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Thursday, March 27, 2025
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BOLLYWOOD DIL TOH BACHCHA HAI JI
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ***
½
Ummm….Picture to achcha hai jee. Disregarding the rather strenuously upbeat
ending Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji (DTBHJ) turns out to be quite a
charming and clever concoction. Though this time Madhur Bhandarkar, one of the
strongest celluloid creators of contemporary times, veers into virgin territory,
the trademark Bhandarkar touches, like the almost-incestuous use of sex as a
bartering point between the sexes, are evident everywhere in this multi-plot
story of love, sex and betrayal during times of laughter music and backchat in
Mumbai.
The writing (by Bhandarkar, Anil Pandey and Neeraj Udwani) weaves skillfully
through the hearts and conscience of our three heroes who are designed to be a
study in contrasts and yet so believable, you can touch their lives by just
watching them stumble, fall and redeem themselves in tentative, sometimes funny,
sometimes moving ways.
This, then, is the story of three house-mates wading through the concrete jungle
of Mumbai in search of love, sex and, yes, a sense of belonging. Their houses,
hearts and environment look believable. They are shot to resonate reality.
Though projected outwardly as a comedy, DTBHJ has deeper, darker resonances that
we cannot miss even if we are too busy laughing at the protagonists` clumsy
attempts to get lucky in love.
Bhandarkar`s narration communicates that sense of empty enjoyment that you can
feel under all the glitz and noise of Mumbai`s racing pulse. Omi Vaidya, who
plays the most idealistic love-seeker of the triumvirate, says to the go-getting
struggler from Mumbai(Shraddha Das) at a pub, How can people talk in
here? She of course doesn`t hear him. She`s lost in the pursuit of her
wanna-shine dreams that take her further and further out of reach of true love.
Vaidya is in splendid form here, far more in control of his character`s destiny
than in 3 Idiots. In the way he hybridizes his yankee accent with
Marathi and a sense of earnestness with a subtle tone of mischief, Vaidya is
absolutely endearing. So is Emran Hashmi. Playing the character with the
steepest graph, Hashmi goes from Tisca Arora`s toyboy to the new-age Devdas
rejected in love by the savvy NRI chick who has social conscience and a
practical attitude to men.
When Shruti Haasan (looking so lovely you know she`s found her metier in Hindi
films) turns around and tells the philanderer, Yeah, so we slept together.
So what? It wasn`t your first time nor mine, you know that Bhandarkar has
not abandoned his scathing and savage exploration of urban values which made his
heroine-centric dramas from Chandni Bar to Fashion so
unforgettable. He`s only added laughter to his cinema.
In DTBHJ, Bhandarkar walks a tightrope. He has to balance the laughter with the
dark underbelly of Mumbai`s beautiful, but alas, desolate people. Besides the
powerful writing (Sanjay Chel`s dialogues are tongue-in-cheek and sometimes
killing in their effectual demolition of the sacred cows of urban conduct) and
razor-sharp characterization (barring the caricatural people in Devgn`s office),
the film gets high marks for dead-on casting.
Every actor breathes life into the constantly mutating comedy. If we care for
all the three love stories that run in criss (never crass) cross it is because
the actors enacting the love relationships go beyond their own personalities in
search of the people they play. While Omi Vaidya and Emran Hashmi make a great
impact, it is Ajay Devgn, echoing Amol Palekar`s Common Man from the 1970s, who
must be congratulated in the loudest voice for abandoning his 6-pack
mean-mirth-machine image to play a mousy middle-aged divorcee with the hots for
his comely secretary.
Among the female cast, Shazahn Padamsee is extremely easy on the eyes and fits
her bubbly ingenue`s part like a chic glove. Tisca Arora as the bored socialite
who strays into a lust liaison with an ever-ready glorified gigolo, lends a
certain weight to the proceedings with her fiery eyes.
DTBHJ is a true-blue sex comedy that doesn`t lapse into unnecessary passages of
vulgarity and innuendos. Though Bhandarkar has sought inspiration from the
romantic comedies by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee, the style of
storytelling and the tantalizing merger of libido and urban morality would have
flummoxed those wondrous comedy makers.
Times have changed. So have the films. Thankfully we still have filmmakers who
believe the story is the hero. This is the world of Bhandarkar`s Page
3 coming together with the laughter of Blake Edwards` rom-coms.
A must-see film with enough meat in the plot to keep us engaged till the end.
And three heroes who never take off their shirts even when they are sweating in
nervous anxiety.
Love is like that only.
Actress Shraddha Das says that to play a struggling Bhojpuri actress in the forthcoming film "Babumoshai Bandookbaaz", she had to watch "Bigg Boss" when dancer-actress Sambhavna Seth had participated.Read More
Initially I was sceptical about doing 'Dil Toh...': Emraan HashmiEmraan Hashmi, who is making his maiden foray into comedy with Madhur Bhandarkar's directorial venture "Dil Toh Bachchan Hai Ji",Read More
Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji is a slice of life film about three men, namely, Naren Ahuja, Milind and Abhay Suri and their encounters with love!
A listless Naren Ahuja (Ajay Devgan), well in his thirties and going through a divorce, falls in love with a vibrant and bubbly June Pinto (Shazahn Padamsee) who has just stepped out of her teens.
Milind Kelker (Omi Vaidya), a native poet and an idealistic lover, is enamoured by an ambitious and practical Gunjan Sarkar (Shraddha Das) who is determined to follow her dreams.
A charming casanova Abhay (Emraan Hashmi), starts feeling an alien emotion called love, when he feels increasingly drawn towards Nikki (Shruti Haasan), a modern girl who knows her needs and speaks her mind.
Thus DIL TOH BACCHA HAI JI, with his real characters and relatable situations, takes a funny look at love and the extent to which people will go to avoid it or achieve it.
It`s a film that promises to bring a smile to your face.
Dil to Bacha hai Ji Press Meet 