Movie: Bachna Ae Haseeno
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu, Minissha Lamba, Kunal Kapoor, Sonia Chopra

Now, here’s at last a Yashraj film you cannot say Bachna to.

Friends, it’s Independence for Yashraj Films from its jinxed series of sub-standard films that has by now dented the reputation of the elite production house known for telling its stories against the backdrop of nothing less than Swiss Alps or Sydney Harbour or even sarson ke khet in saada Punjab.

Not that Bachna Ae Haseeno doesn’t have all this. But before all this it has a sound, well-written script and superb performances by its cast. If only the film wasn’t that long. If only a song or two were chopped off from this 16-reeler. If only the second half was less predictable. If only the final reunion of the protagonist with his ladylove wasn’t that unromantic. Aaaah! All these damn ifs. They always come between the movie and the great entertaining experience it could have been.

‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ comes pretty close to being an engaging rom-com with a generous smattering of YRF’s in-house Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge in the first romantic episode of its protagonist Raj, the (lady)-‘killer’ (as dubbed by his friends).

The Raj ( Ranbir Kapoor ) here is not Malhotra but Sharma and the girl is Mahi ( Minissha Lamba ), not Simran. The two meet on a train ride in Switzerland. Later she misses the train (obviously, yaar) and he accompanies her to Zurich on a…scootie (not a red convertible). Love blooms. And as it often happens in life, the guy screws it up. The girl flies back to Amritsar (where else) and he moves on with his life.

Year 2000. Raj works late nights in Mumbai and sleeps the mornings away on his stretchable sofa. That is until a barely clad bombshell Radhika ( Bipasha Basu ) moves next to his apartment and practices her dances to blaring music, robbing Raj of his sleep more because of her hot bod than the loud music. Raj’s charm works on her. She falls in love and soon marriage is on the cards. But Raj, being Raj, screws up again and flees to Sydney.

Time passes and Raj falls for Gayatri ( Deepika Padukone ) a cabbie in Sydney who’s clear about what she wants from life. And what she certainly doesn’t want is marriage. The trouble is – this time Raj falls in love and proposes her, only to get the taste of his own medicine.

Thereafter, our jilted but reformed hero goes on a repentance trip to mend his past mistakes by…well…much more than just apologies.

‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ works very well in the first half when the three romantic episodes unfold. My favourite was the one featuring Ranbir and Minissha. It’s a clever rehash of the situations from DDLJ incorporated into a different plot. Here too the guy eventually goes to Amritsar and makes himself a welcomed guest at a Punjabi wedding. But his intention is different. It’s not to win love, but to help Mahi rediscover love. This episode is my favourite also because of Minissha, whose performance is the best among the ladies in the film.

Bipasha Basu looks hot but her chemistry with Ranbir is thanda thanda…cool cool. Deepika Padukone is surprisingly confident and at ease in her performance. Kunal Kapoor is delightful in a guest appearance.

And lastly – coming to the ‘killer’ – Ranbir lives up to the Kapoor blood flowing in his veins. The guy has good looks and screen presence to carry the whole movie on his shoulders. Here’s truly a bundle of natural talent waiting to be explored.

Coming to director Siddharth Anand , it must be said that he shows a remarkable improvement since his last outing in the flop Tara Rum Pum . For starters, he rids ‘Bachna’ of any mawkish sentimentality that often peeves even the most flippant viewer no end. Secondly, he laces ‘Bachna’ with a liberal sprinkling of good humour – like the tearing down of the wall between Ranbir and Bipasha’s apartment to signify that they are entering a live-in relationship. The director does lose his grip on the film in the second half when the sub-plots (particularly the one with Bipasha) become taxing for a viewer.

All said, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ is an eminently watchable film with its own share of glitches. The movie’s isn’t exceptional. But it’s definitely, definitely worth a watch.

Salman’s gift to Ranbir Kapoor

Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone were invited to Salman’s show Dus Ka Dum . Ranbir and Deepika’s film Bachna Ae Haseeno is nearing release and this was the reason for their appearance on the show. Salman as usual was the joker of the show while Ranbir too had a few funny lines up his sleeves.

But the real highlight of the show was the GIFT that Salman gave to Ranbir at the end of the show. Guess what it was? It was a painting of Ranbir’s grandfather, the showman, Raj Kapoor .

Ranbir, we hear, was overwhelmed with emotions at this gesture from Salman and profusely thanked him. The portrait was later put up at R. K. Studio where incidentally Dus Ka Dum is being shot.