Release date:
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December 9, 2016
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Director:
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Aditya Chopra
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Cast:
Language:
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Ranveer Singh, Vaani Kapoor, Armaan Ralhan,
Julie Ordon, Ayesha Raza, Akarsh Khurana, Aru Verma
Hindi with a bit of French
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First let’s get
this out of the way: Ranveer Singh has a cute bum.
A flash of derriere
on screen is no big deal in some parts of the world, but in India where the Central
Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has so far deemed the display of certain desi body parts a non-desi, un-kosher activity, here is a
surprise. Singh gives us a
clear look at his wonderfully firm
backside as he runs into a hotel room to make love to his girlfriend in Befikre.
And the Censors
have not scissored out that shot! Nine years after they sought to preserve our
collective innocence by chopping out a glimpse of Ranbir Kapoor’s bottom in Saawariya’s towel dancing scene, mere Bharatvaasiyon, they have risked
ruining our sanskaar with the sight
of a man’s bare behind! A moment of silence please, at this great honour
bestowed on Indian adults by the CBFC. A moment to express our deep gratitude
for this acknowledgement of our maturity.
Thhoda zyaada ho gaya, na? You get the point
though? Okay then, I’m done with mocking the Censors. Now onward to the review.
Director Aditya
Chopra’s Befikre stars Singh and the
girl from Shuddh Desi Romance, Vaani
Kapoor, as lovers-turned-friends Dharam Gulati and Shyra Gill. He is a Delhi
boy who has just moved to Paris to perform as a stand-up comedian at his
brother’s nightclub there. She is a Parisian of Indian origin, a tour guide who
occasionally helps her parents run a restaurant.
Dharam is
perennially horny and a (sometimes creepy) pile-on, Shyra is not
interested in commitment but is up for a roll in the hay. They are two people
perfectly suited to each other’s wants and needs at the point in time when they
first meet. The film takes us through the year between their hook-up and
eventual break-up, and what follows.
Viewed entirely
from the surface, Befikre is fun.
C’mon, of course it is. Singh, as we all know, is a delightful bundle of energy
and an absolute charmer. Like him, Kapoor is not a conventional pretty face,
but like him she too has an arresting presence that makes her extremely
attractive. She also has one of the loveliest voices I’ve heard on a new Hindi
film heroine in a while: soft and delicate, like cotton candy.
An insensitive dare involving
begging and a fleeting rape joke from Dharam require a separate – long –
discussion. Set those aside, and his shenanigans are by and large amusing. The duo
also play off each other well.
Combine the lead
pair with Vishal-Shekhar’s foot-thumping music (not counting the decidedly
ordinary Khulke dulke / Ishq ki bungee), an unusual blend of Hindi and French in Jaideep Sahni’s
breezy lyrics and Vaibhavi Merchant’s infectiously lively choreography, and you
have an entertaining package in place.
I scrutinised the entire end
credits but could not find a mention of Kapoor’s fitness instructor and dance
teacher. Could someone give me their names, phone numbers and the money to
afford them, please? During an extended dance sequence between Shyra and
Dharam, at one point she faces him with both legs wrapped around his waist and
bends her torso backwards dipping her head deep towards the ground, then raises
herself up ramrod straight again, her legs still around his waist, without any
assistance from him, purely on the strength of her abs. If that was not camera
trickery or a product of special effects, here’s an aside to salaam you for
your muscle power, Ms Kapoor, and you for your imagination, Ms Merchant.
(Spoilers ahead)
The heart and soul of the film though
leave much to be desired. How many times will Bollywood re-visit the story of a
commitment-averse individual or couple who are buddies, find what they think is
love in the arms of others and finally realise they are meant to be with each
other instead? Films like Kunal Kohli’s Hum
Tum (2004, produced by Aditya Chopra) and Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal (2009) had novelty value and depth. Ayan Mukerji’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) and even Ali’s
Tamasha (2015) added new dimensions
to the discussion. Befikre is
entertaining at a superficial level, but at the end of the day it is nothing but old wine in a glossy new bottle.
So yeah, the couple
have lots of sex and make their own decisions unlike the sanskaari ladka-ladki who
bowed to the girl’s despotic desi
Daddy in Chopra’s debut film, Dilwale
Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), 21 years
back, but these are significant changes only if you assess the director’s filmography
in a vacuum without the context of everything else that Hindi cinema has done since
1995. Besides, ultimately this film – like most Bollywood films – is designed
as reassurance for conservative viewers that marriage can be the only
acceptable conclusion to a relationship between a hero and heroine (especially
if they have had sex).
Despite the generous
dose of smooching between the leads, Chopra cannot camouflage his underlying
conservatism. Note that after Shyra and Dharam break up, we see her in only one
romantic relationship, and she does not sleep with that guy. Dharam, on the
other hand, remains sexually obsessed, sexually active and has a long-term
involvement with a French hottie.
Note too how
lightly Dharam and,
more important, the film take white women. They are
nothing but bodies and sources of sex for him, creatures you
proposition, not human beings to be taken seriously
like the desi kudi he slept with.
None of this should
come as a surprise if you look back at the extreme regressiveness of DDLJ. The difference between then and
now is that, for the most part Befikre
is not regressive. What it is is a film pretending to be subversive,
revolutionary and evolved, when all it does is endorse a status quo.
That’s why Aditya Chopra’s
fourth film as a director (his first in eight years) is watchable for its
packaging alone and not for what lies beneath. Even Ranveer Singh and Vaani
Kapoor’s boundless verve, all that kissing, unbridled sex and tiny Western
clothing cannot mask the story’s traditionalist core.
Rating
(out of five stars): **
CBFC Rating (India):
|
UA
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Running time:
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132 minutes 47 seconds
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This
review has also been published on Firstpost:
Poster
courtesy: Yash Raj Films
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