Friday, March 07, 2014

Hasee Toh Phasee review: Alia is endearing

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, `Hasee to phasee` is ideal for young couples out to celebrate romance. It’s the typical feel good rom-com that brings together the handsome Sidharth Malhotra and the effervescent Parineeti Chopra.

`Hasee...` traces the journey of Nikhil (Sidharth) and Meeta (Parineeti), who meet at Nikhil’s wedding after a fleeting conversation seven years ago. Both the actors have delivered fabulous performances. Parineeti owns the movie as a brilliant-yet-quirky scientist who has some emotional disorders. Sidharth too plays his role of a young entrepreneur well.

It is refreshing movie with no big frills and each of the characters are flawed and make you relate to them quite easily. The hero is not perfect – he has a financial problem, and trying to find his feet in the business world, and he is not the perfect son that you expect from Karan Johar’s leading man. The lead is innocent, a
drug addict, yet not in a depressing sort of a way. Newcomer Adah Sharma carries herself in the most elegant fashion throughout the movie in a supporting role. Sharat Saxena, Neena Kulkarni and Manoj Joshi, in the roles of the parents of Nikhil and Meeta, play their part perfectly.

Director Vinil Mathew keeps the humour clean and almost all the moments of laughter are stolen by Parineeti. She probably has the best comic timing among the new crop of actresses. She reminds you a bit of Preity Zinta in `Dil Se`. She looks innocent and some sweet and intelligent dialogues instantly make you take to her. Mathew also makes sure that the movie is not overly dramatic; it just tugs gently at your heart strings.

It does get a tad slow just before the interval. But the story captures the moments nicely enough without over-explaining or making the leads clingy and too mushy. Mathew keeps the modern relationship and the expectations of the youth in mind.

The dialogues, written by Mathew and Anurag Kashyap, are intelligent and often make you smile. There are various touching moments in the movie, like the time when Meeta is adamant to reconnect with her father. Despite the funny way Nikhil goes about trying to make that happen, Parineeti’s expressions will make you feel emotional. The plot, however, needed some more work. It lacks an even pace and the movie could have easily been cut short by at least half an hour.

The music is nice, especially the songs `Zehanaseeb` and 'Manchala' which are both really romantic. `Shake it like Shammi` is a great dance number dedicated to Shammi Kapoor. The background score also fits the mood of the movie.

Don`t go for the movie if you are expecting a candy-floss romance. The movie is quirky and breaks some stereotypes. Parineeti`s performance is adorable and definitely a great plus. Even though it is just a one-time watch, it will definitely make a great Valentine’s date. Take your girlfriend or spouse out for this movie and cosy up with a tub of pop corn for a not-so-typical romance.

This article was first published at zeenews.com

No comments: