CAST: Parineeti Chopra, Ayushmann Khurrana

DIRECTION: Akshay Roy

GENRE: Romance

DURATION: 1 hour 59 minutes

STORY

Bindu is an aspiring singer who doesn’t play by the rules, instinctively warms up to and then ditches new projects, cities and boys and cannot give her childhood sweetheart, Abhimanyu, the one thing he most craves: stability.

REVIEW

At one point, Abhimanyu’s (Khurrana) agent tells him, “Don’t try to write like Gulzar.” The writers of the movie should have paid heed to their own character’s advice. The dialogue often employs abstract lines to describe simple situations. An army Major randomly spouts, “One of you had to get hurt” with full emotion. You don’t expect this of him. There’s a throwaway pun about “coming” that just doesn’t fit. Bindu (Chopra) says something that’s right out of a self-help book but quickly declares it as, “Thought of the day,” as if to cover up the corny.

The movie as a whole skirts the corny territory too. It’s the simplest rom-com plot: Boy meets girl. He climbs a tree into her room, childhood tricks turn into grown-up troubles and somewhere along the line, friendship jumps the fence. Existential crises, circumstantial woes and physical distance are placed at regular intervals and love is made to run this hurdle race.

While the movie stumbles in a lot of places, it works purely on one count: as a romantic comedy designed to hit that sweet spot between your lungs, every once in a while. Chopra and Khurrana make for an electric couple; their real-life love for Bollywood music comes through. They’re silly and adorable together, like leads of a romcom are supposed to be. There’s ample Bong humour, sweet moments that allow the actors to shine and some catchy songs that play over montages. It’s like watching a string of meet cutes that don’t really lead to much.

It’s a delight to watch Parineeti Chopra, especially because she has a lot more to do. Her character has quirks and flaws and lows and highs and she’s more realistic. In comparison, Ayushmann’s one-note character seems to exist only to deal with the consequences of Bindu’s actions. But Khurrana manages to be charming in spite of that. Meri Pyaari Bindu will appeal to the romantic in you, but watching the movie will be a battle between the brain and the heart. Your brain and the movie’s heart, that is.