Pati Patni Aur Woh Do – Review

quick review:

Just because we have seen worse, doesn’t make a borderline slapstick attempt at rom-com entertaining. Yes, despite its whacky, hilarious premise.

Review

Girl asks boy to play fake boyfriend. The reasons are irrelevant, for now. Everything that can go wrong, does. And more. Now, add the reason—a politician is after the girl’s life. More things to go wrong. Oh boy is married and happily so, by the way. Need I say anything at all? And I haven’t given away anything that you wouldn’t know in the first 10 or so minutes of the movie.

It is actually quite funny, the situation that our boy, Prajapati Pandey (Ayushmann Khurana), finds himself in. But the choice to make it loud and tacky doesn’t serve the story. And that’s about sums up what it made me feel.

I guess that means I wanted to watch a different movie. One with a similar story but which tones down the exaggerated reactions and expressions, the intrusive aunt, the caricatured police officer, and so on. So, I am pretty much asking for this potential for a decent comedy film to take a Hrishikesh Mukherjee/Basu Chatterjee route. And that’s unlikely to happen, isn’t it?

Or maybe it will, some day. Until then, I can complain about the misuse of Ayushmann Khurana‘s talent even as I appreciate the promise of comic timing shown by Wamiqa Gabbi, Rakul Preet and Sara Ali Khan. Of course, the writing doesn’t have too many situations for them to explore that potential, but the half moments they grab on to are noticeable.

If only they spent some time on fleshing out the lines and situations instead of using up the energy to conjure up some random Hindu-Muslim situations. I get that it is satire full of social commentary. But it doesn’t land. Firstly, because it comes out of the blue. And secondly, well, it is just not funny.

It actually hurts to see a potentially comic situations making you cringe rather than giggle or even smile. Not that, that hasn’t happened before. But, I still feel bad and sad and everything that goes with it, when I know I could have watched something better, they could have certainly made something better. I guess that also means the hope still lives. Until the next time, then.

– meeta, a part of the audience

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