Bachna Ae Haseeno is intended to be a mint-fresh take on love and
relationships but only succeeds in it partly. The blame would primarily
go to some loose writing which failed to sustain the interest
generated during the initial reels, and instead gives us a monotonous
anticlimax.
(Note: This may contain some spoilers) The movie begins with Raj
(Ranbir Kapoor) narrating his own life’s story, which is basically
about the 3 love-affairs he had in the past. The first one takes place
when he is off to a holiday in Switzerland with his friends,
desperately hoping to catch sight of some babes, but only getting to
see herd of cows, and green grass, all round. Coming across another
group of girls, he sees Mahi(Minissha Lamba), and falls
head-over-heels for her. With a turn of fate(and thanks to his "faked"
and made-up coincidences), he ends up wooing Mahi, they come closer and
confess their love for each other. However, they have to part and only
then Mahi discovers that Raj just wanted to have a random fling with
her, to impress his friends. She is heartbroken and story fast-forwards
six years later. Raj is shown to be in Mumbai(working for Microsoft -
yes, you know, he’s a gaming industry professional), and into a(what
he thinks) a no-strings-attached live-in relationship with Radhika
(Bipasha Basu), an aspiring model/actress. When it comes times for Raj
to move to Sydney for some other assignment, he thinks it will be easy
for him to just move on, parting ways with Radhika. Little does he know
that Radhika is indeed serious in the relationship and is willing to
marry him. He comes up with all sort of excuses and schemes to make her
hate him but falls flat every time. Finally, he sees no other way to
get rid of her than flying to Sydney alone, leaving her waiting in a
bride’s dress. Story moves further and shows Raj having all the "fun"
he wanted to have in Sydney. As luck would have it, she meets another
girl - Gayatri(Deepika Padukone), actually falls in love this time, only to be
himself dumped by her this time. Down and out, he realizes it’s time to
make amends for all his deeds in the past and seek forgiveness from the
girls he had cheated upon. Rest of the story is how he goes about doing
this.
The first part breezes through with all the three stories nicely
narrated. The screenplay and narrative never seem to lose grip.
Each romantic angle, although short, is adeptly established and nicely
interspersed with elements of humor that ranges from subtle to even
suggestive(but all deftly executed). However, the second half of the
movie is a complete letdown and comes in as totally contrived. The
manner in which the hero seeks forgiveness from the two heroines, he
had wronged in the past, doesn’t seem convincing at all, and it fails
to evoke any sympathies for either side. Ditto for the part toward the
end where he finally wins over Deepika once again. With a more tight
and better-written second half, the movie could have been much more
watchable. The story has lots of other loopholes but I would rather not
dissect them here.
Of the star-cast, Ranbir Kapoor, playing his part of the incorrigible
Casanova, delivers a natural performance and impresses for the most
part. He did, however, (sometimes) seem ill-at-ease with his
comic-timing and dialog-delivery. Of the three heroines, Minnisha Lamba
gives an endearing performance as the hopelessly-in-love teenage girl -
cute, bubbly, vulnerable, all at the same time. Bipasha Basu does all
right but seemed labored uttering her lines. Deepika Padukone looked
good and did well in her part. A special mention for hero’s sidekick,
Hiten Paintal(son of veteran actor Paintal), who turns in a great
comic act. Kunal Kapoor, showing up towards the
latter reels, does okay.
The cinematography is impressive, and some of the songs are good.
"Aahista aahista" is just about hummable and "Khuda Jaane" is probably
the best of the lot. Other songs are just okay.
Despite its loose ends, the movie isn’t entirely unwatchable because of
the engaging first half, crisp dialogs, good performances, and its
share of some genuinely funny moments. Worth watching once, at best!