Katti Batti

Cast: Imran Khan, Kangana Ranaut

Director: Nikhil Advani

Producer: Siddharth Roy Kapur

Plot: Katti Batti is a modern day romance that traces young architect Madhav Kabras (Imran Khan) love for the free-spirited Payal (Kangana Ranaut). They make for a perfect couple until a sudden turn of events creates an unanswered distance between them. What follows is a series of events that tests the fate of their relationship.

Rating: 2/5 Stars (Two stars)

Star Cast: Imran Khan, Kangana Ranaut

Director: Nikhil Advani

What’s Good: Kangana Ranaut & Imran Khan’s chemistry in the breezy romantic film works fine and somehow that’s the only good thing.

What’s Bad: The plot is extremely poor and done-to-death and I wonder what tweaking was Nikhil Advani talking about. It draws slight inspiration from Sweet November but manages to come nothing close to it.

Loo Break:  First half manageable. Second half as much as you can!

Watch or Not?:  Nope! Bollywood lacks the nerve to come up with believable romantic dramas. Fairytales are fine with us but a mixture partial reality is harmful. Katti Batti is a a port wine presented as Chardonnay. Don’t waste your weekend on this!

User Rating: 

Presented in a non-linear pattern, the movie starts with Madhav Kabra aka Maddy (Imran Khan) going through a tough time post his break-up with live-in girlfriend Payal (Kangana Ranaut). A heavily drunk Maddy mistakenly drinks Phenyl and is rushed to the hospital by his best friend. After this supposed suicide attempt of his, everyone around Maddy is trying to explain him that ‘its over’ with Payal and that he has to forget her.

An unconvinced Maddy wants to confront her and seek answers for their break-up. In the midst of all this we are shown flashbacks of how Payal and Maddy met as college sweethearts and soon headed to Mumbai in a live-in relationship.

Back to the present Maddy learns that Payal is marrying her ex-boyfriend in Delhi. Of course, Maddy catches the next flight to Delhi to confront her. Is Payal still in love with Maddy? Why did they break-up? All of this is left to unfold in a boring second half.

Katti Batti Review: Script Analysis

This is going to be my favorite section to write in today. Why? Because the plot had so many loopholes that I have to ask the writers if they finished the script in a day or two. For starters, the film is no where close to a new-age romantic drama. Live-in relationship is no more a fascination and hence the writers chose to just show us the couple’s pretty house, cuddly moments in bed, a few fights in front of the guy’s friends and its a wrap. So now you will think there is at least a good love story but unfortunately none of that too. The entire first half is a break-up montage with a few romantic flashbacks from the past. The writers take no efforts in building either of the characters carefully and so Maddy comes off as a sick git who would pick a fight with his friends because his girlfriend ditched him. Who could befriend such a guy! But wait, only a guy who thinks having a one-night stand with an office hottie is the way to get over a five year relation can! That’s the kind of advise Maddy’s friends give him.

Payal on the other hand does not have any characteristics at all. We learn the least about her and I guess that’s because we are supposed to draw an image by her look. So if she is sporting trendy clothes, tattoos and has no focus in life and keeps shifting her jobs, you gotta know she is live-in material. Supposedly commitment phobic because her parents are divorced is just another stereotype. Turns out towards the end, she has much bigger issues than commitment. Maddy also has an obsessive younger sister, Koyal reminded me of Gauahar Khan from Bigg Boss when she kept yelling ‘Kushal.. No..’. Koyal is just as overbearing as that.

If that was any less,  writer Anshul Singh tries to add comic capers which are pathetic. A South Indian boss saying ‘Yem for M’. Not Funny! A watchman having paan filled in his mouth and hence cannot talk. Not Funny!

The sufi rock group FOSLA (Frustrated One Sided Lovers Association) that Maddy befriends in Delhi. Unintentionally super funny!

With this script, was Nikhil Advani even thinking?

Katti Batti Review: Star Performance

Let me tell you something straight up. If you wanted to watch the film for Kanagana Ranaut, well you will be fooled because she is hardly there. I wonder why Kangana signed the film as it neither has a good character sketch for her nor can she make it any better with her act. Sadly, all her talking about how versatile she is goes down the drain with this film. Other than having a dolled up face in the film, there is nothing in it for her.

Imran Khan is the lead of the film. Yes! Take a deep breath. There is not one scene in the film without him in the frame and he is totally all over the place. As Maddy, Imran does his typical act. He still seems to be the same since his last films.

The supporting cast too is not strong enough. Vivan Bhatena who was seen last week in Hero plays the irritating ex-boyfriend. Manasvi Mamgai essays the office hottie who needs no reason to flaunt her cleavage.