This linear story deviates several times with some of the most loud characters and silly slapstick jokes of recent times.
Film: Ramaiya Vastavaiya
Cast: Shruti Haasan, Girish Kumar, Sonu Sood, Vinod Khanna, Poonam Dhillon, Randhir Kapoor, Govind Namdev, Satish Shah, Zakir Hussain, Nasser, Sarfaraz Khan, Mushtaq Khan and Paresh Ganatra
Director: Prabhu Deva
Rating: **1/2
What’s it about
An ode to over-the-top love stories of the 90s where a village setting becomes the backdrop for a casteist boy-girl romance whose end is known but the journey to that point is laden with heavy duty dialogues, emotional upheaval and the mandatory supporting characters — a buffoon , a zamindar, and a goddess temple perched atop a hill.
Prabhu Deva mixes these yesteryear ingredients to dish out a formulaic film with melodious tunes and some enjoyable light moments.
Ram (Girish) and Sona (Shruti) play lovers separated by the overused ameer-gareeb boundary. He’s the rich spoilt brat from Australia while she’s a village belle whose clay horse toy and her brother (Sonu) mean the world to her!
The first half has some fun and frothy situational moments, while post interval Prabhu ups the ante with Ram having to prove his love by meeting the challenge of harvesting double the crop farmed by her brother.
This linear story deviates several times with some of the most loud characters and silly slapstick jokes of recent times.
What’s hot
Girish Kumar’s introductory surf board scene is an antithesis of his on-screen character.
Strangely that works in his favour. He has a childlike effervescence which might seem a bit odd and annoying in the beginning, but with time that becomes the reason for his likeability.
He has a promising future, but we don’t know if this was the right debut vehicle.
Shruti has an easy going charm about herself in her interactions with Girish. Even though they don’t have remarkable chemistry, you can sense her putting in that extra effort to hard sell their jodi.
Music is above average, with the Jeena Laga Hoon track already topping charts.
Sonu Sood and Vinod Khanna look their part, especially the former who doesn’t seem out of place in a rustic setting.
Prabhu Deva’s guest appearance with Jacqueline in her item song adds the right zing post interval.
What’s not
There is a sense of disconnect between the first and second half. Some scenes are stretched beyond requirement (bathtub and the dog encounter, long introduction to Sonu’s character, MMS leak moment at the wedding).
The storyline is very reminiscent of the 1998 Salman-Kajol starrer Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya.
Humour takes a severe beating with funny scenes between Girish and Paresh Ganatra looking like amateur episodes from a failed standup comedy show (a character pees on Zakir Hussain’s face!).
Also the climax with the thunder claps and throwback background sound effects falls flat. There isn’t enough classic courting or romantic scenes between the leads.
For a greater duration they are reduced to playing the clichéd ‘love me-hate me’ cat and mouse game.
To watch or not to
If old school, loud and over-dramatic romance is your thing, then Ramaiya Vastavaiya is the ticket to buy!
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