It is difficult to make people laugh. More so when the makers are burdened with too many check-boxes to tick. Mudassar Aziz’s Happy Bhag Jayegi is just that. Picture this…
There is Diana Penty, making her comeback. Oh wait, there is Abhay Deol too.
There is an India-Pakistan angle, to which one owes sensitivity.
The lead character is supposed to ooze a one-in-a-million aura.
There is the romantic comedy genre to live up to.
There is an experienced supporting cast to do justice to.
Finally, there is the production house that needs to make sure the film grabs all attention.
What goes for a toss is the script, which is anything but funny. The last time I experienced similar boredom while watching a supposed rom-com was with Danish Aslam’s Break Ke Baad, which, at least, was well-shot. The writing in Happy Bhag Jayegi is so uninspiring that even its two-hour runtime feels like an endurance test.
Happy Bhag Jayegi begins on a promising note. Fifteen minutes into the story, the film nosedives to a point of no return. The characters cruise to and fro between India and Pakistan as if they were on a backpacking trip. Their shenanigans make little sense, but what is more disappointing is the complete absence of wit. One keeps waiting for at least a couple of idiotic lines, the kind that made the Hera Pheri films so much fun despite their equally ridiculous situations. Nay!
On the technical front, there isn’t much to write home about either. The cinematography is dull, the editing is loose and the production design is functional at best. The dialogues, which should have been the film’s biggest weapon, are largely listless. Sohail Sen’s songs are rather tuneful, although the background score jars.
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To add to the woes, the actors put in sincere efforts to bring life to their parts, only for the writing to play spoilsport. The biggest surprise comes in the form of Pakistani actor Momal Sheikh, who makes her Bollywood debut. She pitches in a brilliant, nuanced performance that easily beats the rest of the cast. There is an ease to her performance that the rest of the film sorely lacks. One would certainly like to see more of her on the Indian screen. Abhay Deol performs as if he realised midway that he was aboard a sinking ship. He is good, nevertheless.
Diana Penty, to give her due credit, tries her best. Sadly, Happy’s characterisation lacks the charm that would make an audience root for her. As the title character, she is introduced in the most random way possible. Even as the film progresses, she isn’t photographed or written well enough for us to buy the larger-than-life persona the film wants us to see in her. Penty also lacks the much-needed spunk and the ability to let go of herself, making the Punjabi pataka lines sound rehearsed. All we needed was a younger Kareena Kapoor Khan in her Jab We Met mode. In Kapoor’s own words, JUST IMAGINE!
Ali Fazal is decent despite being saddled with a half-baked character. Piyush Mishra is very good as the Pakistani cop. The biggest disservice, however, is meted out to Jimmy Shergill, who simply gets to repeat his Tanu Weds Manu act without being given anything particularly interesting to do.
As said earlier, Happy Bhag Jayegi feels less like a film that organically found its story and more like an exercise in ticking boxes. It wants to be a cross-border comedy, a romantic comedy, a star vehicle, a comeback vehicle and a showcase for a colourful ensemble. Somewhere in the middle of all that, it forgets the one thing a comedy cannot afford to forget: to be funny.
Are there any takeaways from this dubious comedy? Momal Sheikh, certainly. And a heartfelt solo by Javed Ali, Yaaram. For the rest, Happy Bhag Jayegi is less about a heroine who runs away and more about a script that never quite knows where it is going.
Rating: ★★
Happy Bhag Jayegi is now streaming on Zee5.
