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Zara Hatke Zara Bachke movie review: Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan’s new rom com delivers more misses than hits.
We enter the world of Chawlas and Dubeys thinking it's going to be a laughter riot with some fresh humour, edgy characters and a storyline that doesn't rely on usual, tried and tested tropes that Bollywood films are used to. And Zara Hatke Zara Bachke makes us believe as it takes off that everything is quite normal and relatable. But, it all soon turns into a loud cringefest with actors overacting beyond our imagination, dramatic dialogues being said one after the other, a joint middle-class Pandit family living in a small house and Punjabi stereotypes served to us on a platter because there is a 'chant' bahu who they believe has lured their son and accidentally made them all have a cake that contained 'egg
I never could wrap my head around movie trailers that give out the entire plot. Makers of Zara Hatke Zara Bachke made it worse with two trailers that revealed more than they should have and left very little for us to watch and find out on our own. Directed by Laxman Utekar, the romantic comedy has a lot going on at the same time and it does leave you with many questions at many places.
Since they can't afford heavy EMIs, they fall for a government scheme and end up faking a divorce to be eligible for a lottery allotment. Pretending to hate each other, they separate and start to live separately. How far this drama goes and what's the fate it eventually meets forms the plot.
The story that Utekar has co-written with Maitrey Bajpai and Ramiz Ilham Khan, starts of on a very funny note and keeps the momentum going with harmless jokes, natural light-hearted humour and some comic punches. But post interval, it just meanders without any direction and goes off track.
At this stage, I really wish it stuck to being a romantic comedy and not get so melodramatic at places it didn't require to. The script has nothing that you haven't already seen or something that will leave you in splits. If anything, it only gets a bit predictable in the second half and comedy of errors is only left with errors. The flaws in writing and direction are tough to overlook.
Performances somewhat try to salvage the situation but not for too long! Sara shows some restraint in her acting and it's visible in her actions or reactions. There are some scenes where she goes overboard but never to the extent that it annoys you. Vicky showcases a myriad of emotions and like a smitten lover, he keeps that romance quotient alive onscreen. He portrays the small-town guy pretty convincingly and does keep that raw demeanour intact. I quite liked Vicky and Sara's onscreen chemistry. I won't say it's extraordinary but definitely better than what we've seen in frivolous guy-meets-girl kind of rom-coms.
At some point, a nosy colony guard Daroga (Sharib Hashmi) is also thrown in to make things look funnier. While the actor doesn't disappoint with this performance and screen presence, I have a bone to pick with makers here for wasting an artiste of his calibre and reduce it to a cameo. You wish his role was more fleshed out.
In fact, the man who plays Kapil's lawyer friend helping him in the divorce case is a masterclass in overacting and didn't really merit the screen time he has been given. Amid all this, the crooked and dubious agent Baghwandas (Inaamulhaq) delivers his part pretty well and brings a comic relief in the whole story.
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke is an easy-going family entertainer that won't bore you. But, it won't leave a lasting impact either. A few laughs here and there and some loud characters make it watchable, however the story needed way more depth and definitely a better screenplay would have helped.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Disclaimer: This Article is auto-generated from the HT News service