We all have wished at some point in our lives to have a glimpse in our future so that we can know what decisions to take in our present for a better tomorrow. But this is a wish that obviously cannot be fulfilled. Baar Baar Dekho tells a tale of a man who gets such an opportunity and whether or not he makes good use of it forms the crux of the film. The concept is novel but also bit confusing and niche. But the message is beautiful and something that people will definitely relate to!
The story of the movie: Jai Verma(Sidharth Malhotra) and Diya Kapoor(Katrina Kaif) are childhood friends-turned-lovers. Jai is a Mathematics professor and very ambitious while Diya is an acclaimed painter. When they decide to get married, Diya is over the moon while Jai is a bit apprehensive. He wants to excel in his career and feels that marriage can act as a roadblock. After a major fight, Jai goes to sleep and is shocked as he wakes up 10 days later at his honeymoon in Thailand. More surprises await him as he sleeps the next day and wakes up few more years later. In each period, he gets a glimpse of the future and gets quite shocked by how life is going to unfold.
Baar Baar Dekho begins beautifully with the montage of Jai-Diya’s growing up years and the song ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’ playing in the background makes a tremendous impact. The film is 140 minutes long but is quite breezy and light-hearted. The funny moments are very few but the film isn’t serious or depressing in any way. The Jai-Diya confrontation in the beginning is nicely executed and it’s great to see how Jai reacts when he wakes up 10 days later! The film gets better as he jumps few years later and again when he wakes up many, many years hence. The intermission point though predictable makes an impact. In the second half, the film does drag at places. Also, the novel concept of time travel is the best and also the not-so-great part of the film. It’s great because it makes for a unique watch and it’s not as great as it’s not well kept in front of the viewers. It is a bit confusing and also convenient at places. Also, it’s not mainstream and hence, the film won’t reach out to a wider audience. Thankfully, the film picks up towards the pre-climax and climax, when the essence of the film is unveiled. This entire bit is damn good and the Kala Chashma song during the end credits makes the whole thing very interesting.
Baar Baar Dekho boasts of nice performances but is not the best or most memorable acts of the actors. Sidharth Malhotra is quite nice and puts a sincere effort. His reactions and mannerisms are very important since he’s supposed to act shocked when he wakes up in the future and tries to get hang of things. And he does it well. Katrina Kaif looks super-hot and performance wise, she is quite nice and much better than her performance in her last 2 films – Phantom and Fitoor. She handles the delicate moments quite well. The chemistry between the two is superb and that’s one of the plus points. Ram Kapoor(Diya’s father) contributes to the fun in the movie. Sarika(Jai’s mother) lends able support. Sayani Gupta(Chitra) looks ravishing as always and does a fine job. Rohan Joshi(Raj) is good but could have been better. Taaha Shah Badusha(Jai’s brother) is quite okay and is wasted. Rajit Kapur(Pandit) plays an important part and is excellent. Others are nice.
Music is soulful and compliments the goings on well. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is the best followed by Kala Chashma, Teri Khair Mangdi, Nachde De Saare and Sau Aasmaan. Background score is exciting. Poornamrita Singh and Arjun Bhasin’s costumes are stylish and appealing, especially those worn by Katrina. Ravi K Chandran’s cinematography is beautiful. VFX is nicely done and looks quite real. Sri Rao’s story is interesting with a few rough edges. Anvita Dutt’s dialogues are great at some places and average at others. Sri Rao, Nitya Mehra and Anuvab Pal’s screenplay is engaging but could have been better. Same goes for Nitya Mehra’s direction. She has handled some moments exceptionally but there are places which needed more polishing. For instance, there are places where Jai’s confusion of waking up in future doesn’t look justified. How does he know what to make for breakfast? How does he reach the college in Cambridge and how does he go to other places – how did he know the way? Also, one doesn’t really at places relate well to the problems he faces. All in all, a good effort by Nitya and she can excel big time especially if she gets a foolproof script in future!
Some of the best scenes:
All songs
Diya talks about marriage to Jai
Jai meets Diya’s father
Diya’s father gives Jai the ‘chawal’(hilarious)
Jai fights with Diya
The honeymoon
The hospital sequence
The intermission point
Jai wakes up as an old man
The last 20 minutes
On the whole, Baar Baar Dekho rests on an interesting premise and has a great message in the end. The performances are fine more or less and Sidharth Malhotra-Katrina Kaif’s chemistry is crackling. However, the time travel bit though novel is not well explained and executed. Some portions are unconvincing and even dragging. It’s surely an ek-baar-dekho type of film if not a baar-baar-dekho types!