump in if you don't have a story to tell, is what I'd say to Adi.
In a largely flat narrative dotted with I dare you' moments, the filmmaker trives to portray youngsters as cool, wacky, loose with their morals and unwilling for long-term relationships. In fact, all that Aditya Chopra wanted to say was encapsulated in the promos with no value additions in the full-length film.
Ishq labon ka karobaar plays in the credit titles where the overdose of kissing begins and spills over into the rest of the film. The wackiness of I dare you' incidents wanes with overuse especially when nothing else is happening. And Ranveer Singh dares to bare his backside, if that can be counted as a bonus.
The wafer-thin storyline introduces Shyra as a French girl with Indian parents. But apart from references to past affairs and spouting French here and there, she soon slips into alu parathas for comfort food, Bollywood songs for fun and only Indian boys for marriage. Unless drinking and jumping into bed with Delhi boy Dharam on the first day makes her French.
Shyra is a tourist guide mostly to Indians while Dharam has landed from Delhi to liven up an Indian restaurant with his stand-up comedy. Unfortunately, his jokes don't have you in stitches.
The writing veers between Shyra and Dharam's break-up to how they met and vowed never to fall in love or mention the marriage' word. It takes a break-up and near-marriage to weak alternatives for Shyra and Dharam to admit that they're in love.
Vaani Kapoor may flaunt bikinis and even see-through evening wear which is more like a two-piece, but she does not make an endearing heroine. Ranveer Singh is the expected bundle of likeable energy who can also add soft touches of emotion when needed.
Paris makes a visually beautiful backdrop and the music by Vishal-Shekhar and Mikey Mcleary is catchy.
But Aditya Chopra is not in his comfort zone as his trademark of tender directorial touches are sorely missed. Go back to home territory and make a more substantial film - I dare you, Adi.
For a film that's robust and breezy with no story to tell, Befikre gets a 2.5 star rating.
http://www.lehren.com/reviews/bollywood/movie/critic-review/befikre-movie-review-2016-kiss-and-don%E2%80%99t-tell-story-20161209
FRIDAY, 09 DEC 2016BHARATHI S PRADHAN
Completely AVOIDABLE till interval... and it doesn't seem recoverable either. :( :(
Arjun
Cricket
Indian Mythology
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