BEFIKRE - Now Aditya Chopra tries to follow the path shown by Imtiaz Ali and delivers a completely avoidable film failing miserably. (Review By Bobby Sing)

Before the release neither BEFIKRE’s music nor its overall feel was anything close to a Aditya Chopra film to be honest and it seemed as if the writer-director intentionally wished to break his own set pattern of the past, making a much updated, young and bold romantic film featuring two youth icons.

Surprisingly the film turns out to be neither anything fresh nor engaging enough in terms of its plot or execution coming from the director of films like DDLJ, MOHABBATEIN and RAB NE BANA DI JODI. Yes Aditya’s last two ventures were also not as great as expected from the maker of DDLJ. But they still had their own engaging subject, which is simply nowhere to be found in the disappointingly childish BEFIKRE made with a confused vision. In fact after Karan Johar and his recent ADHM, its now Aditya Chopra who tries to follow the path shown by writer-director Imtiaz Ali, but isn’t able to deliver anything even close to the impressive execution and meaningful content seen in the much appreciated Imtiaz’s films.

In other words, post ADHM and BEFIKRE it’s unofficially official that Imtiaz Ali truly rules the minds of all big shots in the business and everyone is intentionally or unintentionally willing to follow his footsteps despite the absence of any major success.

As a film BIFKRE gives you almost nothing to write about apart from the energetic and spirited performance of Ranveer Singh. But without the backing of any exceptional writing or direction, even Ranveer looks like uninterestingly overdoing the things after a while without any visible feel or depth.

Moreover the opening title song with lots of smooches followed by repeated acts of taking off the clothes and couple of semi-nude sequences clearly reveal a fact that it all depends upon who has made the film and what production house has financed it, when it comes to the Censor certificate which is U/A in this case (that can also be taken as an enjoyable progressive joke cracked openly). In other words, it’s fine to take your kids along to the film and let them watch those scenes as per the Censor Board, which in other cases even beeps out some specific words in a dialogue considering them inappropriate and destructively suggestive for all the young minds. (Worth giving a roaring applause indeed!)

Anyway post the smooching titles the director deliberately keeps focusing on sex since he has actually got nothing fresh to offer either in terms of concept, plot or subject whatsoever. As a result once again we have a non-linear narration wherein a half-desi couple meets abroad, gets together on a condition of ‘No Love Affair’ and then keeps trying some weird ‘Dares’ too exactly like the beginning of Imtiaz Ali’s TAMASHA (and Karan Johar’s ADHM) with the added dosage of a family angle, loads of kisses and many sensual revealing scenes as a special YRF inclusion.

A huge unexpected let-down till interval, the film dips even further post intermission and delivers much more absurd content going back to the ages old plot of a love triangle introducing another young man (Armaan Ralhan), who thankfully remains okay and doesn’t try to go overboard (even in a pathetic Bollywood Karoake night sequence conceived amateurishly). Besides the climax yet again features a marriage being interrupted well in time by an ‘understanding loving friend’, resulting in the most obvious, already seen in uncountable Hindi films in the past (including couple of YRF’s own productions).

Having said that, there still remains one unique feature in BEFIKRE as it seems to be a film with two men romancing on the screen instead of a man and a woman. Yes it might sound a bit rude putting it in this way, but I really couldn’t find the tall, beautiful girl I loved watching in SHUDH DESI ROMANCE anywhere in the film accepting it in all honesty. May be here we have another unfortunate case of a ‘Beauty Enhancing Surgery’ gone wrong resulting in a completely different manly-lady on screen unlike the one I adored. But in any case the Veena Kapoor I wished to see wasn’t there and neither was the much desired feel of love and romance in the film as strongly projected in its promos. The lady tries her best to be ‘the bold and beautiful’ French girl fulfilling the requirement of her director, but at the same time looks like overdoing it all in order to match the bubbling energy of Ranveer standing in the same frame.

Mentioning the merits, yes BEFIKRE has a trendy look, a beautiful cinematography, complimenting background score and a few peppy tracks too along with an interesting use of French language. But what Aditya found novel in this storyline and why he chose such a repetitive and boring script for his film, remains the million dollar question that essentially needs to be asked to gain some instant enlightenment.

Coming to the inspiration section, the hard to find story or plot in the film easily reminds you of several (far better) Hindi and English movies based on the same ‘cliched’ subject and Aditya Chopra coming up with such a pathetic project is exactly like the case of another Ashutosh Gowariker in the making……. giving you the worst news.

From the soundtrack, I found ‘Ude Dil Befikre’ quite close to the format of a Punjabi track ‘Teri Taan Yaad Satave” (recently used in ROCKY HANDSOME too) and the opening notes of the French song very similar to ‘Kay Sera Sera Sera” from PUKAR. However the most moronic inclusion remains the awful Punjabi song used in the end credits having nothing to do with the film pointing towards the so casual mindset behind its making. Interestingly this also clearly proves a fact that they are not able to make a Hindi film today without a Punjabi song, particularly JOHARS and CHOPRAS cannot.

In short, BEFIKRE can only be seen if you are a die-hard fan of Ranveer Singh or willing to watch a promotional tour of FRANCE (Paris) along with a couple of good songs.

Otherwise if this is a product coming from one of the top three production houses of Hindi Cinema and its reputed writer-director (having an epic film like DDLJ to his credit), then there is something seriously wrong in their followed thought process requiring an urgent re-check and solid rectification.

Rating : 1 / 5