Friday, February 17, 2017

Review:RUNNING SHAADI


Good Fun, Except  For The Lead Pair!

2.5 stars

Mini Review:

Ram Bharose from Patna works for a clothing store in Amritsar and is in love with the boss’ daughter Nimmi. Insulted at her birthday party, he quits and begins a startup with his geeky Sardar friend ‘Running Shaadi’ for runaway couples. Everything works fine until Nimmi decides she want to run away. With Ram Bharose. The supporting cast is stellar, the situations and dialogue are funny, but the lead cast is pathetic. And that makes you wish the film weren’t that long.

Main Review:

It’s a great elevator pitch: We will make a movie about a startup that helps couples elope.

But after that, what? You need to create characters around the story that the audience has met and endured, dialogue that lasts longer than a guffaw, and make the movie-going experience memorable.

On the first count, the writers Navjot Gulati and Amit Roy (who is also the director) succeed. So much so, that you could award the film four stars. The supporting cast is superb: Brijendra Kala as Ram Bharose’s videomaker uncle sets a standard, followed closely by another Patna local: the bride’s (Neha’s) older brother. Ram Bharose’s aunt and the bride are perfect in their roles, so is the make-up lady at the wedding. The retainer lawyers who help runaway couples are good too, and so are Nimmi’s aunt, the older people in the park who talk against runaway couples, Nimmi’s dad make the perfect supporting cast. Last but not the least, is Bharose’s geek partner: Cyberjeet, the young Sardar boy who wears a patka with a ‘Like’ icon, and wears geek tees and helps create the Running Shaadi website.         

Loved Pankaj Jha (the brother to Bharose’s bride-to-be Neha) showing up at Mamaji’s home and having a conversation with Ram Bharose. A little boastful, a little servile (as the bride’s brother should be!), a little curious (“Who is this ‘Ladies’ with you?” when Nimmi appears from inside) and really funny, and the best part, delivers with a straight face. And then in one of the funniest scenes, he appeases the upset make-up lady with gulab jamun an ice cream and words: ‘Who else but I could understand that your artistic soul is hurt…’ just when the miffed make-up lady claims, ‘Let me see if she can turn the bride into Katrina Kaif!’

Brijendra Kala cuts an emphathetic figure, driving an ancient scooter that needs a push start, making ad films that he never seems to get paid for, bursting into English with the client and muttering curses under his breath in Hindi. Your heart goes out to him because he’s stuck because he knows his nephew seems to be with Nimmi and yet needs the marriage to go as planned because the bride’s dad might approve the tv show idea he has submitted…

Geeky friend Cyberjeet comes as googly in this game! He makes everything happen: the website, acts as Ram Bharose’s conscience and is the best friend anyone could want. Cyberjeet’s expressions despite the beard are the best ever. He prays to the divine trinity: Zuckerberg, Jobs and Bill Gates and wears the coolest gee tees. His suggestions and ideas are better than what the hero or his girl can come up with.

Speaking of Ram Bharose and his girl, the less said the better. Ram Bharose (Amit Sadh) looks like sad sack and sports just that one miserable expression and you wish those chasing him with sticks land at least a couple of whacks and it hurts him. His girl Nimmi (Tapsee Pannu) is this spoilt little girl who calls him names like ‘Villager’, ignores him when ‘better’, college friends are present, uses Ram Bharose, and then insists she wants to marry him after tricking him. She’s studying ‘English Honors’ because ‘cool’ people join that course. But not once do you really care whether Ram Bharose and his girl manage to get married to each other.

The romantic tracks are ghastly and are standard guitar/Amit Trivedi type inanities.

Thankfully the very obvious ploy of having people with weird names marry each other keeps you smiling because the hero and the heroine are so boring. When a runaway bride is called ‘Milky’, the ‘Bhaag Milky’ track is a great funny thing to hear! So is the wedding song in Patna: You are my East/ You are my West/ Then why are you taking my test!




(this review appears on nowrunning dot com)

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