’Rules’ scores as the one of the more refreshing films thru its honest performances (even by cheese cake Milind Soman, who incidentally also produces the film), zany script and unusual story.
So what’s it about? Radha a twenty something fashion photographer is moon over heels over jaw in love with Vikram, a male model. But Vikram is simply too good, has the gorgeous Maggie (Namrata Barua in an interesting role!) and hasn’t even met our little princess. Worse, Radha doesn’t know the ABC of how to snare a guy. The ABC (and D and E to make a total of five) is provided by - Enter Daadi, played by Tanuja with finesse. Granny dearest coaches Radha on how to go about getting Vikram. What stands out is the way Granny discusses love and lust (ok, she doesn’t discuss lust but at least recognizes and also - wonders of wonders, has commercial cinema grown up - makes a favorable remark about Soman’s torso when she sees him in the park.
So Radha sticks to her plan much like a one day cricket captain sets a field, knowing that sooner or later Mr, Hulk will sky his heart and she can catch it. Before you know it, she has met him at a fancy dress party, mystery mask, gone off to Ooty and even managed to smooch him. Now that’s something.
What I liked about Rules is the way the script develops ’side characters’ who post-interval merge into the main story. It is almost as if the director is telling us that, yes, love happens to people like you and me - and hey, what about putting them into the story as well, makes you identify with the story, hmm? The film also makes a telling comment on the way gays are perceived in our community. I could feel the theatre, almost guiltily, go quiet when the gay says ’if insults from people is the price to pay for true love, so be it’.
Rules also fails on at least two counts - one is that Radha implements the rules and the results appear almost with mechanistic ease and secondly that the ’love’ she defines (and gets) at the end is almost of the M and B variety. In that sense, Rules trips over itself.
At the same time, a perfect way for teenaged girls, women who want to feel like 16 and men who want to know how women think to spend the afternoon. Watch it.