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Star Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
Director: Sharat Katariya
What’s Good: Surprisingly, YRF’s most honest film amongst the recent times. It is a great script filled with nostalgia for those who have grown up in the bygone era of 80s and 90s. There is incredible detailing of characters and it is enough to find an instant connect. Dum Laga Ke Haisha could be a mirror for quite a lot people who have first hand experience of such situations.
What’s Bad: If only the director had stuck to creating a bond between its characters without the help of the competition. Also a scene or two in the second half were easily avoidable as they bring no effect to the story. Some may find it slow, although the pace was fine for me.
Loo break: Utilize the interval only!
Watch or Not?: After really long, we come across a love story that is real and incredibly believable. Watch Dum Laga Ke Haisha for its natural flavour minus the drama. This film will entertain you throughout its run time.
User Rating:
Prem (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a Haridwar bred middle class guy who is safe to be termed as a man-child. Prem gets shivers with the mention of English language and so hence he prefers to leave his education and work for his father’s recording shop. He is smitten by Kumar Sanu’s voice and listens to his songs on loop. When an unwilling Prem is forced by his overbearing father (Sanjay Mishra) into a marriage with Sandhya (Bhumi Pednekar), who is not only over sized but over educated too, Prem finds himself in a fix. He tries hard go resist this marriage but Sandhya is determined to make it work. In spite of being married to a man who is not even half as qualified as her and whose family still treats him as their kid, Sandhya is trying to overlook all the glitches and give this marriage a chance.
At one point when Sandhya finally learns that her husband’s perception of her is nothing but a fat lady with whom he can’t even sleep on the same bed, she decides to spare him of this forced marriage.
Will Prem realize that there is more to Sandhya than just her heavy appearance and will the Dum Laga Ke Haisha competition bring them closer is what is left to see!
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Review: Script Analysis
Nostalgia is one of the best emotions. A happy moment in the past and its revival in the present can truly make you glad. Dum Laga Ke Haisha does exactly that. It brings back the 90s, an era of cassettes, scooters and a much more simpler life. The script wins you over with its naive characters and how relatable they are. In the bygone era of PCOs and STD calls, this is the story of a misfit arrange marriage.
The dialogues are quirky and it is enjoyable to have those small laughs. There was a serious need to show small towns in a new light and it is a delight to see Sandhya’s character who is not only well-educated but also an independant thinker. The story is well crafted and after really long Yash Raj bring something fresh.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha will ride high on its realism and connect. I am sure there are many people who will relive their personal experiences. Unfortunately, all good things don’t stay for long, if only Sharat Katariya had managed to make this misfit marriage work without a competition, I would have been much relieved. The inclusion of a competition only made us remind the Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi disaster.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Review: Star Performances
Ayushmann Khurrana is successful in washing off his disastrous Hawaizaada memories with this film. He is effortless as the dumb yet attitudistic Prem and finds an instant connect with you. This is probably Ayushmann’s most endearing performance.
Bhumi Pednekar debuts with this film and I have to agree this must have been a challenging debut considering she plays a plus size woman. Bhumi plays Sandhya so well that you actually think she is.
Sanjay Mishra who plays the overbearing father is an excellent actor and he will entertain you and have you in splits with this film. I find his acting extremely genuine and his ease to fit into each character is commendable.
Seema Pahwa as Sandhya’s mother is fabulous. She is perfect as the bride’s mother and when she tells her daughter how to seduce a man, you can’t help but laugh your guts out.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Review: Direction, Editing and Screenplay
Sharat Katariya brings us something fresh and quirky and I would say this story gives a new lease of life to the disastrous films that Yash Raj has been feeding us with. The director wins half the battle with a strong script and does an even better job at showcasing it. Certain scenes are unbelievably funny such as when Sandhya goes for lingerie shopping and how secretive it had to be in the bygone era. Also the scene when Sandhya and Prem consummate for the first time is captured so beautifully that it seems too natural. There is an effortless ease in the way the story unfolds.
The production design team too needs a special mention for the choice of locations and a special thanks from my side for taking us back to tape recorders and cassettes. Sharat captures this love story in the most delicate manner and when Prem who is extremely unhappy and cross with Sandhya stops his scooter to bring back her chappal which accidentally falls off the scooter when she is riding pillion with him, even you feel happy for a moment that he cares. Luckily, the director does not stretch the competition much and wraps up quickly.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Review: The Last Word
Dum Laga Ke Haisha is a straight from the heart film which is easy to connect to. The characters are beautifully crafted and the love story is heart-melting. No over the top dances, shoddy music and bad climaxes, this is YRF’s best films to have come recently. I am going with a 4/5.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Trailer
Dum Laga Ke Haisha releases on 27th February, 2015.
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