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Thursday, April 25, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD HALF GIRLFRIEND
EDITOR'S PICK
'Half Girlfriend': Performances save this half-baked mush (Review By Troy Ribeiro; Rating: **)
Adapted
from Chetan Bhagat's novel by the same name, director Mohit Suri's film
"Half Girlfriend" is a half-baked and clichéd romance pot-boiler that
does not raise the bar.
Narrated in a non-linear and formulaic manner, the only endearing point
in the film is the messages it passes on, ‘face your difficulties and
defeat your obstacles,' or in other words which simply translates to,
tenacity always triumphs.
Unfortunately, the film lacks depth and passion in terms of its
mounting. While the performances are noteworthy, it is the direction
and the script department that fails to impress. The plot seems
perfunctory and formulaic.
In this case, the tale pivots around Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor) the
Prince of Simrao, Bihar. He goes to Delhi to study at St. Stephen's
College, an elite college, on a sports quota as he plays basketball.
The issue here is, he cannot speak a single sentence in flawless
English and finds it difficult to cultivate friends as apart from his
English, his speech is soaked with heavy Bihari lingo.
A telephonic conversation with his mother reminds him that to stay
anywhere, you need a reason and you need to find it yourself. Just then
Madhav by happenstance sees a beautiful girl, Riya Somani (Shraddha
Kapoor) playing basketball. This becomes his motive and raison d'etre
for staying back in Delhi. What further ignites his keenness to
befriend Riya is her faultless and fluent English.
How he woos her to the very end forms the crux of the tale.
While on the face of it, the scenes seem to be astutely crafted, it is
the lack of maturity in handling emotions that surface blatantly,
especially in the scene when Riya's parents are fighting in the
background and she sings the song, "Stay a little longer with me baby,
won't you stay a little longer."
Also, the characters are poorly etched making them one dimensional
objects which makes it difficult to relate to them. Also the dubbing is
an issue especially in the scenes between Madhav and his Bihari
roommates.
There are some straight faced guffaws by Madhav that make the film
light and digestible.
The casting isn't perfect, yet, Arjun Kapoor is brilliant as the
slightly dim-witted, good hearted Bihari who speaks with an
inconsistent accent. Shraddha Kapoor as his lady love delivers an
equally spirited performance. But together their chemistry lacks
intensity. This is evident in the smooching scene and the scenes that
follow.
Apart from the duo, it is Vikrant Massey as Madhav's roommate and
well-wisher who makes his presence felt with a brilliant, razor-sharp
performance. Seema Biswas as Madhav's mother adds gravitas to her
character but, it is Rhea Chakraborty and Anisa Butt who enhance the
glamour factor.
The songs in the film are hummable and the film, as expected, with
excellent production values is all gloss and fluff but low on substance.
Actor Arjun Kapoor, who has portrayed a lover boy in films like "2 States", "Half Girlfriend", "Tevar" and "Ki & Ka", says he likes driving cars, but long drives are not his idea of romance. Read More
Arjun Kapoor wraps up shooting for 'Sandeep aur Pinky Faraar'
Actor Arjun Kapoor has wrapped up shooting for
his 10th film titled "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar". He says working with filmmaker
Dibakar Banerjee has been amazing.
Arjun on Thursday shared a photograph
of himself along with Banerjee and his co-star Parineeti Chopra from the film's
set, on Instagram.
"So, I just wrapped my 10th film with my first ever
co-star Parineeti Chopra! We've come a long way... It's been amazing working
with Dibakar Banerjee and his team who have madness, energy, zest and clarity.
Hope you guys like what we come up with on August 3Read More
When a quintessential Bihari boy enters the esteemed St Stephens college in
Delhi, amongst many things like language and class differences, he battles with
a new-age issue.
A new, unexplored relationship status that he finds himself in the middle of.
So what is this 'Half Girlfriend'? A space somewhere in between? Half-way there? Almost there, but not quite. Deep- but not deep enough... what does Riya really mean when she states she's his 'half girlfriend'?! What is this new relationship status?
