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Release
date:
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September 21, 2018
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Director:
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Prerna
Wadhawan
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Cast:
Language:
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Richa
Chadha, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Raj Babbar
Hindi
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Life
is too short to be spent elaborately analysing non films like this one, so let
me cut to the chase. Ishqeria – a title
through which ‘writer’-‘director’ Prerna Wadhawan wishes to convey the
love sickness of her lead pair – is ordinary, flat and possesses not a single
imaginative bone in its entire body. At first I was tempted not to rate it at
all but on second thoughts, here you go Richa Chadha and Neil Nitin Mukesh,
this 0.5 star is entirely and completely awarded to you for keeping a straight
face instead of laughing your heads off on camera throughout this misadventure.
Ishqeria is about Kuhu (Chadha)
and Raghav (Mukesh) who meet while studying in Mussoorie. Their college is done
up in all the colours of the rainbow, bubblegum and candyfloss, and that is how
the girls dress too. She is dowdy and chirpy, he is quiet and elegant. She is a
much-mocked fresher, he is the most sought after senior around. She is middle
class, he is the son of the wealthiest man in Mussoorie.
Using
a strategy devised by her girlie gang, which includes evolving into a stylish
hottie, Kuhu manages to draw Raghav’s attention and they fall in love. Each of
the characters in this setting has been borrowed from college romances made
across film industries a zillion times before. To stir the pot up a bit, a Holi
song – once a Bollywood staple – is added to the recipe and one of Kuhu’s
friends is made to repeatedly say “tatti”
(shit) as some sort of cool signature word. I promise you I am not joking.
We
are told right at the start that Raghav is a suffering soul, harbouring a grand
grudge against his father. There is a kahaani
mein twist involving abortion that connects his past to his present
with Kuhu. Never mind what it is. Abortion is a serious issue, but Ishqeria does not have the intellect to
handle it with any degree of depth. Frankly it does not have the anything to
handle anything apart from a budget large enough that Wadhawan could afford to
cast Chadha, Mukesh and Raj Babbar (as Raghav’s father) plus ensure that the
production certainly does not look inexpensive.
Ishqeria switches between the
present and seven years earlier when Kuhu and Raghav were in college. Poor
Chadha suffers as a consequence, saddled as she is with big curls, a fringe and
pigtails by turns in an in-your-face effort to make her look like a teenager.
Perhaps she should be grateful that she was not asked to say “tatti” as a refrain to lend coolth to
her character.
Barring
a couple of initial scenes that Chadha invests with humour when Kuhu is just
settling into college life, Ishqeria
has nothing to offer. Wadhawan is so clueless that she packs her screenplay
with artificial conflicts and an unconvincing resolution. She and her
dialogue writer Radhika Anand struggle so hard to sound clever that I started
giggling at one point during a conversation which starts with Raghav asking his
friend Amit where he might find Kuhu, to which Amit inexplicably replies, “Kuhu koi jadibooti nahin hai jo koi dukaan
mein milegi” (Kuhu is not a herb that you might expect to find in a shop).
I gathered from the exchange that followed, that this might have been his way
of asking, “Why would you ask me?” or “Why the hell should I tell you?” Or
maybe it was a profoundly philosophical observation and I missed the meaning.
Whatever.
Since
the choice of title indicates that Ms Wadhawan is interested in disease names,
perhaps she could come up with a term for the affliction that causes some
people to think that any Tom, Dick or Prerna with the necessary funds has the
ability to make a good film.
Rating
(out of five stars): 1/2
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CBFC Rating (India):
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UA
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Running time:
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118 minutes
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This review has also been published on Firstpost:
Poster
courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishqeria
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