Befikre (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – Set in Paris, Befikre is a free spirited, contemporary love story of Dharam and Shyra, who find love in an impulsive, engaging series of experiences. Doused in the spirit of Paris, it celebrates love- sensual, carefree and focused on living life to the fullest.

My Take – Bollywood audience loves a good love story and who better to serve it to us than Aditya Chopra, the man who practically taught a whole generation how to say “I Do”. Yash Raj Films head honcho Aditya Chopra had redefined romance for an entire generation back in 1995 with his debut film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. A film, that till date, inspires people to fall in love became, hence becoming a cult classic. While there have been several films that have tried to create similar magic, none have been even a close second. Chopra himself followed it up with the equally likable Mohabbatein and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, films appreciated for their writing, chemistry, direction, and music. Almost after a decade, he is back with familiar motifs of the Yashraj genre i.e. -dead gorgeous stars, beautiful locations and perfect music with a take on modern day love stories, and how the youth perceives love as and the trailers indicated a effortless, breezy and no committal take. But is it really? This film is one side of Indian Cinema which actually wants to convey that gone are those days of love and romance which had commitment from either. This film wants us to believe that in today’s world, relationships are absolutely loveless, devoid of soul, driven by lust and fear of commitment. Carefree irresponsible approach is the way to live relationships. But is it actually true? Why should we as an audience even believe this when there are enough stories around us which convey beautiful sides of love, commitment and passion? I was even wondering while watching the film that does the film even care about love, life and relationships. Honestly, I don’t mind rom-com movies but when it comes to scripting, but director Chopra should’ve been a bit cautious about what to write. This film about carefree relationships suffers due to predictability and seems more like a tour guide to the beautiful city of Paris while crossing the fine line between modern romantic-comedies and vulgarism. Without a doubt, this film is a huge disappointment.

The story follows Shyra (Vaani Kapoor), a young, carefree, and promiscuous French tour guide born to Indian restaurateurs and Dharam (Ranveer Singh), a standup comedian from Delhi who has come to Paris to perform in a friends club. After meeting at a rave party followed by a one night stand, Shyra gives clear instructions to Dharam to not call her, because ‘the party’s over’ and she is not looking for anything long-term but Dharam, the Delhi boy doesn’t want to yet let go of her. After a series of ‘dares’ that they perform for each other, the two end up moving in and predictably, monotony seeps into their relationship. A year after their break up, their paths cross again and they decide to start over, as just friends. But can they remain just friends? The biggest surprise here is that there is barely a story here and the fact that the director chooses to oscillate his narrative between flashbacks and the present day adds to the confusion on screen. The strange part of the screenplay is that every major action by the protagonists of the film is driven by ‘I dare you’ phrase. And when this ‘dare’ is given, the person can go to any extent to accept the challenge, be it slapping a traffic cop, walking into a party hall in just an underwear, dancing on a library table along with skin show, romancing in car by roadside, just jumping to bed etc. And to add to my dismay, they were able to get away from everything. Back in 2005, the Yash Raj banner had released a hollow film with similar notions called Neal ‘N’ Nikki starring Aditya Chopra’s younger sibling Uday Chopra and it seems like we are watching the same film again just with better actors. What was the effort of Aditya Chopra through this film? Was he targeting today’s youth? Hasn’t he misunderstood the youths? For the first hour, the film goes back and forth in time, tracking the pair’s progress from hook-up to live-in couple, and returning periodically to their uneasy present. Watching the two try and out-brazen each other is amusing at first (there’s a whimsical scene, built around a cornflake, which takes place in a department store) but eventually, I began to wonder when the stakes would be raised, if there were to be stakes at all. Complications do surface, but Dharam and Shyra, with their dares and their rebellion and their annoying energy, are more t-shirt slogans than characters in whom one can emotionally invest. For a film about relationships, there’s little insight offered into why we behave the way we do in love and lust, just a reiteration of that old chestnut: former lovers can’t be friends. Written by Aditya Chopra himself, the film would have still been a refreshing change on Bollywood romances had the tempo of being carefree been maintained throughout the film. But while first half is breezy and entertaining, the second half is marred majorly because of the predictability because as much as he’d want his characters to be noncommittal, they all ultimately follow Bollywood’s school of romance and that’s what this film ends up being, a typical Bollywood love story with a yawn-worthy twist in the middle. I agree, it is difficult to imagine Aditya Chopra directing a more successful film than his debut blockbuster DDLJ, a saccharine love story which remains an important part of pop culture 21 years after it turned Shah Rukh Khan into a Bollywood superstar.

But in a recent note, Chopra said he wouldn’t make a Raj-Simran love story if he were to release his first film today. This film was meant to be his leap forward, from stories where family and traditions were barricades in the path of true love to today’s time when the real hurdle is in the mind of the two protagonists, and a committed relationship is not always a priority. But with a story that is devoid of any soul, the plot seems remarkably empty. The run time seems a tad long. While the first half progresses at a brisk pace, the second half stretches. The film seems more like is a personal diary of director Chopra who chose to market it as something about no-strings-attached relationships. There is, however, some humor in the drama, contributed mainly by Ranveer Singh, yet, there are too many improbable situations here, which makes the whole shindig slightly unbelievable for the viewers, for example Dharam shares an apartment with two homosexual women, while Shyra observes licentiousness while living with her parents. Convenience looks good in a store, not in a film. There is so much of that here, that it flip flops from one idea to another, and often churns out dialogues pinpointing certain stereotypes and gives out critiques which do not pass muster. In my opinion, today’s youth are more impulsive, which is not a novel thing about them, but writer Chopra thinks of it as a paradigm shift as we move ahead in life. Coming from the house of Yash Raj films who gave us some fantastic romantic-comedies like Hum-Tum, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Band Baaja Baaraat and the bold Salaam Namaste, this film will come as a shock to few folks who have been an ardent fan. More disappointing is the fact it is Aditya Chopra who has directed illogical and elusive film which is not only difficult to tolerate but digest as well. Sure, Chopra and dialogue writer Sharat Katariya manage to infuse some freshness in Singh and Kapoor’s exchanges, but those moments are far too few to count. They barely share any chemistry and try their best throughout the film as to compensate for the flimsy script. Led by a structurally hollow screenplay, the cast and crew really try their best in delivering a commendable piece of work. The music by Vishal-Shekhar are a big plus of the movie and are a notch above hum-worthy. Kaname Onoyama, the film’s cinematographer is gifted with the art of turning any frame into a beautiful piece of art. Every sequence has been painted beautifully! Another factor the film has going for it is that it’s highly watchable for the sheer audacity of the leading pair. An actor like Ranveer Singh can make a movie like this worth watching. Ranveer‘s flamboyance makes you believe that he is in fact, Dharam and he has emerged a champion with this one too. After a remarkable debut in Shuddh Desi Romance, Vaani Kapoor transforms herself into the hot, sensuous French-Indian Shyra, who doesn’t shy away from one night stands, checks her ideal man’s ass and doesn’t know if marriage is meant for her. Kapoor’s character in debut film made us sympathize with her. She was traditional yet spunky. Here, she has spunk yet you can’t connect to Shyra much. What she wants is never really clear. At one point she doesn’t want her boyfriend to say “I Love You” but at the other point cries when he breaks her heart. With a poorly written character, Kapoor really struggles to maintain the tempo. She is an emotional Indian chick in one scene and a French girl who has zero expectations from her guy the other time. Having lost oodles of weight, Kapoor looks stunning in certain scenes but there’s something seriously wrong with her jaw. The supporting cast does their work well too but other than the lead characters there isn’t any scope for a standout performance. On the whole, ‘Befikre’ is a gorgeous looking mediocre film which falls into its own trappings due to its weak direction and terrible story line.