Happy Bhag Jayegi (2016) Review!!

Synopsis – After fleeing an arranged marriage, a feisty Indian woman finds herself stranded in Pakistan where the ex-governor’s son helps reunite her with her boyfriend

My Take – I guess we all know by now how much Bollywood loves situational comedies. While most of the films under the genre have usually nothing worth to talk about, they have more than often managed to send the producers to the bank laughing. While, this film may look like a rip off of the popular film Runaway Bride starring Julia Roberts & Richard Gere, I must say they share virtually nothing although in both films the plot is set into motion after the female protagonist, a bride-to-be, makes a dash for it on her wedding day. Nevertheless, despite the attractive looking trailers (& the gorgeous Diana Penty) apprehensions were high as this is only the second time successful writer Mudassar Aziz has donned the directors cap preceded by the long delayed horrendous Dulha Mil Gaya. Luckily for us, this Aanand L Rai (Raanjhnaa & the Tanu Weds Manu films) produced film, despite its shortcomings is mostly a fun film to watch. This is a clean family entertainer in the zone of both the Tanu Weds Manu films, which despite its ridiculous plot manages to win us over. The story follows Harpreet “Happy” Kaur (Diana Penty), who is in love with her college mate and struggling singer Guddu (Ali Fazal), but when her family insists she marry budding politician Daman Singh Bagga (Jimmy Sheirgill), the desperate bride-to-be runs away on the night of her wedding. The plan goes awry and she lands not in the arms of the man she loves, but in another country.

Thanks to a mix-up, Happy travels in the back of a truck from Amritsar to Pakistan and finds herself in the home of Bilal Ahmed (Abhay Deol), the son of an ex governor and a powerful politician Javed Ahmed (Javed Sheikh). At first taken aback by her abrasive manner, Bilal decides to help Happy. Instead of Happy returning to India and marrying Guddu, Bilal heads to India to bring Guddu to Pakistan and get the two married to avoid any opposition. But since we are in screwball comedy territory, the plot demands contrivances, coincidences, and chaos. The main thing the director gets right is the humorous tone of the film. It is pleasant, in parts laugh-out-loud but never low-brow or slapstick. Now, isn’t that refreshing? It is subtle humor which stays more or less consistent all through the film. It is some matured direction on his part to make a cross-border romance, without any jingoistic undertones. There isn’t an inkling of political commentary and yet the film beautifully puts its theme – human beings from both sides of the border are just same, all heart. Though in the second half, the screenplay’s logic takes a toss. But hey I am not complaining exactly. As you might have guessed, the plotting isn’t altogether comprehensible—or important. This premise is ripe with potential and the filmmakers maintain a light and breezy tone throughout. The laughs come fast and frequent in the first half as we watch the chaos that ensues on either side in the wake of this incident. Back home in Punjab, Guddu doesn’t know where his girl has vanished, and Bagga is mad at having been stood up. Meanwhile in Pakistan, Bilal, who is being groomed to become “the next Jinnah”, volunteers to help Happy reunite with Guddu so he can get her off his back. After a while, I stopped bothering about who was kidnapping whom and concentrated instead on the non sequiturs and asides the film kept tossing out; like when Happy, in the middle of one of her tirades, calls Afridi “Shahid ke chacha”. There’s a specific kind of joy in seeing Afridi roll out line after line in ornate Urdu, only to be responded to in earthy Punjabi (the film’s best joke is in the form of an untranslatable curse: “Tashreefein lag jayengi”), but there are even simpler pleasures to be had, such as Bagga’s supremely ridiculous blue shades. The Lahore of the film is lightly sketched (like the Karachi of Tere Bin Laden), with just enough detail to make the comedy seem rooted; yet it seems, to me at least, like a loving portrait. Set in a world overflowing with characters perpetually on the prowl for a good joke, the film survives its manufactured premise. The film bears the stamp of producer Anand L Rai’s Tanu Weds Manu films, and shares with Rai’s creations a love for non-stop banter, frantic pacing, conversations dominated by non-sequiturs and love-addled characters who are guided only by their hearts.

Bilal is transformed from a prissy political successor into a man of action by his undeclared attraction for Happy. Honestly, I really think this is the kind of cinema that the Hindi film audiences adore. It is a formula that just cannot fail in a diverse and colorful country like India. We Indians love to celebrate. The dozen or two religious festivals are just not enough. Festivities are an innate part of our lives. And marriage functions are the grandest of them all. For us, marriage is just not a union of two individuals but it’s an alliance of two families. It’s an occasion that gets everyone excited—be it the children, the young, or the old—for it is perceived as the greatest celebration of life. In short, the marriages are a singularly viable business. For Bollywood, it’s a bankable subject like no other. So, while the subject pretty much remains the same, the treatment of it often varies like the case with this film. This film also gives us a glimpse of the Pakistani upper class and presents the city of Lahore in all its charm. But the film loses some of its steam post intermission when the comedy takes a backseat to high-strung melodrama and contrived emotional subplots. The suggestion of a love triangle involving Bilal never rings true, and the climax feels rushed and a tad convenient. And although the film gets its title from its female protagonist, Happy is frankly the least compelling of the film’s characters. It’s an underwritten part and one that feels superficial and strictly surface level. Doesn’t help that Diany Penty is easy on the eyes, and while she definitely tries she doesn’t have the muscle to scratch beneath the surface and get under the skin of the character. Penty, who’s has had a long gap since her excellent 2012 debut in Cocktail, enlivens her somewhat prototypal “force of nature” role with comic energy and a surprising warmth. The men do most of the heavy lifting here, and they each get their moment to shine. Abhay Deol has several of these big moments, and he superbly brings out Bilal’s nuances, steering the character expertly through both the quieter and the laugh-out-loud scenes. Ali Fazal nicely conveys the restlessness of a separated lover and has an excellent drunk scene with Afridi. But without a doubt its Jimmy Shergill who steals the show with yet another excellent performance. Shergill, who has made a career out of getting stood up by women just before the wedding, takes off from where we left him in Tanu Weds Manu Returns. He is again huffing and panting to get the girl back. “Humaare cards batt gaye hain” he screams! The poor fellow who always ends up as the ‘bridesmaid.’ Momal Sheikh is likable. The supporting cast is well led by Piyush Mishra and Kanwaljit Singh. On the whole, ‘Happy Bhag Jayegi’ is an appealingly silly comedy which is harmless enough for a one time watch.