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Thursday, September 28, 2023
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BOLLYWOOD PYAAR KA PUNCHNAMA
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: *** 1/2
"Pyaar Ka Punchnama" packs in a precocious punch. In telling the story
of three friends-cum-flatmates who get into `serious` relationships with three
self-serving working-class female monsters of the concrete jungle, debutant
director Luv Ranjan gives us a film that`s fresh, flavourful and finally hugely
rewarding.
Not that the film attempts to say anything we`ve not seen before. That`s the
beauty of this sometimes-embarrassing sometimes-disturbing, often-funny and
never-dull peek-a-boo at youthful life in the metropolis where human values are
frequently sacrificed for the sake of a trendy lifestyle or maybe just to get
even with a fast-moving materialistic city that doesn`t care how much you carry
in your heart as long as the credit-cards keep working their mall magic.
Meet Rajat (Kartikeya Tiwari) who, alas, meets Riya and his life changes
forever. Wish we could say, for the better. In terms of an emotional graph and
dramatic momentum, Kartikeya is the screenplay`s most appealing and inviting
character. That the actor plays his character with great gusto, just adds to the
charm of the proceedings. No doubt the Rajat-Riya track conveys echoes of the
Saif Ali Khan-Suchitra Pillai lamb-and-bully equation in Farhan Akhtar`s "Dil
Chahta Hai".
It`s not novelty for which this film wins extra points. It`s the sheer energy,
exuberance and sardonic humour that the director invests into building a case
against young men in the city `falling` (with a humping thud) in love with girl
so ambitious they would climb the highest peak at the slightest pretext. And we
aren`t talking about the Himalayas.
Though there`s a delectable sexual subtext to the relationships, Ranjan keeps
the proceedings surprisingly free of crassness. The vast eclectic material is
nimbly edited in a criss-cross of fast-moving vignettes taken from a suburban
immorality tale.
Apart from an inexplicable fixation on urination in the dialogues of the first
reel, the spoken lines communicate the musk of masculine prattle without getting
over-lurid or picturesque.
For a first film, Ranjan shows a remarkable grip over his characters` destiny.
If Rajat`s track moves at a vibrant volition, the nerdy Liquid`s (Divyendu
Sharma) one-sided devotion to the selfish office colleague Charu (Ishita Sharma)
reeks of a desperate romance that Somerset Maugham described in his novel
"Of Human Bondage" decades ago.
More recently we saw Omi Vaidya do the hangdog Romeo in Madhur Bhandarkar`s
"Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji".
Divyendu is a solid actor. He gives to his wimpy cranky character an easily-recognisable
profile.
The plot involving Chaudhary (Raayo Bhakhirta) and his promiscuous lust-interest
is the feeblest of the three love-tracks. And it suffers only in comparison with
the sturdy momentum that the director allots to Rajat and Liquid`s rather sordid
love stories.
Deftly written and edited with words and situations straight out of real life,
"Pyaar Ka Punchnama" is the kind of rugged romantic-comedy that brings
the smile back into the genre. The performances specially by Kartikeya and
Divyendu are rock-solid, imbuing the light-hearted but never-frivolous goings-on
with flavour and strength.
Kartikeya`s four-minute-45-second improvised monologue on how confusing feminine
conduct gets for the male species is priceless in its piquancy.
Peppery and pertinent, this is a film that no one should miss. True, it is a
story about the below-the-belt follies of the young. No matter what your age you
will see a slice of your own spousal relationship in the vicious circle that the
plot creates around its three heroes.
The ultimate horror flick? You got it! This one is about how scary the man-woman
thing gets because most of the time men don`t know what women want.
You see, woman don`t want men to know. That`s the secret this
devilishly-delightful film lets out.
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