Review: Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Jee

FIRSTLY, FILMMAKERS like Prakash Jha and now Madhur Bhandarkar; renowned reality filmmakers have stepped out of their genres to leave us not baffled but discontented. Here, its disaster befalling the silver screen. Three times National Award winning director and script writer Madhur Bhandarkar’s Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji didn’t reap out well.

Films like Satta, Page 3, Corporate, Traffic Signal, Fashion and Jail serve as epitomes in the industry. DTBHJ has neither a relation nor any approximation to these. Therefore, if you are expecting a typical familiar Bhandarkar stuff then it may turn out disappointing to you. Perhaps, this may become a memento in his own life.

Story and soul become synonymous when it comes to a film. Here you may call it an extract of all the unpalatable romantic films until now; just that they have a sad ending here. In the film you have three couples. Beginning with, Naren Ahuja (Ajay Devgn) and June Pinto ( Shazahn Padamsee) where the former is a 40 year old idealistic man who falls for a 20 year old girl called June.

You can very well figure out their part if you are familiar with Nishabd and Chini Kum. There was a trend on screen where a man falls for a girl who would be half of his age. This would just bring it back in front of you. The difference is just that it turns out to be one-sided love and Naren has to go with zilch. Now let's switch to, Abhay (Emraan Hashmi) who is perfect combination of a crook and a promiscuous man.

He is in a relationship with Anu ( Tisca) who is a rich woman already married to a businessman and quite old for him. She has her unfulfilled desires and to satisfy them she has Abhay who wants nothing but money and a luxurious lifestyle. Similar to what Priyanka Chopra plays in Aitraaz. You do see a slight twist when Abhay actually falls in love with Nikki ( Shruti Haasan) who is Anu’s step daughter.

As said before, sad ending is that Nikki’s character is clever enough; this is where a girl dupes and dumps a person. Thirdly, introducing you to Milind Kelkar (Omi Vaidya); a short, chubby man who follows the traditional methods of wooing a girl, that is, with emotional poetry. Who would never be a delight for a modern, ambitious and not to mention pretty girl like Gungun Sarkar ( Shraddha Das).

Gungun is an RJ by profession. She is not only a clever lady, she also knows all the flimflams to take advantage of people, and this is exactly what she does with Milind who is a decent, simple middle class man. Milind is in love with her and she sees a fool in him.

Knowing his feelings for herself, she makes him work for her whenever required. This may remind you of the film Tashan where Kareena Kapoor's character was more or less the same, where she uses the English teacher ( Saif Ali Khan) for her ambitions. Here you just have a diluted form of the same with a dash of difference. In the end, when Gungun gets a better option she feels apologetic for him.

It becomes even ludicrous when you see three people thronging the same place at the same time, coincidently, twice in the film. Film is supposed to be a comedy, but creation of humour does not lie in obscenity or vulgarity. Hence, it is visible that the film has nothing new to offer, but yes, it does everything to shift the wrong limelight on the women today.

When you are watching three simultaneous love stories going in front of you where women are cheating, dumping and using; you would leave the hall with this thought. The ‘poise’ factor goes for a toss. You see no objective here. One may wonder if that was the objective?

Moreover, in a slow romantic scene you see a sudden zoom in- zoom out. Plus, if you think that it is aesthetic to keep your background absolutely blur while having a conversation in a mid shot then it’s not a smart thing unless and until you are ready to accept a poster texture. You may call it a demand of the scene but anything that looks abrupt on the screen is unacceptable. Rich frames but nothing much appealing.

You get a reason to watch the film if you are a Devgn fan. This goes without saying that the actor has evolved a lot with time. Ajay Devgn does not come much on the screen. May be, this is the reason why his is so much character soaked. There is s difference when you say that I liked Ajay Devgn in the film and when you say you watched Naren. It is about which one actually dominated; that is what decides for a good actor. Emraan Hashmi gets a similar role to render every time.

Talking about music, is there a word beyond ‘hit’? Bhandarkar who is known for his precision in music delivers yet another set of musical treats. The Himachal boy Mohit Chauhan is the heartthrob these days. Chauhan who kick started his career as a singer with Boondei has outshined throughout the way. “Abhi kuch Dino Say” is another hit and this is a positive point in the film. Sonu Nigam is evergreen and “Tere Bin” is another sonorous gem. Music is not meant to be swayed on, but yes, you can always groove your heart. Therefore, you get romantic numbers for the season.

Redundant imagination is also not good. One cannot be master of everything. This does not close the vistas and creations are always welcomed. Analysis is that even romantic comedies are not easy as a task. You need to be precise that your objective is not tarnished. A melancholic sip for Bhandarkar and his admirers.