Befikre: Deplorable and Forgettable Cinema
12:54:00
WARNING: this review contains BRUTAL honesty and might
contain some spoilers (not that this movie can be spoilt any further).
Befikre’s trailers and pre-release promotion and hype had
already set the bar very low for me to expect anything from it. From the
unnecessary adult content to Vaani Kapoor’s horrible French, I went into the
cinema hall with zero expectations. And STILL, this movie managed to disappoint
me. Now before I begin, yes, I have seen worse attempts of cinema, for sure.
But the fact that this was a Yash Raj Films production just added to my misery.
My Take on the Promotional Campaign of the Movie
A few days before the release, I came across this ‘letter’
by Aditya Chopra (a part of a series of letters) describing his intent behind “Befikre”.
I was appalled really. He implied that this was his modernized take on DDLJ!
Yes, it’s his film and he can say whatever. BUT NO. Befikre is nowhere close to being in the same
league. One, his choice of lead actress is worse than poor. Two, this love story
that he claims he is narrating in a modern light? NO!
Romance does not have to be portrayed in such a way at all. I don’t agree. Yes, I am all for freedom, independence, equality and the likes but I really do feel that what was being promoted in the name of women empowerment in this movie was nothing other than brazenness. Live and let live; I am no one to judge anyone’s life choices, but describing the entire women kind in such light is what really put me off. I, for one, am a strong headed, open minded, independence-loving person, but I can BY FAR not relate to ‘Shyra’; not because of cultural or religious differences, but also because my idea of romance is still conventional. I really feel that it’s unnecessary to want to change the definition of love altogether.
Moving on, I came across this video series done by Vaani
Kapoor on Youtube, prior to the release of the movie. I am sorry, but I don’t
think she is superstar material at all. The worst was her attempt of being a ‘French’
girl (in her defense, it was the requirement of the character, hence blame goes
to the production team also for choosing someone who could not live up to the
French accent or style, AT ALL). She speaks wrong French in places and if it’s
not grammatically wrong, its pronounced wrong, which, if you ask me, takes the
entire charm away! (Please watch the video series here to judge for yourself).
The Movie
Now, prior to launching into further negativity, let me
highlight that Ranveer Singh did NOT disappoint! (I hear lots of girls
breathing a sigh of relief, believe me, I did too). He is his usual looney
self. He managed to keep the audience entertained with his expressions and full
of life performance, even though his dialogues are not the finest either. Another
bonus is of course his effortless and smooth dancing (me=gaga) which is always a delight to watch and makes you want to
immediately shake a leg! Ranveer Singh plays the role of Dharam, an Indian
expat in Paris, looking to make big in the city of love. His character is
nothing out of the ordinary as he plays the role of a guy whose life is being
subtly dictated by his leading lady. Since he gets to push himself to the limit
of being ‘carefree’ and enjoy life to the fullest alongside the woman he is attracted to, he has no problems with
Shyra’s terms. Needless to say, Dharam’s character is very similar to that of
Raj’s: Dharam has a strong Indian sanskari side reflected by his respect for
Shyra’s parents similar to the one Raj portrayed in DDLJ.
Coming to Vaani Kapoor, let me say that I have no personal vendetta
against her but I can honestly NOT tolerate her for a single second on screen. Her
botox-gone-wrong is a sore sight. Every single intimate scene made me wince and I was fortunate to watch the censored
version, I can only imagine how stressful it would be to watch the uncensored
version. Her acting skills are questionable. There is no feel in her dialogue
delivery. Her dialogues and dressing are both unbearable and very un-French (blame goes to
the production team again). She does not give me any goals: relationship goals or friendship
goals or daughter goals or fashion goals or fitness goals, #NOgoals, if you know what I
mean. I want to be as dissimilar to Vaani and her character as it’s possible. Simran
was a character we could relate to in one way or the other. One can still feel
the intensity of Kajol’s emotions if you watch DDLJ today, 23 years down the
line. The chemistry between Shahrukh and Kajol still hits the right spot.
 |
| Dilwale Dulhaniya Lejayeingay- always and forever! |
Then comes the story.. which.. I really don’t want to get
into. Its utter nonsense. It’s barely humorous and neither is it heart
wrenching. I don’t know what one is supposed to feel at the end of such a
movie, because I felt nothing but agony. They’ve simply failed to create any
sort of magic. There is no flow in the story-telling. The foreign location
thing doesn’t seem to work out in their favour either. The only thing that’s
remotely good are some of the songs.
Oh and the dance battle between Ranveer and Vaani towards the
end of the movie.. umm.. No offence Vaani but you may be good at it, but you don’t
LOOK good doing it! I couldn’t wait for that particular scene to end!
My Verdict
I want to rate it with a flashing zero but I will give it 1
out of 5, that too, because of Ranveer and the songs. DO NOT watch it. Unless
you have so much peace and comfort in your life that you purposely want to
torture yourself for 2 hours, stay far away from this one. For those who have
seen it and agree or disagree, please leave a comment!
p.s. Vaani, either undo the botox or please choose a
different line of work.
1 comments
Vaani Kapoor was the worst. I strongly agree with every hate towards her. Wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone.
ReplyDeleteRanveer Singh as always was amazing. The only reason why the movie was tolerated for 2.5 hours.