BOTTOM LINE
A Disastrous Love Story
RATING
1/5
RUNTIME | PLATFORM
1 hr 37 mins, Disney+ hotstar
What Is the Film About?
As her flight is delayed, a ‘culture analogy’ student Bobby bumps into Rishi, who’s pursuing his MBA. While the duo doesn’t have much time on hand to spend – hardly a day, they enjoy each other’s company, roaming around the streets of Cambridge. Despite the mutual attraction, they part ways, only to meet two years later, at a funeral. Where’s their relationship headed?
Performances
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Vardhaan Puri tries too hard to be cool, mimics several popular actors, but manages to shine occasionally when he holds his own. By all means, this is a disastrous debut for Kaveri Kapur (Shekhar Kapur and Suchitra Krishnamurthy’s daughter). She has a long way to go in all departments – dialogue delivery, acting mettle and comes across as more annoying than vivacious. Apart from an okayish Lillete Dubey, none of the other cast has anything credible to offer.
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Analysis
It’s not a pretty sight to watch the fall of a filmmaker who at once held so much promise. No prizes for guessing it that we’re indeed discussing Kunal Kohli – the same director who once gave us films like Fanaa, Hum Tum and a reasonably tolerable Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (though a box office dud). He’s been on a free-fall mode ever since and the embarrassment continues with his new film.
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Bobby Aur Rishi Ki Love Story is as (un)original as its title. The female lead, named after Dimple Kapadia’s iconic character Bobby in the Raj Kapoor-directed classic coincidentally meets a happy-go-lucky man Rishi, as her flight is delayed due to bad weather. In quick time, the duo hit it off over random conversations, roaming in and around an alien city, only to part ways and reunite later.
Did the premise remind you of another popular film? Well, you’re not alone. The Hindi film is the second instance of Kunal Kohli trying to create a newer version of his own film – Hum Tum (after the Telugu film Next Enti) and singlehandedly destroy whatever little respect that the fraternity and movie lovers have for him. The least one could do with it is to make a sincere effort to tell a story.
Strangely enough, there’s not a single scene in the romance drama – where we sense that the couple on the screen is actually in love. Both the leads in the film have zilch chemistry and the terrible, non-existent plot worsens their plight. The two keep bickering, talking about the random-est topics on the planet like there’s no tomorrow. The only bonus – is the free UK darshan, through their eyes.
Every time the director falls short of ideas, he slips into a song. (one of the songs – Tappe – is more or less a direct lift from Animal’s Saari Duniya Jalaa Denge) In an attempt to keep the memories of their ‘special bond’ alive, the couple doesn’t seek commitment and unexpectedly meet two years later. The reunion is far from unique and the climax is as bizarre as it can get.
It takes a very strange reason for Rishi to meet Bobby at a wedding. While making love with his fiancee, he mistakenly ‘moans’ her name and gets thrown out of her house. It’s quite clear that the team truly needed some excuse of a film to fulfil a commitment to launch its lead actors – but they could’ve found a way to make the deal less obvious and more enjoyable to the viewer.
The writing is lazy, the acting is worse and the music (not that it’s great) keeps trying to fill the gap whenever necessary. Bobby Aur Rishi Ki Love Story is a nightmarish love saga that has nothing going for it. Even with the barely 90-minute-long runtime, it’s a true patience tester.
Music and Other Departments?
Amar Mohile’s background score makes little or no impact – probably also because of the terrible story which never quite draws us in. It takes quite an effort from a team to involve half a dozen composers like AR Rahman, Shaan, Sneha Khanwalkar (and Ashish Chhabra, Veer Pandya) and still not a deliver a single hummable number. Andrew Hall’s cinematography is among the brighter spots of the film. On the technical front, none of the other departments truly get to add much value to the product.
Highlights?
Cinematography
Select sequences in the latter part of the film
Drawbacks?
Terrible story
Weak performances
Amateurish execution
Did I Enjoy It?
No
Will You Recommend It?
Not at all – even if you have nothing special to do
Bobby Aur Rishi KI Love Story Movie Review by M9
