Happy Ending Review {3/5} & Review Rating
In the years gone by, Bollywood has been a witness to many changing trends (read 'genres'). Amongst all the genres that we have experienced so far, what reign supreme and are considered to be the most privileged genres are romance, action and comedy. This week's release is the Saif Ali Khan and Ileana D'Cruz starrer HAPPY ENDING, which too, falls in the genre of rom-com.
Needless to say that, Saif Ali Khan, after the debacle of BULLETT RAJA and HUMSHAKALS, has got all his hopes pinned on this film. Will this film manage to catapult him to the top slot where he once belonged and will this film also manage to make its filmmakers and audiences 'Happy' by the 'Ending' is what we will find out. Let's analyze.
HAPPY ENDING starts off on a 'happy starting' (no pun intended here!). It starts off with Kareena Kapoor's character (cameo) confessing her love by telling those three magic words to Yudi, a one-book wonder author and someone who is (self-confessedly) not allergic to 'I Love You', but the baggage attached with it'. And when Yudi doesn't reciprocate her feelings, Kareena's character shows him the middle finger (quite literally!). No sooner does she exit Yudi's life, enters Vishaka (Kalki Koechlin), a dentist by profession, and is head over heels in love with Yudi. She loves Yudi so much that she even installs a mobile app called 'Nospace' on his cell so that she can keep track of his whereabouts. While she leaves no stone unturned in gaining his attention, Yudi is totally unmoved by her and her feelings and emotions towards him and wants to constantly break up with her. Whenever Yudi is in trouble or feeling lonely, the only two people whom he always looks upto are his 'ex-girlfriend-now-a-mother-of-three childen' Divya (Preity Zinta), and his best friend of many years Montu (Ranveer Shorey), both of whom lend him a patient listening and help him sort out the mess of his life. Because he blows up all the money that he had made from his book, he returns back to writing but, he gets dejected when he sees that the same publishers hiring the gorgeous Aanchal Reddy (Ileana D'cruz), whose romantic novels sell like hotcakes. What peps him up is the offer to write a script for 'Armaanji' (Govinda), an actor who wants to capture multiplexes after having conquered the single screens. To get a hold of 'success formula' in writing, Yudi decides to befriend Aanchal. Taking resort to a few tricks here and there, Yudi not only manages to befriend her, but also lands up spending 'quality time' with her. Right at the start of this 'relationship', the duo agree to be together without falling in love with each other. While Aanchal is clear about this relationship, it is Yudi who goes onto realize that he has actually fallen in love with her!
Will Yudi gather the guts to confess his feelings to the very practical Aanchal, what happens to the status of his relationship with Vishaka, and does Divya and Montu's advice really make a difference in Yudi's messed up life and lastly, does Yudi manage to stage a writing comeback with Armaanji's film is what forms the rest of the film.
The director duo of Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK (popularly known as Raj and DK) who have previously made films like 99, SHOR IN THE CITY, GO GOA GONE, have tried to move an inch ahead of their comfort zone, but are not very successful at it as one would have expected them to be. They seem to be struggling with the film's plot mid way. While the first half of the film is enjoyable and bearable, it's the second half which tends to drag at many points. Even though the film is really funny in parts, a crisp hand at the editing table could have saved this semi-drag fiasco. The irony of the film is that the film falls into the same cliched category which the filmmakers have tried to make a mockery of! The film shows deep traces of the hit American show 'CALIFORNIFICATION' and Saif's own film HUM TUM.
As far as the performances of the film is concerned, HAPPY ENDING is a Saif Ali Khan film all the way... right from the word 'go'. This is a script which Saif can effortlessly carry and he does just that. He hardly falters in either of the two roles (we won't spoil the suspense of his second role) played by him. His chemistry with both Ileana and Kalki is sparkling and believable. There are places where his character reminds you of his earlier film COCKTAIL. One has to admit that, Saif has really come a long way in his double role as compared to his triple role in HUMSHAKALS. Ileana D'Cruz, on the other hand, continues her stint with sweet and bubbly character, much like her last film. A strange thing about this girl is that, despite having somewhat stereotyped roles, her performances just don't look repetitive at all! Maybe it's something that's got to do with the camaraderie that she shares with the camera and her co-stars. Kalki, who is back after her last hit film YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, is as usual, a delight to watch. When her real life quirkiness combines with her reel life character, the resultant is sheer magic. As far as the veteran actor Govinda is concerned, he shines in his role which seems like was written keeping him in mind. The only drawback is that the length of his role could have been increased in order to get the much-needed impact in the film. But, the cinegoers will surely rejoice to see him back on the silver screen in a comic part, as shown in this film. Ranveer Shorey lightens up the film's moments with his comic timing. Special brownie points to Preity Zinta, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Ileana's real life boyfriend Andrew Kneebone (blink and you miss role) for their cameos in the film.
The music (Sachin-Jigar) of the film is hummable. The songs that really stand out in the film are 'Paajitussi such a pussycat' and 'G phaadke' (despite its suggestive lyrics). Because of the film's hummable lyrics, the film's choreography (Remo D'Souza) also becomes praiseworthy. Raj and DK, who also double up as the film's writers, do a reasonably good job, if not splendid. Call it as their good luck or Censor's overlooking, one really wonders as to how Raj and DK managed to get away with a handful of expletives/ cuss words in the film, even though it goes with the 'flow' of the film.
On the whole, HAPPY ENDING is a film which leaves you with a happy feeling. It drags in parts but is worth a watch, at least for Saif's performance.
