| In a flashback scene at one point, Happy Gill (Deepak Dobriyal) nervously hands his childhood sweetheart Gurleen (Ragini Khanna) a small brown paper bag from a medical store, the connotations are obvious and the anxiety on both characters' faces are evident.
And yet what emerges is a toothbrush with a teddy bear shaped into it. It's the innocence of the scene that encapsulates the mood of the film.
Teen They Bhai is a clean, honest attempt at situational comedy, an experiment (a handful of locations, inspired casting) gone more right than wrong. It comes at a time when regardless of budget films like Happy Husbands and Thank You seem to presume that infidelity and crass one-liners are the only kind of humour today's audience understands. That's the trend this year anyway.
Teen Thay Bhai goes back to the basics, relying on witty dialogue and actors' timing, both of which are in decent supply.
They may not stand up to the sheer comic acuity of the Marx brothers or Chaplin, who conveyed so much with his brows and hips alone, but an attempt is made.
The story is simplistic: three squabbling brothers (Chixie, Happy, and Fancy Gill) are brought together by a dead grandfather's will to stay together for three nights in three years, a pre-condition to inherit a sizeable tract of land that when sold will sort out their miserable lives. This is easier said than done given that they cannot stand each other.
And while the first half is slightly claustrophobic (post set-up the action unfolds almost entirely in a shabby snowy retreat at night), repetitive with the slapstick, and has a washed-out look, there are some impressionable scenes that make up for narrative inconsistencies in the second half.
The flashback stories of the brothers, though not wholly original, are treated in a charmingly uncomplicated manner.
A poignant moment unravels when the three are arrested and tied up in jail. They spout venom, they also realise that a lifetime of quarrelling was over nothing. It doesn't necessarily choke you, but comedies in Bollywood miss such scenes almost entirely nowadays.
Also, Happy's dry cleaning fixation and Fancy's minced English are safe bets for a few laughs.
Mrighdeep Singh Lamba's debut as director is firm-footed. His choice of snowy locations is refreshing and he is well in control of his actors. But at a script level, there are stretches of nothingness and the grain of humor, inconsistent (a dead dog, a flatulent Chixie are on the coarse end).
The bloated action-oriented climax aims to overachieve and falls short. The film loses creative steam in post. Wobbly editing, continuity gaffes, a background score that takes away more than it contributes every time it blares, and dull DI are dampeners.
Shreyas Talpade and Deepak Dobriyal look like they are enjoying themselves and their performances are par for the course. Ragini Khanna energizes the three scenes she's in. But it's Om Puri with his author-backed role who puts in a genuine effort after a long time in a not-so-serious film.
Teen Thay Bhai is a stopgap break from the mould that conventional Bollywood comedies are churned out of. Flawed, but with its moments.
The bloated action-oriented climax aims to overachieve and falls short |
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