Meri Pyari Bindu, yet
another romantic film from the YRF stables. Yet another attempt at portraying a
refreshing take on love and relationships. Yet another narrative pattern that
shows promise but dies quickly thereafter; yet another boring film.
Somewhere between the plot
and the screenplay, the story seemed to have gone missing. What happens on screen
seems like a mere series of events put together in order to complexly narrate a
rather simple story; the events never quite get their share of emotions to make
a difference to the audience’s perspective.
On a close analysis, the
plot is a done to death idea, novelty being far and few in between. It also
appears that the plot was unnecessarily convoluted in order to add elements
apart from the basic crux of the relationship between Aayushman and Parineeti. And
as a result, the sub plots with substance, for instance, the one involving
Parineeti’s father, Aayushman’s equation with his family, the camaraderie
between Aayushman’s MBA and Mumbai buddies, never quite get the sortie to carry
the narrative forward.
As an after
effect, you start to expect a logical conclusion to these sub plots towards the
end of the movie but that sadly does not happen.
The screenplay further
highlights the gaps in the story. With continuous shifts from flashback to
present, there are at times, moments of indifference as the timeline shifts are
hardly recognizable, neither from the behaviour of the characters nor from the
set elements or production design. Aayushman’s capable narration could not do
justice to the above mentioned point.
In MPB, we see the film from
a unilateral perspective. What we see is what Aayushman sees or has seen. And what
we see is only Bindu. Never for once are we allowed to have a perspective on
Bindu from any one apart from Aayushman’s character. And hence, there grows a
tendency to build an expectation about Bindu’s character to act and react.
The telling
blow to film comes right away when we see a contrast in the way Aayushman
described Bindu and the way she reacted in certain situations. There happens a
gross mismatch between the narrated bit and the acted bit. And that must
precisely be the reason why at the point of intermission, MPB had already
categorized itself into the list of films that cannot sustain their existence
via story telling.
Parineeti Chopra sure lost
out on a lot of flab but retained her screen presence. However, what also
seemed absent was her ability to effortlessly pull off characters. She seemed
too exerted in certain bits, too casual in others. And while she would still
demand your attention, the ability to retain the same surely was not on display.
She surely is a much better actress than what is on display in MPB. The last
segment, 10 mins or so, do a bit of redeeming of sorts; but that is also just
about.
Aayushman Khurana is one
fine actor and indeed is the sole reason to watch MPB. He displays tremendous
ability to grasp and grow with the character. He narrates the film in an impressive
manner and totally steals the show in the final parts of the film. However,
since Bindu does not quite act in the manner Aayushman builds up her character
for the audience, his own character kind of turns out to be dim – witted, at
times bordering on to the lines of foolishness.
The debutant director could
not hold on to the reins of the film and hence dishes out a very average
product. His directorial style seems to have garnered influences of Woody Allen,
Imtiaz Ali and even Shaad Ali to an extent, but amidst a plethora of
meaningless scenes, the bright parts loose their charm. Despite being just a
tick over 2 hours, MPB seems excruciatingly long.
What helps the film surely
is the music. Afeemi is a beautiful composition. Maana Ke Hum Yaar Nahi
enhances the impact with the way it has been used in the film. The editing
needed a lot of improvement. The cinematography is at par with YRF standards.
Being touted as the comeback
film of Parineeti Chopra, after a self claimed hiatus for about 3 years now,
MPB does try to live up to the vibe it constantly yearns to generate but never
quite becomes the film that has the capability to actuate the viewer’s interest.
All said and done, MPB does
not rise up from the levels of mediocrity, leaves a lot to be desired and ends
up being one such film which would have made no difference even if it had not
been made in the first place.
**2 STARS**
