Aw bless. It tries hard. It really does. With a supposedly deep and seemingly multi-layered con story , “ Bunty Aur Babli” ends up going out of its depth and into silly territory. Apparently, it has lifted some story ideas from a bunch of Hollywood films , none of which I have seen.
Another factor that went against the film was that the grip, so essential in a film like this, was clearly missing. After a well-told twenty minutes, it became one of those routine films that we’ve witnessed time and again. The path the narrative moved was akin to those countless masala flicks that were popular in 1980s.
BAB is the story of two small town wannabes, Rakesh (Abhishek Bachchan) and Vimmi (Rani Mukerji), who have big dreams.
Rakesh runs away from home in Fursatganj because he wants to do something with his life while his father wants him to take up a job in the railways. Rani flees her city to escape getting married. Both have common dreams — Rakesh wants to be famous and Vimmi wants to be Misss India.
They bump into each other at a railway station. From then on, the film is about their chase to attain their desires, mainly by conning other people in a series of funny sequences. Oh yeah, there’s also DCP Dashrath Singh (Amitabh Bachchan) who’s chasing them.
Despite a novel concept, which had scope for experimentation, it falters because Shaad Ali seeks help of outdated and clichéd situations to move the story forward.His direction isn’t faulty, but his script is. In fact, the screenplay is of absolute convenience and abounds in cinematic liberties. Even the comic situatins are the type that look so unrealistic, like selling of Tajmahal!
There’s not much scope for music in the enterprise and barring Kajra Re, the remaining songs look forced. Cinematography is inconsistent; at places fine, at times patchy.
Rani does a fair job, although she needs to control her expressions at times. Abhishek does his part well.Not recommended to you or anyone for that matter!