MERI PYARI BINDU - Movie Review

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**