The film strongly points twoards the most decisive difference between Hindi films and the regional language cinema being made within the country in the present era. While the films made in the regional languages rarely come up with projects having the same old plots, the Hindi filmmakers still like to rely upon all overused, repetitive plots continuing for decades, trying nothing fresh.
While the regional languages cinema even manages to add a novel angle into the most cliché love stories, the Hindi cinema rarely goes into that much required, risky zone of innovation, taking the viewers for granted.
Hum Do Hamare Do made me think that way as it is yet again a film made on the rotten, familiar plot of the boy or the girl, hiring fake parents to meet their in-laws before or after the marriage. The subject has been there in Hindi films from the black and white era to date adapted by renowned filmmakers. Beginning with Kishore Kumar’s comedies, it was repeatedly seen in Hrishikesh Mukherjee films, later becoming the inspiration for directors like David Dhawan, Indra Kumar, and Rohit Shetty. It was also there in films released in the last decade featuring Jackky Bhagnani, Sonam Kapoor, and more. Plus, we witnessed one just a few months back within 2021 itself titled 14 Phere.
Caught in another trap of making Hindi-Punjabi films with a strong Punjabi undercurrent in their execution, characters, and songs, Hum Do Hamare Do clearly reveals the mindset, the moment it begins with the typical Punjabi sounds and a forced comic tone in its very first scene. To justify the Punjabi touch, a key supporting character is, as usual, given the Sikh getup and then you never get to see anything novel or fresh in the entire two hours of duration to be straight. The final 40 minutes of the script focus on the marriage celebrations (including all Punjabi-based songs playing in the background) but without offering any engaging entertainment in the narrative. Besides, here another seen-before device of ‘live mike’ gets thrown in, pointing towards the writing that never seems to be interested in trying anything fresh and innovative.
Stating the few merits, one keeps watching the completely predictable and routine film just because of the talented cast led by Kriti Sanon, turning it into a below-average yet watchable attempt. In addition, it is also a neatly executed, feel-good film, with some catchy (Punjabi) music, that thankfully doesn’t go overboard in its important sequences.
Summing up, the present OTT culture has given rise to a new genre of time-pass (or rather time-kill) films that can be seen without expecting much while having your breakfast, lunch, or dinner in a fast-forward mode. Hum Do Hamare Do exactly falls in that category and the choice is all yours.
Rating : 2 / 5
(Released online at Disney Hotstar)
