After much brouhaha over its release, director Karan Sharma’s debut film titled Bhool Chuk Maaf, under the banner of Maddock Films, has finally hit the theatres. Starring Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi in the lead, the film also boasts of some talented veteran actors like Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Raghubir Yadav, and Zakir Hussain, in supporting roles. The movie, which intends to be a light-hearted, fun romcom, toys with the concept of time-loop against the backdrop of an impending wedding. Does it make for a fun watch, inviting tons of laughter in the process? Read on to find out.
Story:
Unemployed Ranjan Tiwari (Rajkummar Rao) and Daddy’s darling Titli Mishra (Wamiqa Gabbi) are hopelessly in love, but her father (Zakir Khan) doesn’t approve of her love interest. When the much-in-love couple’s plan to elope and get married doesnt reach fruition, Titli’s father agrees to their union on the condition that Ranjan gets a government job in the next two months. From trying his hands at bribing Bhagwaan (Lord Shiva) with a mannat, to bribing a shady dealer named Bhagwaan Das (Sanjay Mishra) with money, Ranjan tries his hands at all kinds of jugaad (quick workarounds) and finally lands a government job. The auspicious wedding day is set at 30th of the month and the pre-wedding festivities begin. However, strangely, Ranjan finds himself stuck on, and reliving the 29th day of the month over and over again. While he tries to figure out why he isn’t able to wake up on his wedding day, a series of events transpire as he relives the day of his Haldi ceremony, night after night. Will Ranjan be able to break this time-loop curse and finally be able to get married to the love of his life? That’s what the rest of the film is about.
Review:
Written and directed by debutant Karan Sharma, Bhool Chuk Maaf is set against the backdrop of the holy city of Varanasi. Right from the word go, the film makes it abundantly clear that it is all set to join the league of a number of other heartland family entertainers previously attempted in Hindi cinema that make for a fun and frivolous watch. In his attempt, Karan tries to toy with some interesting ideas, but fails to deliver a snackable and entertaining film. The concept of time-loop is, thankfully, still not done-to-death in Hindi films as yet, and tying it with a heartland romcom seemed like an interesting idea on paper. However, Karan along with Haider Rizvi (co-credited for writing the screenplay and dialogues) doesn’t take the leap to make it remotely imaginative or interesting to watch on screen. The aspect that makes time-loop stories engaging to watch is the guessing game that the viewers end up playing, every time the protagonist relives the events of the same day. It also serves as a test for the writers’ creativity and ability to reimagine the goings on of the day, that would lead to different (or same) outcomes that impact the main plot. This is the aspect on which most time-loop stories fail to deliver, falling into the trap of presenting the viewers with montages of the protagonist reliving the events of the day and Bhool Chuk Maaf is no different.
The film starts off well with establishing the premise and the background of the leading pair, however, it takes forever to get to the point of the time-loop aspect. Once it reaches that part, it takes an eternity to reach its conclusion. This speaks volumes of the lacklustre and lazy screenplay, considering the film’s duration of just 121-minutes – which seem like a lifetime. The inclusion of random songs, especially in the first half, just highlights the apathy of the writers who only seem to be interested in filling the runtime of the film, to make up for unimaginative plot points. The film tries to be funny with lame, crass, and puerile jokes that seldom land. What takes the cake is the fact that by the time the movie reaches its concluding moments, it ends up becoming a social service sermon, rather than a delightful romcom that the viewers opted for in the first place. We don’t understand why all heartland stories “need to” end with a social message? Why can’t we have some harmless fun at the movies with small-town stories and unlikeable characters taking the centre stage?
Rajkummar Rao seems to have gotten stuck in the rut of playing the boy-next-door small-town hero. While his acting prowess is, arguably, unparalleled, his performance in the film ends up giving a major sense of déjà vu. What came across as refreshing and impressive from his characters in films like Bareilly Ki Barfi and Stree, is now leaving us with a sense of been-there-seen-that with films like Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, and Bhool Chuk Maaf. The actor tries his best to bring some freshness to another character from a similar milieu, but he doesn’t find a solid footing in the script to do so. His comic-timing remains impeccable, but is now becoming repetitive – what with his similar dialogue-delivery, actions of throwing his limbs in the air with abandon, and flouncing around in desperation. An actor with his calibre deserves so much better.
Wamiqa Gabbi comes across as a breath of fresh air with her act but the traits attributed to her character are quite annoying. The problem lies in the brief of her character, which is surprisingly one-note. Even though, she seems to have nailed the tonality, which we believe was intended to be that of a papa ki pari who’s smitten by love, the screenplay doesn’t do her much justice as after a point, the story just seems to revolve around Rajkummar’s Ranjan and Wamiqa’s Titli is reduced to making guest appearances here and there, especially in the second half. Another shocking aspect is how the film makes no attempt to utilise the potential of its brilliant supporting cast members. Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Raghubir Yadav, and Zakir Hussain – are all wasted as the script doesn’t make any attempt to develop their characters. They’re reduced to being stock characters in the background, with none of them getting even a single moment to shine.
Tanishk Bagchi’s music fails to leave any mark. Considering that the film has an impending wedding, there could have been at least one foot-tapping number. Sawariya Tera attempts to be that one pre-wedding song, but it’s quite forgetful when viewed outside the workings of the film. Other than that, the remaining tracks don’t even deserve a mention. As far as the recreated versions of Chor Bazaari and Koi Naa are concerned, well, we’d rather listen to the originals. Sudeep Chatterjee’s cinematography does a decent job at capturing the vibrant ghats and bustling by-lanes of Banaras (Varanasi), however, much like the performances of the cast, it’s not enough to mask the flaws of the film.
Verdict:
Despite an interesting idea of a time-loop tale set against the premise of an impending wedding in yet another small-town of the country, Karan Sharma’s Bhool Chuk Maaf ends up being a half-hearted attempt at delivering an entertaining film. Even though Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi try their best, they are unable to salvage this unimaginative, unfunny, and lacklustre film.
Bhool Chuk Maaf
Watch in: Theatres, or on Prime Video in two weeks
Director: Karan Sharma
Writers: Karan Sharma, Haider Rizvi
Cast: Rajukmmar Rao, Wamiqa Gabbi, Sanjay Mishra, Raghubir Yadav, Seema Pahwa, Zakir Hussain, Vineet Kumar, Ishtiyak Khan, Akash Makhija
Rating: 2 stars
