Movie Review : (Is movie se) BACHAANA

I find myself dumbfounded by all the people who are raving about Bachaana. For one, there is nothing so great or even different about the story line nevertheless we have seen run-off-the-mill plots being shot and played out so well in the past (hint: Humsafar) that, that is hardly bothersome here. So the movie starts with a lucky-go-natured, Indian girl Alia (Sanam Saeed) who is meeting her husband Jahangir (J) (Adeel Hashmi) for the first time in Mauritius (also her first time anywhere except her home ever, apparently) and is driven back to the hotel by a Pakistani cab driver Vicky (Mohib Mirza). The opening scene tries to set the tone of the movie by introducing some humour but fails. That is something I found continuous throughout the length of the film, the director just tries too hard at everything; the jokes (you will hardly find a dialogue or two funny in an entire scene), establishing the characters of the lead actors (Alia wears this ridiculous mutlicoloured dress for the better part of the movie because she is a carefree, jolly girl?). One thing I found absurd is how Alia is telling Vicky her life stories and suddenly gets taken aback upon finding out his nationality. I’m not sure if this could be true, but most of the people wouldn’t react like so in my opinion. In fact, they would ask and share more about where they are from etc. People from similar cultures are inclined to come closer when in a foreign land which would make more sense.

When you watch some brilliant American television and movies on repeat, something like this becomes so indigestible. The police force, gangs and pretty much everyone else you will see in the movie is of Pakistani origin. There is a scene where Alia and Vicky enter a cinema to hide while on the run that is showing Bin Roye of all the movies to a half-packed theatre. This is also where the latter finally tells the former that being with her is too dangerous and that he has an entire family to support back home that can’t survive if something happened to him. This I found pretty sensible until he leaves the theatre only to find posters of Ethan Hunt (M.I series), James Bond and MAULA JUTT on the wall outside and suddenly finds himself inspired and transformed into this macho man who must go back to get the lady out of trouble, forgetting about his family that is absolutely dependent on him for their survival.

The direction of the movie dances between extremes – really good camera angles that make the seemingly similar, boring chase scenes bearable, and unnecessary slow movements and close-ups to stress a point. There are a number of scenes where the lead pair runs and turns about in slow motion just to point out the significance of the scene even when there is none. There a few close-ups of Adeel’s character to force the audience to see him as a villain when his appearance hasn’t been worked on and he has been given almost no dialogues whatsoever to show that side in him. The gang chasing after the duo catches up to them on so many different occasions but just watches them run away from a distance because perhaps the director decided that it wasn’t time for the end yet. The scene towards the end where Vicky buys a nice dress for Alia and she suddenly comes out of the changing room with her hair and make-up refreshed and necklace changed, really gets to me! She also only sees the price tag after wearing the dress and then argues with Vicky not to buy it for her as it is way too expensive. I don’t think my not being romantic is the problem here. Bachaana might be a step ahead for us in film making but is definitely two steps back in terms of qualitative writing which has been our real strength up till now.

The plot summary might have looked good on paper but it would take a lot more comical scenes and twists to make this movie worth watching in the real sense. The make-up artist, Madiha Qaiser did a really good job on Sanam’s look but everything would have made more sense if they had gone with a no make-up look after the chasing starts. I have no doubt Sanam could pull it off! I don’t remember seeing any Bollywood or Hollywood actress running through jungles with tight curls in her hair and strong blush across her cheeks. The actors are the only good thing about this movie. They play their parts with such convictions and natural ease that I think they actually believed in the project. Their passion, chemistry, sync, everything is quite visible on-screen. Their talents are obviously wasted. The almost-no-songs policy really made a good difference (mainly because I didn’t have to sit through any longer). The only two to three songs that feature, are a decent attempt but nothing worth talking about.

I find this movie so low on its logic quotient that it’s just shocking to know that this is a Pakistani project. The end fails to address what happens next because the important issues still remain – Vicky and Alia are still from different countries, Vicky’s visa is still going expire, Alia is still married according to the laws in her country etc. Despite all of it, I laughed through most of the film because of the absurdity it showed, almost like a South Indian movie dubbed in Hindi.

Verdict – Perhaps you can enjoy the movie in bits, the make-up, some excellent, international quality camera work, the extreme conviction from actors, but put together, on the whole, this film has nothing more to offer than two people running around for some two hours. Watch it only if you are a die-hard fan of the lead cast and are hell bent on supporting the cinematic revival.

Acting: 4/5

Dialogues: 2.75/5

Direction: 2.5/5

Cinematography: 2.5/5

Locations: 4/5

Musical score: 3.5/5

Plot: 2.5/5

Average: 3.10/5

For full mp3 songs, BTS and screenshots download of the movie, here are the links to check out 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/522o31tfvk0htez/AACc4rNpA-Zfw9lDE6q1Kbyja?dl=0