PHILLAURI!! -*Reviews & BO collections*-

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Posted: 8 years ago

#61

hillauri movie review: Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh rev up this inconsistent, sweet spook story

Anna MM VetticadMar, 24 2017 15:32:18 IST

#Anushka sharma#Mehreen pirzada#Phillauri#Suraj sharma

2.5/5

Cast : Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Suraj Sharma, Mehreen Pirzada

Director
Anshai Lal

Early in Phillauri, an alcohol-swilling old woman with obviously dyed, jet black hair tells her grayhead of a son that he was the result of a single peg of booze. It is a funny remark, of course, yet one you might shrug off if you think of the number of Hindi films in recent years that have seen alcohol, cigarettes, swear words and sex talk from women as the sole harbingers of progressiveness, and the number of filmmakers who have used these props to mask their deeply entrenched patriarchal notions of womanhood while pretending to be forward-thinking.

Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh in Phillauri.

Over an hour later though, a character in the film tells a woman that a man is worthy of her, not because of his social status, but because he treated her with genuine respect and honour. It is then you know for sure that Anshai Lal's Phillauri is not merely faking it. The director along with writer Anvita Dutt have struck at the heart of what true equality means. And what a relief that is.

Phillauri belongs to the love-aaj-and-kal genre, with the story of Kanan and Anu in 2017 told parallel to the pre-Independence tale of Shashi and Roop. Kanan (Suraj Sharma) has just completed his studies in Canada and is now in Punjab to marry his childhood sweetheart Anu (debutant Mehreen Pirzada). Much against his wishes he fulfills the family elders' wishes by marrying a tree to overcome his manglik dosh. Since the ghost of Shashi (Anushka Sharma) from a bygone era resides in that tree, Kanan ends up unknowingly becoming her groom.

The pretty spook is now stuck with him. His commitment phobia combined with the fact that only he can see Shashi ends up creating confusion in his relationship with Anu as D-day inches towards them.

Is Shashi real or is she a figment of Kanan's weed-addled imagination? Who knows. What we do know is that while Shashi's sepia-toned affair with the popular local singer Roop (Diljit Dosanjh) unfolds in Punjab's Phillaur town, Kanan clears up his muddled head and figures out precisely what he wants from life.

On the face of it, the apparition in Phillauri is a tool to take a comparative look at romance then and now. Yet, with its gentle allusions to India's colonial history, social attitudes towards artists and women's autonomy, the film becomes more than just that. It is, of course, a bemused swipe at regressive customs and those who follow them without conviction or understanding. It is a comment on how even now, gifted women are often fronted by men with half their talent because ambition is deemed a dirty word for women.

Most of all though, it is a reminder that the human lives lost in any tragedy are not mere statistics, but real people who died with goals yet unattained and dreams yet unfulfilled.

All this takes a while to sink in though because Lal takes too long to get to the point. Too many Hindi films are lost to the curse of the second half. Fortunately for Phillauri, its affliction is the exact opposite. The pre-interval portion is too stretched out and, after the initial engaging, humorous few minutes, becomes as pale as Shashi's ghostly presence.

More time than required is spent with Kanan and Shashi together. Suraj has just one expression on his face throughout this segment and Anushka is a shadow of her usually charismatic self. Besides, their equation is far less interesting than Kanan-Anu and Shashi-Roop.

Anushka Sharma as a ghost, with Suraj Sharma and Mehreen Pirzada in Phillauri.

Of the two couples, the old-world pair has way more substance and novelty value than the two youngsters from the 21st century. It is no wonder then that Phillauri truly comes into its own post interval when it devotes itself primarily to Shashi and Roop's romance which is at once uplifting and heart-wrenching, thus rendering even the needlessly elongated climax forgivable. The resonance and relevance of their story in modern times is this film's selling point.

The other USP of Phillauri is its music and the way it is used to recount a large part of Shashi and Roop's love saga. Music director Shashwat Sachdev and lyricist Anvita Dutt deserve kudos in particular for the beautiful song Sahiba - a reference to the legend of Mirza and Sahibaan which serves as a red herring of sorts here - in Romy and Pawni Pandey's lovely voices. Lal deserves a big salaam for how this number has been woven into the narrative to such soul-stirring effect.

As with Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal in 2009, the past has more appeal in this film too. One reason of course is the eternal poignance of what-might-have-beens and the challenge of that inevitable question: how might I have functioned or even survived in a regressive, claustrophobic era gone by? That alone does not explain Phillauri's split personality though.

In terms of writing, directorial execution and acting, yesterdayhas zest and today does not in this inconsistent albeit sweet spook story.

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Posted: 8 years ago

#62

Phillauri movie review: Too bad it didn't stick to the Anushka-Diljit story

DURGA M SENGUPTA| Updated on: 24 March 2017, 15:05 IST

Anshai Lal's film Phillauri starring Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Suraj Sharma and Mehreen Pirzada is annoying.

It annoys because it masquerades as a comedy while its actual strength lies in romance and drama. The film tells the story of a ghost stuck in our world for almost a century -- an intelligent, troubled, and mostly culturally shocked ghost, essayed comfortably by Anushka Sharma.

We are introduced to this ghost through a modern day commitment-phobic youth Kanan (Suraj Sharma), who is a manglik, and, thanks to backward Hindu beliefs, must marry a tree to ward off evil. Kanan (Sharma) isn't too keen on his impending marriage to Anu (Pirzada), let alone a tree. But the two marriages are the least of his troubles as, by marrying the tree, he weds the ghost residing in the tree.

The premise is hilarious, honestly. Mostly because the ancient ghost is so much more progressive than Canada-returned Kanan's family as she says, "Ped se shaadi kaun karta hai? Shadi toh ladki se hoti hai! Aur wahan ek hi ladki thi." (Who marries a tree? You can only wed a girl, and I was the only girl there.)

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

The film fails to use this comical situational to its benefit. It desperately attempts Priyadarshan-esque comedy in the first half, and is unable to achieve even those painfully average standards. So desperately does it try, that it gets rather insensitive and offensive - especially in a sequence with a young boy imagining he's being stalked by a sexual predator. And this is supposed to be hilarious.

Most films can be broken in two parts and analysed, but none so obviously in recent times as Phillauri. The first half of the film tries to establish a parallel narrative in the present day, to be compared with the romance of the olden. But, my god, is it unnecessary!

Kanan and Anu's story is the extra dancer behind the heroine in 90's films. It's unattractive, a caricature of what's right in front of it, and exists solely to make the star look more beautiful than she truly is. The ghost's story from when she was alive, coupled with the great chemistry between Sharma and Dosanjh makes for a film on its own. Yes, her eventual death and search for what she couldn't achieve in life make for an interesting
narrative.

But there are a thousand different ways in which that could be told. Unfortunately for Phillauri, it goes with the weakest option, thereby leaving the viewer rather frustrated.

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD

A WASTED THEME

The name of the film is an entire theme in itself. It delves into the most probable history of the thousands of literary masterpieces authoured as 'Anonymous'. Phillaur is a gaon in the early 1900s, and everyone who hails from there is a Phillauri.

The village has a weekly newsletter where a poet who calls themselves Phillauri writes reguarly. The villagers imagine him to be Dosanjh, but in reality it's a woman who authors them -- Shashi Phillauri. Our heroine, of course.

The politics of women's anonymity in literature is briefly dealt with in this film. Having identified her as THE Phillauri, Dosanjh's character, who is a singer, promises to make songs with her lyrics, and with due credit. The music from the second half of the film, thanks to this storyline, is rather melodious, and has great lyrics. But that can't be said of the whole film.

A particularly poignant moment in the film is when ghost Shashi discovers an old record with her full name on it. And then it quickly writes over that moment by mixing it with Indian history. Phillauri could have been a great film had it stuck to its rather poetic name. Too bad it didn't.

Rating: 2.5/5

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Posted: 8 years ago

#63

Phillauri: Boring past, inane present

Namrata Joshi

MARCH 24, 2017 15:41 IST

UPDATED: MARCH 24, 2017 15:41 IST

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Even the ghosts are sporting a tinge of nationalism in Bollywood films these days.

Director: Anshai Lal

Starring: Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Sooraj Sharma, Mehreen Peerzada

Run time: 140 minutes

What can you say about a film in which a young woman, with her roots firmly in Amritsar, Google searches to find out what had happened in her town on the Baisakhi of 1919? This is just one of the many things that had me rolling my eyes in Phillauri. If there's anything more ludicrous than the CBFC objection to the use of Hanuman Chalisa in the film " how could Hanumanji have not driven away the ghost, is its logic " then it is the film's script itself, especially in the climax.

One expected the film to offer some good fun, with a ghost wreaking havoc in the life of a young man Kanan (Sooraj Sharma) who is just about to get married to his childhood sweetheart Anu (Mehreen Peerzada). What you get instead is a film neatly divided into two different worlds, with diametrically opposite stylistic tones and tenor, neither of which works.

On the one hand is the familiar, oft seen world of the filmi Punjabi shaadis with all the expected stereotypes " loud ladies and gentlemen, song and dance and silly jokes and constant chatter in a mix of Hindi, English and Punjabi. Add to that the new obsession of Bollywood, post Vicky Donor " a booze guzzling grand mom, the new mark of cool. The only change in the scheme of things then is a bunch of unknown, fresh faces playing the various family members.

Then there is the designer past, history in sepia tone. It is all about the ill-fated love affair of a brash singer and a quiet writer. The high point here is Diljit Dosanjh making a rockstar of an entry as the singer Phillauri. However, his vibe with the quiet but cussed writer Shashi (Anushka Sharma) remains largely tepid than heart-tugging. This part of the film is weighed down by a needless cultivated solemnity even as the present-day Amritsar wedding gets way too over-the-top and slapstick with Sharma and Peerzada playing their roles like spoilt, badly behaved kids rather than two adults on the verge of matrimony.

For a moment you think that the writer is taking a silly swipe at superstitions in showing the weird consequence of marrying someone to a tree (as a cure-all for those under the influence of shani dasha). But then there's the far out finale set in Jallianwala Bagh, giving a tinge of nationalism to a ghostly love story. However, what still has me rolling my eyes in utter disbelief is a foetal ghost. Go figure!

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Posted: 8 years ago

#64

http://www.filmfare.com/reviews/movie-review-phillauri-19506.html

Movie Review: Phillauri

Rachit Gupta
Fri, Mar 24, 2017
Movie Review: Phillauri

Rating: 4 stars

Quick take: Fun-filled love ballad

Famous Scottish poet Robert Burns' most famous poem, A red, red rose ends with the lines...

And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.

REVIEW: It's an old school, endearing thought of romance. The kind that used to flame in books and diaries, a far cry from modern romances of Facebook and Instagram. It was a time when love seemed like a feeling reserved for ever after. Anushka Sharma's Phillauri is like a bridge between these two worlds, set generations apart. It has the subtle, sublime emotions of old world romance. It also has the spunk and verve of modern day relationships. Creative, funny, romantic, Phillauri is just as entertaining as its heart breaking. It's one deeply gratifying film about love just going on and on, till infinity.

The story kicks off as young Kanan (Suraj Sharma) returns from Canada to get married to his childhood sweetheart in Amritsar. He has LSD inspired dreams of getting hitched and losing his freedom. He's very much in love but he can't get over his cold feet for commitment. Things get interesting when he's married off to a tree, since he turns out to be manglik. That's when the ghost of Shashi (Anushka Sharma) shows up, claiming to have been married to Kanan, since she was part of the tree. The premise of Phillauri is slightly outrageous and that works in favour of the film. Debut director Anshai Lal keeps the film quirky in modern times and the end result is extremely funny. In complete contrast, the flashbacks to Anushka Sharma's and Diljit Dosanjh's period romance are highly dramatic and follow a more traditional approach of story telling. They remind of you old world love sagas while the new age Punjabi marriage love story keeps things hip and happening.

As romances and comedies go, Phillauri requires a considerable amount of suspension of disbelief. You have a glittery ghost who's an uninvited guest at an Indian wedding. But as the backstory unfolds and as the screenplay draws comparisons between old and new romance, Phillauri turns into a deeply satisfying experience on what love truly means. The film establishes a certain respect towards the meaning of love. Both Anushka's and Mehreen Pirzada's characters pine for love, but not at the cost of their respect. Both men, Suraj Sharma's and Diljit Dosanjh's characters, go the extra mile to assure their loved ones of their commitment and feelings.

If you are a hopeless romantic, you'll enjoy Phillauri beyond imagination. But even those with reservations against rom-com kind of love, will enjoy the quirky humour of the film as a ghost and a confused young man, bumble around in a colourful wedding. The CGI of the film is top notch as Anushka's Shashi glides around like an apparition with gold and pixie dust of course. The use of poetry and restrained emotions in the flashback period romance lend gravitas to the film. That successfully manages to tie up all ends and interconnect the old and modern romance is fantastic.

Anushka Sharma's performance as a loveable and slightly sarcastic ghost is entertaining. Portions of her role that are set in 1919, show a more sombre and serious side. The actress handles all shades of her character with aplomb. Diljit Dosanjh is a find for Hindi cinema. His natural talent to perform makes his character in Phillauri that much more endearing. Suraj Sharma and Mehreen Pirzada as the young couple make things affable.

Phillauri is truly a fun film. For romance enthusiasts, this movies got everything. For the casual movie goer, it's got the right amount of humour. But for the auteur of love, this film and it's poetic old world charm can weave a spell of magic.

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Posted: 8 years ago

#65

Phillauri Movie Review: Doesn't offer enough humour to leave you entertained

Divya Pal | News18.com divyapal2013

Updated: March 24, 2017, 3:56 PM IST

A still from the film 'Phillauri'.

Director: Anshai Lal
Actors: Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Surah Sharma, Mehreen Peerzada

Can you ever find humour in a dark subject such as life after death? Well, Phillauri - which is Anushka Sharma's second outing as a producer after NH10 (2015) might revolve around a spirit, but doesn't frankly fit into the 'horror' genre. For it neither offers blood, gore and violence, nor will it give you the proverbial nightmares later. Instead, it gives us a ghost - Shashi - which is undoubtedly the most adorable and amicable creature at the center of an upcoming big-fat Punjabi wedding.

The film, directed by Anshai Lal begins with a dream sequence featuring Kanan (Suraj Sharma) and Anu (Meherene Kaur Pirzada). Both are young, attractive, and friends for years. While Anu who has been dreaming for her wedding day, and even imagined her life with Kanan, he fears marriage. Right from the dream sequence with which the film kicks off, Kanan, who had just come back to Punjab from Canada looks uncomfortable, unhappy and disgruntled with the idea of marrying her childhood friend. From fearing the loss of his freedom and space, to his inability to deal with emotional baggage, Kanan feels he is being pushed into something he isn't mentally prepared for. By the time we are confident of the fact that the word wedding' weighs heavily on him, he is forced to marry a tree. Reason? Well, he is a 'maanglik' (an astrological combination that suggest ill-omen) and has to perform this during a corrective puja. Within the first 40 minutes, we get the funniest moments of Phillauri - hilarious lines because they capture Punjabi family in the best ay and also realize how comfortably Suraj masters the art of facial expressions.

Soon, the focus is shifted to Phillaur in Punjab, and we are given an insight into the life that Shashi lived about 98 years back. Anushka plays a docile younger sister of a man who is valued because he is the only doctor. However, she finds her freedom from the disciplinarian brother by getting her poetry published sans her real name. She sneaks out of her house to attend a musical event. Even though she is coy and docile within the confines of her house, she doesn't show any inhibitions in speaking her mind. This is best seen when she takes on the local singer (Diljit Dosanjh) and even slaps him. Shashi's detestation makes him feel the need to do away with his uncouth ways, and win her love, which eventually happens.

The first is entertaining particularly because of the way Anushka haunts Kanan.

The dialogues - which are both thought-provoking and hilarious (courtesy the thaeth' Punjabi punch) are the highlight of the film.

But nothing can really beat the real' and romantic onscreen moments that Anushka and Diljit have created. Even though they have shared the screen space for the first time, their chemistry is so good and effortless, that we wouldn't mind watching them together again. From the way Diljit chases Anushka's dreams with the zeal and fervor of a true devotee to the latter's unconditional trust in their relationship, this new onscreen Jodi will make you to fall in love despite all the expected complexities.

Anshai Lal could have shot some of the sequences of Phiallur and snaked his camera into the streets to create an intimate milieu. Instead, he only gets aerial shots of Amritsar and a few shot inside in the Golden Temple. Usage of flashback sequence could have been ineffective, had they not been handled smartly. But Lal creates linear series of full scenes that are beautifully inserted into the narrative flow of the storyline.

Phillauri's music by first-time composer Shashwat Sachdev, particularly Sahiba and Dum Dum plays a key role in layering the narrative further.

Back to 2017, things are still messy and complex. But with Anushka's help Kanan understands the significance of Anu in his life, and most importantly the significance of their relationship. And with Kanan's help, Anushka gets to reunite with Diljit, as ghosts though.

What works in the favour of the film is its key cast that doesn't try to upstage each other. The cast including Diljit Dosanjh, Anushka Sharma and Suraj Sharma have a clear understanding of their characters, and remain completely committed. What Suraj Sharma, especially after his much-appreciated role in Life of Pi deserved was a sharper role which would have tapped his acting prowess. Diljit Dosanjh's who made his Bollywood debut with Udta Punjab delivers a strong yet emotional performance. Anushka

But the climax is where the disappointment lies. While Phillauri is an engaging journey to explore what had happened in Shashi's life, the climactic reckoning could have been handled more deftly.

All in all, Phillauri is a film is much about pure love, and you'd want to watch it only for the effortless chemistry of the lead pair.

Rating: 2.5/5

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Posted: 8 years ago

#66

80% of the reviews have given either 2 or 2.5 stars. Some exceptions with 1.5, 3, 4 star reviews though.

Edited by Schmmuck - 8 years ago

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Posted: 8 years ago

#67

Another 1.5 star review.

Phillauri Movie Review: Anushka Sharma Is Wasted In Comedy With No Laughs

Phillauri Movie Review: Anshai Lal's film has been borrowed from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Burton's delightful stop-motion film celebrated love and death in grand style, and while Phillauri does indeed steal its premise

Raja Sen | March 24, 2017 15:53 IST

Rating:

27SHARES

Phillauri Movie Review: Anushka Sharma Is Wasted In Comedy With No Laughs" title="Phillauri Movie Review: Anushka Sharma Is Wasted In Comedy With No Laughs" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 580px;">

Phillauri Movie Review: Anushka Sharma is fine in her part

Genre:
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Cast:
Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Suraj Sharma
Director:
Anshai Lal

First we must clear the air. Based on its trailers, there has been deafening buzz about how much Anshai Lal's Phillauri has borrowed from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Burton's delightful stop-motion film celebrated love and death in grand style, and while Phillauri does indeed steal its premise - where a nervous groom accidentally weds a ghost - this time, there are no resultant hi-jinks. A film one might imagine as a comedy comes without any laughs whatsoever. More than stolen similarities to the cartoon, much graver is the way the Hindi film differs from the original: it simply isn't animated enough.

On paper, much natural humour can be found in the idea of a manglik boy, forced to marry a tree before marrying his bride (right after, of course, the inevitable Aishwarya Rai joke is made). What does this warding-of-evil process do? Does it eternally alter the groom's relationship with a certain species of tree? Will a symbolic marriage to, say, a maple tree, mean that pancakes will forever make the heart grow heavy?

Phillauri Review: Anushka Sharma is perfectly suitable as a ghost

No such exploration, in directions either metaphysical or wisecracking, is carried out by the makers of Phillauri. They appear, instead, to be content with the fact that there is a ghost, and that she happens to be from Punjab. Thus we are given an insipid groom, a simpering bride and their apparent romance with absolutely no stakes, while a visiting ghost drones on and on about her own melodramatic romance, haunting us all with her boring storytelling.

Suraj Sharma - the boy from Life Of Pi and Umrika - is one of the blandest, least likeable leading men I've seen in a while. A beatboxer who can't even pretend to beatbox, his character Kanan allows wedding jitters to turn him into a slackjawed and insensitive moron, well before his ghostly bride shows up. His betrothed, Anu, played by Mehreen Pirzada, is a sweet enough girl who deserves significantly better, but is willing to settle for this ungracious idiot. Anushka Sharma rounds out the trio by showing up as Shashi, a flashback-loving ghost, a bhoot with a backstory, and while her character should lead to some kind of chaos, things are resolved pretty smoothly and conveniently once she (finally) finishes talking.

Her conversations involve her youth and her romance with a local Punjabi singer, played by local Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh. Dosanjh, striking and sincere in Udta Punjab last year, is here an absolute misfit, as he stumbles through the part kohl-eyed and clueless. With this flashback set close to a hundred years ago, some basic attempts are made to imbue the atmosphere with flavour, but this can be credited to the fine actor Manav Vij, trying his best to give the narrative some heft. Meanwhile, the present day sections of the film feature many shaadi preparations scenes in a sprawling mansion, alongside the already overused trope of the drunken grandmother. Because hey, Punjabi. (Hic.)

Watching the film I wondered what it was trying to preach, since - like a bad street-play - it is too self-serious and portentous to not have a moral. Is it an anti-deforestation public service film, telling us not to chop down trees because resident ghosts need a place to stay? Is it trying to inform us that places we consider monuments to tragedy are nice places to hug by moonlight? Is it a warning to engaged women who conduct their pre-wedding courtship largely on Skype, that most men are disappointing offline? I have no earthly clue. I can simply declare that its too spoofy to feel like a drama and too mournful to be funny.

This is a shame, because Anushka Sharma, who has also produced this film, is one of our most intriguing actresses. She's fine in her part, and often beguilingly pretty, yet the film wastes her. The fundamental problem with Phillauri, I believe, may be one of miscasting. Raza Murad, the man with the greatest voice of all, is around but doesn't get to speak much. Sharma, similarly, is perfectly suitable as a ghost when gliding around or trying to blow out a chandelier bulb, but, despite sparkly translucence, she has no aura. It is in flashback that she sparks brightest, when she listens to a record for the first time, or when she allows herself to grin at the idea of shamelessness. Life becomes her.

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Posted: 8 years ago

#68

Phillauri Review: Bumpy Ride Between Two Time Zones

by Udita Jhunjhunwala14 minutes ago

Director Anshai Lal takes on an ambitious first film, Phillauri which traverses two time periods. The problem is that the two time spans - 2017 and 1919 - are like two different movies. They are different genres, narrative and filming styles and the transitions between past and present are bumpy. Besides this several scenes and irritatingly lingering.

In present day Amritsar, Kanan (Suraj Sharma) returns from Canada to marry his high school sweetheart Anu (Mehreen Pirzada). Here are two Punjabi families that replace their morning cuppa tea with whiskey and water. Jovial and excitable they are also slaves to tradition. So when the pandit identifies Kanan as manglik' and recommends marriage to a tree to positively realign his horoscope, the inebriated wedding party agrees. Kanan is the only one who seems unconvinced.

But the tree houses a ghost and Kanan finds that he's married an apparition who begins to haunt him. The central premise is "borrowed" from Corpse Bride' (2005) and incorporated by writer Anvita Dutt into a time travelling tale that's part comedy, part drama.

Kanan learns that Shashi (Anushka Sharma) is a friendly ghost who has business that has remained unfinished for 98 years. This takes us back in time to a sepia-toned Phillaur where the townsfolk occasionally come together to listen to a tawa' (frying pan) or record. Here, a higher caste girl Shashi falls in love with a low caste singer Roop Lal (Diljit Dosanjh). She secretly writes verse under the pen name of Phillauri which she surreptitiously shares with the singer Phillauri (because they are both from Phillaur you see). But their love is thwarted by Shashi's over-protective and unduly harsh older brother.

The potential satire that could have been built on in the modern tale (like a roka' [pre-engagement] over Skype) doesn't carry all the way through nor does it juxtapose with the ancient love story that finds resolution in a moment in Indian history. Suraj Sharma does comedy well and he's rather cute though his Kanan deserved one strong scene at least. The passion between Shashi and Roop Lal is well captured and both Anushka Sharma and and Diljit Dosanjh are immensely likable in their scenes but once more Dosanjh's character remains under-cooked.

Once again I remain frustrated - because I want to see Anushka Sharma break out and take risks as an actress. I feel her best is yet to come. And I do hope Suraj Sharma and Diljit Dosanjh get more wholesome parts that showcase their talents to the fullest.

Rating: **1/2

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#70

Bollywood, Hollywood, English Movie News, Reviews & Trailers - BookMyShow Blog

BOLLYWOOD MOVIESMARCH 24, 2017Phillauri: Film Review - Anushka, Diljit, Punjab - A Winning Combo
SHIKHA SINGH
1,638VIEWS

Verdict: Anushka is the most sensible ghost wife ever.

After the success of NH10 (2015), Anushka Sharma is back with her second venture as a producer and this time she is playing a friendly ghost named Shashi who accidentally gets married to a human. Phillauri is set in the modern and traditional Punjab with the script moving back and forth in time.

It starts with Kanan (Suraj Sharma) coming back to India after three years of stay in Canada to marry his childhood love Anu (Mehreen Kaur Pirzada). After a deep study of their stars, Panditji concludes that Kanan is Manglik and he should marry a tree before marrying Anu if he wants to lead a happy life. He agrees to marry a tree after being pressurized by almost the entire family and coincidentally marries the same tree Shashi's (Anushka Sharma) spirit was haunting since nearly a century. Confused and scared after realizing he has a ghost wife, he ends us upsetting his real wife. Now he has to figure out a way to get rid of the ghost and to make up his mind about this marriage.

While all this happens in the present, Shashi reminisces her past when she was alive and prettier. She used to stay in a village called Phillaur with her brother, where everyone was crazy about a guy's (played by Diljit Dosanjh) voice and singing, obviously except Shashi and her elder brother. Only till she meets him and inspires him to move away from the meaningless songs to meaningful poetry. They fall in love.

Phillauri review - BookMyShow

Like her last venture, Anushka has once again chosen the right talent over known faces. The film stars Suraj Sharma of the Life of Pi fame and the beautiful Mehreen Kaur Pirzada who fits just right as a Punjabi bride. Both of them are not only good looking but also good actors. They have contributed to major part of the comedy in the movie. The flashback sequences are shot in sepia tone and give you a feel of the typical pre-independence era. The present, however, is all about a typical Punjabi family wedding, a beautiful and loving bride, and a very confused groom.

The film is about two love stories who are on the verge of their happily ever after but face last minute difficulties. The story moves back and forth in time and shows you the glimpse of Punjab today and almost a century back. You get to see the natural, vibrant beauty that Punjab is. It will remind you of the mustard fields of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Where in the present, there is a lavish Punjabi wedding with a cool grandmom who wouldn't call a 9 am whisky drink as "early morning drinking", parents who are ready to welcome the groom in pink t-shirts because their daughter wants it to be like that, the past shows a protective elder brother trying to wed his daughter-like sister to a deserving guy. In the difference of time, one thing that will put a smile on your face is the love and acceptance of the families.

Anushka Sharma is a natural when it comes to acting. Here too, she has done a great job as a ghost as well as a human. She looks hauntingly beautiful throughout the film. It is, somehow, difficult to get over that fact. Some ghostly effect maybe? Diljit Dosanjh, on the other hand, complements her with his nirmohi avatar. He plays a singer who initially sings to swoon women and to get admiration from his fans. But as you try to get over the prettiness of the frame composition (with Anushka, Diljith, and Punjab in one frame), Diljit goes through a makeover because he falls in love with Shashi. Their onscreen chemistry is something to look forward to.

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It is pretty evident from the trailer that Diljit's character is a singer and hence you get to witness a lot of folk melodies. Songs will keep coming throughout the movie including nifty numbers like Dum Dum and Sahiba. There is also some romantic poetry added to all the music and things just keep getting better.

A film is not only about the faces and acting and the team of this film understands that well. The film has been getting a lot of applaud for the special effects and it stands up to the expectations. The angelic touch to the ghost version of Anushka's character gives the film the charm of a fairy tale. Anshai Lal's debut as a director, along with the team, is for the win. The production quality and camera work is incredible as well.

When it comes to a fantasy movie, you mostly expect a fairy tale and this films serves you with something exactly like that, with the help of love, romance, and comedy.

Why You Should Watch This Movie:
Anushka's second film as a producer is more than just another rom-com, with an add-on ghost. If you're an Anushka fan, you can just go watch the movie for her pretty face, she's looking amazing. If you're a Diljit fan, you can go for the same reason as well. Apart from that, go watch the movie to entertain yourself with a sweet fantasy for two and a half hours.

P.S. If you're proud of your knowledge of Indian History, this film will give you a reality check.

Release Date: 24 Mar 2017Language: Hindi
Director: Anshai Lal
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Cast & Crew: Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Suraj Sharma, Mehreen Kaur Pirzada