Suddenly, in the filmdom, we are getting to see films - not emphasizing on the clichd and convenient romance (read blooming flowers, crooning violins, smooth drizzle) but films wrapped as anti-romantic.
These are the ones that portray 'love' close to an 'evil' thing. And perfect romance is only a fabricated illusion seen in Bollywood films. The trend, used exhaustively in the West, is just gaining momentum here, and a terrifically well-made film 'When Harry tries to Marry' - directed by Indo-American filmmaker Nayan Padrai, apparently holds some influence.
Three desperate bachelors (Rajat, Nishant and Vikrant), sharing a pad cannot live with the increasing vacuum, and one after the other, get respective girlfriends. All looks shiny and glamorous initially, until the multi-faceted realities of the three women begin to sink in. So, what started as an affair seen with rose-tinted glasses soon converts into a complicated mess, as two of the girls (Charu, Riya) juggle between their ex-boyfriends, and dramatic fights and bursting frustration becomes rampant.
There is a lot of tear-shedding, and the biggest fracture - the film, surprisingly, and quite not in the way, 'unexpected' is spelled for the movies, takes a turn taking itself too seriously.
The girls go on being full bitchy even as the guys remain moronically ignorant, just by being content by the physical intimacy. Too desperate.
Moreover, the three stories that are charted, unfold in a very confounding, clumsy manner. It drags , and drags some more. By now, we are very well aware of all the character's dynamics, and hardly there is any subtext or layers added further to decode. So there isn't really a point in going gung-ho about the same stuff.
One main problem also is in the basic nature of the film. Luv Ranjan's direction isn't strong enough to cleverly balance intense drama interlinked with comedic drifts. The screenplay at parts is a winner (Watch out for Rajat's lengthy monologue), whereas at instances it goes on, in an eccentric, monotonous fashion, forcing you to 'ping' a friend of yours, and at the same time, not missing anything too crucial.
The other highlight, perhaps remain the dialogues - contemporary and lucid sans any pretense. Also some of the performance by the largely novel star-cast are amusing, funny, and arouses humor but the fact remains - the guys are such a besmirched lot, no amount of sympathy can be, by any parameter, felt for them, and the women (especially Sonali Sehgal) are annoying from scene one.
Among the guys, Divyendu Sharma clearly steals the show, with his confounded, frustrated and still, plain-looking demeanor. The women - all three range from being moderate to above average, none quite sweeping you off with a stellar enactment
By the time, the film terminates, it comes across as a clumsily put up collage of Dil to Bachha Hai Jee, a Dil Chahta Hai like ambiance, and also slightly an indian-nised American Pie.
Worthy for more than frequent laughs, but forgettable most of the time, Pyar ka Punchnama tries hard, and thats where it ends.
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These are the ones that portray 'love' close to an 'evil' thing. And perfect romance is only a fabricated illusion seen in Bollywood films. The trend, used exhaustively in the West, is just gaining momentum here, and a terrifically well-made film 'When Harry tries to Marry' - directed by Indo-American filmmaker Nayan Padrai, apparently holds some influence.
Three desperate bachelors (Rajat, Nishant and Vikrant), sharing a pad cannot live with the increasing vacuum, and one after the other, get respective girlfriends. All looks shiny and glamorous initially, until the multi-faceted realities of the three women begin to sink in. So, what started as an affair seen with rose-tinted glasses soon converts into a complicated mess, as two of the girls (Charu, Riya) juggle between their ex-boyfriends, and dramatic fights and bursting frustration becomes rampant.
There is a lot of tear-shedding, and the biggest fracture - the film, surprisingly, and quite not in the way, 'unexpected' is spelled for the movies, takes a turn taking itself too seriously.
The girls go on being full bitchy even as the guys remain moronically ignorant, just by being content by the physical intimacy. Too desperate.
Moreover, the three stories that are charted, unfold in a very confounding, clumsy manner. It drags , and drags some more. By now, we are very well aware of all the character's dynamics, and hardly there is any subtext or layers added further to decode. So there isn't really a point in going gung-ho about the same stuff.
One main problem also is in the basic nature of the film. Luv Ranjan's direction isn't strong enough to cleverly balance intense drama interlinked with comedic drifts. The screenplay at parts is a winner (Watch out for Rajat's lengthy monologue), whereas at instances it goes on, in an eccentric, monotonous fashion, forcing you to 'ping' a friend of yours, and at the same time, not missing anything too crucial.
The other highlight, perhaps remain the dialogues - contemporary and lucid sans any pretense. Also some of the performance by the largely novel star-cast are amusing, funny, and arouses humor but the fact remains - the guys are such a besmirched lot, no amount of sympathy can be, by any parameter, felt for them, and the women (especially Sonali Sehgal) are annoying from scene one.
Among the guys, Divyendu Sharma clearly steals the show, with his confounded, frustrated and still, plain-looking demeanor. The women - all three range from being moderate to above average, none quite sweeping you off with a stellar enactment
By the time, the film terminates, it comes across as a clumsily put up collage of Dil to Bachha Hai Jee, a Dil Chahta Hai like ambiance, and also slightly an indian-nised American Pie.
Worthy for more than frequent laughs, but forgettable most of the time, Pyar ka Punchnama tries hard, and thats where it ends.
view less
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