Mediocre fare from Chopra- Neal ‘n’ Nikki

Cast: Uday Chopra, Tanisha Mukherji
Director: Arjun Sablok
Rating: * *

If Indian youngsters — even the ones who live in the West — think that virginity is something to be ashamed of, that getting drunk and hitting on strangers is cool, or that going on a sex spree before an arranged marriage is fun, then Arjun Sablok's Neal 'N' Nikki may have a point.

But do all women in Canada go about semi-nude, behave like silly bimbos and routinely pick up strange men? Or is it just that Sablok is desperately trying to appeal to a young audience and believes that this is what they will go for? Yashraj films, of late, has been doing good business (overseas in particular), so was this stooping to conquer the box-office really necessary?

Canadian born and bred Neal (Uday Chopra) is to marry a Bhatinda girl of his parents' choice, but before that he wants to live it up (read: bed women) in Vancouver for 21 days. A famous model hits on him right away (wishful thinking!) but the date is ruined by a drunk and disorderly Indian girl, Nikki (Tanisha Mukerji). She makes a habit of being a pest, and instead of brushing off the obnoxious brat, Neal indulges her, and even participates in a plot to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. This is perhaps the only mildly funny part in the film, where the two sing a song inspired by Yash Chopra's films.

Of course, you know that Neal won't marry the Bhatinda girl (Richa Pallod), he will be attracted to Nikki, and utter the only sensible line in the film — that they are both kids who refuse to grow up, and so are made for each other. But must the road to this discovery be so dreary? Uday Chopra wears a fixed lipsticked grimace and a screechy Tanisha parades around in costumes that would be considered skimpy in a beach resort — she always looks like she forgot to wear clothes and stepped out in her lingerie. Girls can be naughty even when decently dressed — or didn't Sablok know that?