I write a movie’s review only if I like it a lot or I completely hate it. Well I completely HATED Sorry Bhai.
The movie starts with Harry (Sanjay Suri) inviting his parents (Boman/Shabana) and brother Sidharth (Sharman) to his wedding in Mauritius. The mother is not happy with the fact that her son has decided to get married without consulting them but agrees to go to Mauritius. The family lands in Mauritius and meets Harry’s fiance Aaliya (Chitragandha Singh). Harry’s father and Sidharth like her but his mother takes an instant dislike to her. Since Harry is busy with his work most of the time, Aaliya takes it upon herself to take his family sightseeing around Mauritius. Fed up of Shabana’s veiled taunts Aaliya spends more and more time with Sidharth with whom she gets along well. Over the course of time Aaliya and Sidharth get attracted to each other and realise that they are in love. Sidharth feels guilty of this and tries to avoid Aaliya. But Aaliya has decided that she loves Sidharth and pursues him till he gives in. Sidharth breaks this news to his family and everybody is shocked. Don’t want to give away the rest for those who haven’t seen the movie.
The performances are mostly competent. The best of the lot are Shabana and Boman who once again play a much in love married couple (similar to Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.). Sanjay Suri and Sharman Joshi play their parts well. Chitragandha Singh is confident and has a good screen presence but she looks too old to play a college student.
The problem with Sorry Bhai is that its plain boring. The performances are competent but are not able to rise above the yawn-inducing screenplay. I had heard praises of the director Onir’s previous movies but this one is downright mediocre. Even though the effort is to give the movie a realistic feel, the relationships between the protagonists are anything but realistic. They way Aaliya decides one fine day that she is in love with Sidharth and decides to dump her 5 year old boyfriend for his brother is completely unbelievable. A lot of people (including me) will also have a issue with the moral implications of the story. Maybe I am old-fashioned but I find the idea of a guy falling in love with his brother’s fiance revolting.
The dialogues are good once in a while but lack good punch lines that are needed in a fun movie. The music is okay but does nothing for the movie. The cinematography is good and captures the beauty of Mauritiues very well. The main culprit is the screenplay which is good if you want to fall asleep (which I almost did).
My final take - I am stil wondering if this movie was supposed to be a comedy or romance or family drama. The main idea of a guy falling for his to be sis-in-law is bad enough. Throw in bad direction and screenplay and the outcome is completely unbearable. Don’t waste your time, money and sanity on this one. AVOID.