~~Befikre Review & Boxoffice Thread~~ - DT N P 92 - Page 9

#Befikre Tweet Review | Interval! This one's a complete joy ride so far! @RanveerOfficial lights up the screen with his infectious energy.

Love is like bungee jumping, it comes with no guarantee that you will have a smooth landing, declares Dharam (Ranveer Singh) from the romantic comedy Befikre.

He's got the girl of his dreams, Shyra, played confidently by Vaani Kapoor and he has now taken a leap of faith with her by jumping off a cliff with her. By the way, he doesn't know how to swim.

For many, that's plain stupidity but for some others it's Dharam's grand, romantic gesture.

Dharam's philosophy could be extended to Aditya Chopra's romance Befikre. Just like the adventure sport like bunjee jumping, it's a rocky ride. There are some great moments, but largely insipid ones.

Kapoor and Singh soar as the confused twenty-somethings Shyra and Dharam. They are stupid in love and it's easy to fall in love with these dynamic characters. Kapoor considers herself French even though her parents are hard core Punjabis in Paris. She's believable, but what gets my goat is that Chopra, while extracting his best from his actors, has reduced French girls to promiscuous puppets. He perpetuates the stereotype that women in Europe are sexually frivolous and the sexist idea that men, in this case Dharam, needs to get under women to get over a break-up. But Paris looks spectacular and blemish-free. A momentous scene in the movie on top of a glistening Eiffel Tower was so distracting, that you often forget that your eyes shouldn't be wandering from the main players in the film. Or was it perhaps because we were bored by the emotional immaturity displayed by them? This couple gets their high from giving each other ludicrous dares " slap a French police officer, dance semi-naked in a library and gate-crash a stranger's hotel room. Two words: grow up.

Their decision to hook up, make up, then hook up again is as old as the green hills in France, and the twists are painfully predictable. But it's the comic scenes that keep this romantic comedy afloat.

Singh and Kapoor are confident actors and they don't shy away from letting go.

One of my favourite parts of the film is when these two try being friends after going through an acrimonious break-up. They play that phase with conviction and you can't help but smile at their collective idiocy. While the kisses don't add much to the narrative, it's heartening to see a director normalise that expression of love.

Watch this film if you are fan of syrupy romances or Ranveer Singh's groupie. Otherwise, jump into this at your own risk.

Out now!

Film: Befikre

Language: Hindi

Run Time: 2 hours 30 mins

Director: Aditya Chopra

Rating: 18+

Cast: Vaani Kapoor and Ranveer Singh

GN Rating out of 5 stars: 2.5