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 Bollywood Film Review

Johnson Thomas

An unendurable yarn

Film: Babloo Bachelor

Cast: Sharman Joshi, Pooja Chopra, Tejashri Pradhan, Rajesh Sharma, Leena Prabhu, Neeraj Khetripal, Sumeet Gulati, Beena Bhat, Raju Kher, Late Charu Rohatgi, Sweety Walia Manoj Joshi, Akash Dhabade, Dowly Chawla, Asrani

Director: Agnidev Chatterjee

Rating: * *

Runtime: 130 mins

Yet another tiresome ‘coupling’ story, this one scrapes the bottom in terms of creativity - by showcasing all the patriarchal archetypes and denouncing equity and choice for women where marriage is concerned. This setup is in a small town and about a well-to-do family with a 35 year old Bachelor son Babloo ( Sharman Joshi) who self-admittedly is still a virgin. The parents ( Rajesh Sharma and Leena Prabhu) want him married but Babloo hasn’t found the right match yet. Just after establishing that, the script jumps back and forth  trying to fashion romantic trysts with potential matches Avantika(Pooja Chopra) and Swati (Tejashree Pradhan). While Babloo falls for the more with-it Avantika, he comes across as a dimwit in front of her assured demeanor. Obviously, Avantika rejects him because she is a career woman and would like a husband who has career goals. Swati, the girl who Babloo is wary of because she has already had 5 boyfriends in her past, smokes and is into makebelieve - ends up married to him and promptly runs away to pursue a career in the limelight. So Babloo’s family is back to where they started off- trying to get him hitched once again. The main irritant throughout though is his friend Chote (Sumeet Gulati) who has the uncanny knack of playing bugbear in every scene that he is in.

It’s bad enough that we have an entire film devoted to getting a simpleton like Babloo married and the writing makes the female characters behave like they were puppets on a chain linked to Babloo in the worst possible way. They come back, get rejected and then are brought back forcibly just so that Babloo gets to do the rejecting and the forgiving in order to compensate for his earlier loss of face. Of course, the film does not highlight that but that’s what it felt like.

Saurabh Pandey’s story, screenplay and dialogue could do better with several revisions.  The writing is pithy, the script circles within a bubble and the tone (meant to be comedic) tends to the tedious. There’s no chance of gaining any laughs from this futile exercise in happily ever after. Agnidev Chatterjee’s direction and cinematography lack class. There’s nothing special here. The camerawork feels pasty, the makeup seems overdone and the slapstick is unendurable. The senior actors play out their roles in caricatures and even newcomer Tejashree Pradhan is unable to drum up any enthusiasm. So it’s left to Sharman Joshi and Pooja Chopra to deliver sincere performances and make this monstrosity close to bearable!

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