PHILLAURI - MOVIE REVIEW

Finally, a refreshing Friday at the films!

Anushka Sharma, is out with her 2^nd production venture and as is evident, the focus clearly is on telling versatile stories, which is not a bad thing at all. But with PHILLAURI, could there have been a little more watertight narrative pattern? Well the answer is in the affirmative but it is not really going to be a major deal breaker for the film, it should not!

PHILLAURI is a fantasy drama, sprinkled with comic relief, guided well by poetic justice and showcased efficiently by the honest performances from the cast. The quest for unfulfilled love as a subject is a routine for any Bollywood film, albeit here, the treatment makes it a novelty of sorts.

So when we meet Kanan, we are immediately fed a dose (read sub plot) of commitment issues and confusion as an undertone for the film. When we meet Shashi and Phillauri, we are served a loveable rhythmic narrative which tries to make sense and relevance in the macro sense for the screenplay.

The narrative shifts from the present to the pre-independence 1919 India and the transition is seamless and blends well with the flow of the film. Romance here has been portrayed rather mildly, almost as if the director wanted the screen to blush while Sahebaan played on 70mm. 

PHILLAURI takes you in to a dreamy world, a world of the folk lore, which might seem extra ordinary at the outset but turns out to be just like the routine, which in itself is not a letdown. It lends a certain degree of reliability to the film.

Technical aspects of the film must be applauded. The VFX and CGI tem have created the most beautiful and alluring ghost ever. And in what is rare for Indian cinema, the visual effects are not cringe worthy. They are extremely well crafted. the sound design is another plus here which kinds of helps in creating the right mood and let it linger, more so in the climax where the background score almost doubles up as a saviour of the film.

The screenplay however, is not a crisp one and the same can be said about the editing as well. Both leave a lot to be desired. The dialogues do their part well. Cinematography has been stupendous! The frames are beautiful and there is attention to detail, which becomes apparent more so due to the languid pace of the film.

Suraj Sharma (Kanan) plays his part effectively as the ever so confused and high on the obvious Canada returned Punjabi. He displays a natural knack for comedy. His obvious underplay of the character helps a lot in getting the comic timing spot on most of the time.

Mehrene Kaur Pirzada as Kanan’s to be wife emotes well in what is a very simple and doting character, sans any negatives.

Diljit Dosanjh, though looks staid in most of the screen time that he gets but that he has screen presence cannot be denied. He does his part almost the way I perceived the writer wrote. However, the transformation in his character, though portrayed well by the effective Dum-Dum track in the background, could have been far better emoted.

And as is a no brainer, this is Anushka Sharma’s film. She shines, in almost every scene. She looks effervescent, and single-handedly justifies the fantasy drama genre with her acting prowess. 

She is endearing as the ghost and vulnerable yet plaint as the poetess back in the day. I might just stretch my neck out and say that she OWNS every frame she is in and you cannot but ignore to see her mature as an actress who knows the game and the rules. 

SMITTEN!

The debutant director, Anshai Lal, captures vrious scenes brilliantly. The way Sahebaan song has been shot is lovely.

Sample the scene where the family welcomes Kanan, or the one where Dadi proclaims 9am as a time worthy enough for a drink, or the scene where Shashi meets Annu or the scene Shashi’s brother acknowledges her love- tearjerker! 

The genius here lies in the fact that the director does not go overboard with anything despite having sufficient enough situations to do so. The humour is situational and not slapstick, the emotions are more left to be deciphered than making them obvious.

However, this ends up in making the film roll over at a languid pace, which is perfect as PHILLAURI has the moments but the film crawls, at places and that kind of lets the entire premise down. The climax went a bit haywire, the immediate post intermission portion said a lot but made no value addition towards the end. 

Also, Nidhi Bisht is wasted in the role of Anushka’s friend which again eats up the screen time and adds on to the number of sub plots.

PHILLAURI, thereby, ends up taking the path much travelled and hence dilutes the sense of Awe!

That said, if slow boiled romances, a dash of fantasy and a relaxed movie watching experience is your cup of tea, PHILLAURI should make for a decent watch.

“Tere bina Saans bhi Kaanch si Kaate” – GENIUS!

*3 STARS*