Happy Ending
Directors Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK of Go Goa Gone and 99 have attempted to do something different in these 150-minutes, which indeed, is a noble sentiment.
The movie begins by revealing that Yudi (Saif Ali Khan) has a fear of commitment. We know this with the opening scene of the movie, where we see him curled up with his girlfriend, Kareena Kapoor Khan, watching a movie. Kareena asks him to marry her But Yudi’s response results in her showing him the middle finger and exiting his life forever. All the romance is hardly lost, though, as Vishaka, played by Kalki Koechlin, a dentist falls for Yudi soon after and though naïve and irritating, is mysteriously head over heels in love with him, to the point of appearing psychotic. For example, she installs an app on his phone so she can track him all the time. Yudi on the other hand is not even interested in her and is always finding ways to break-up with her.
Adding to the list of innumerable clichés present in the film that this movie seeks to spoof, Saif Ali Khan plays a double role. Even then, he has not expanded his role as an actor, sticking to the elitist spoilt brat image he showed us in Cocktail and Love Aaj Kal. Saif in his primary role is a struggling writer based in Los Angeles, who had beginner’s luck with his debut novel around 5 years ago. Living off royalties, he is living the life and is irresistible to women. The second role is one of his identical twin, Yogi, who is a jobless bum and appears intermittently to give him love advice and act as the voice of the director when it comes to pointing out clichés in traditional Bollywood cinema.
Apart from his bhaiya, Yudi survives on the support he receives from Montu (Ranveer Shorey) who is his best friend and married mother and ex Divya (Preity Zinta). While Zinta’s performance was average, Ranveer Shorey, who is a married man bullied by his wife does a great job despite his limited scenes and cliche characterisation.
However, it begins to appear that Yudi’s life is heading for a crash. His finances begin to dwindle, threatening his easy-going life.
Trying to get back into the flow of writing, Yudi one day encounters his so-called rival, Aanchal Reddy (Ileana D’Cruz). According to his sources, she has replaced him with her romance bestsellers. Trying to find out what she has that he hasn’t, Yudi observes her at a book reading event where she reads out a ‘boy meets girl’ scene that is so sweet, it’s nauseating. D’Cruz, who is supposedly a master writer is sadly shown as a bimbo and looks artificial throughout the film.
Meanwhile, actor Armaan, played by Govinda, hits a bit too close to home; playing a struggling and aging actor trying to regain his stand in Bollywood with a Hollywood movie re-write. He wants Yudi to write a romedy’ that will appeal to the multiplex audiences.
In a bid to find out her formula for success, Yudi befriends Aanchal. He is surprised and pleased to find she doesn’t believe in love either. The two hit it off and begin to hang out together. However, they make a pact not to fall in love with each other. This pact, predictably is broken by Yudi, who realizes later that he has fallen for her. The couple spend quality time on road trips with picturesque landscapes, write novels and play strip poker. Through all this, the chemistry on -screen is virtually non-existent.
Meanwhile, Yudi is working with Armaan to write a script. Through the interactions between the two, the audience gets the main aim of the movie: to poke fun at the traditional formulas employed for Bollywood movies. Through Armaan the directors parody happy endings, Bollywood films based on Hollywood ones and instant six-pack abs.
As for the acting, Govinda trumps here again, delivering a wonderful performance in his role as an out of work actor. He is believable and is responsible for almost all the funny parts of the film, along with Yudi’s sidekick, Montu played by Ranveer Shorey, who delivers some witty one-liners. Kalki Koechlin is good as the obsessive girlfriend, but she should have tried to impress us more by trying her hand at a new role. Kareena’s role was well-placed but averagely performed.
All in all, we like the concept of the movie and admire the director’s bid to be different. What is lacking here is the focus on one thing—that was supposed to have been the sub-plot of making a Hollywood-style Bollywood film. This was the most enjoyable part of the movie, it is a pity it was so short! If only the filmmakers would have omited the parts about Yudi’s love life and his many lady loves and focused more on being funny, the movie would have done better. Perhaps the directors need to learn a thing or two from their own movie.
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STAR CAST
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DIRECTION
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PLOT OF THE STORY
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MUSIC
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SCRIPT