Movie Review: Dum Laga Ke Haisha

Dum Laga Ke Haisha Movie Review (Pic Source: Google)

Movie Details. . .

• Title: Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• Director: Sharat Katariya
• Music: Anu Malik
• Genre: Comedy / Drama
• Running Time: 111 Minutes
• Language: Hindi
• Rating: 3.75/5

 

Plot Summary. . .

Dum Laga Ke Haisha (DLKH) is a story about a couple Prem and Sandhya and their misfit arranged marriage. Prem is a middle class guy from Haridwar who is struggling with the life – be it passing in English to complete his matriculation or the running of the parental song recording shop or sustaining the marriage with an over-educated and over-weight woman with whom he is just not able come on terms. Sandhya, on the other hand, is a post graduate lady who always attempts to enjoy life at the fullest – be it her quest for preparing for a teaching job or the arranged marriage with a person under qualified than her or exploring the realms of married life at a newer place with newer people.

The only solace Prem has is in the voice and songs of Kumar Sanu which he croons throughout the day in his shop and in his room. His life is sandwiched between his over bearing father, his ‘shakha’ lead & friends and his consistent failure in life which makes him insecure and timid all the way. His insecurity and sheepishness lead him to a marriage with Sandhya (who is plump in appearance), which he opposes initially but gives in finally at the insistence of his father.

However, even post the marriage, Prem finds it difficult to accept Sandhya in his life owing to her obesity and appearance. Sandhya, on the contrary, loves him from the very first day even after knowing about his lower qualification. She perceives their initial bumps in the relationship as interim blues which would surely vanish the more time they will spend amongst themselves, but Prem doesn’t appear to echo the similar sentiments. There appear some minor positive swings in their relationship at some junctures, but the overall mood remains strained throughout. Sandhya’s notions and beliefs soon falls flat as she overhears Prem insulting about her in front of his friends.

What follows next is the litmus test of their relation which finally sees its dawn going through the tumultuous phase amidst court proceeding and family intervention before a competition arrives and breaks all the barriers and removes all the inhibitions of the couple uniting them in an undying chord.

My Thoughts. . .

DLKH is one the freshest and better offering from Yashraj banner in recent times. The strength of the movie lies not only in its story or the treatment but also in the strong performance by almost all the actors which bind the whole movie together right till the end.

The magic of the inherent sweetness of the film is such that despite the simple and not hard to be true story, the movie never really gives a scope of predictability to the viewer. This is not because of the unpredictability of the script but because of the genuineness and simplicity with which it has been dealt, which never prompt the viewer to go a step ahead and to think about the next scene.

Direction & Script

The reminiscence of those sweet moments of your yesteryears is the best feeling one can experience and if something exhibits the panorama of the same in front of you, nothing beats that. The script of DLKH does offer you that moment of nostalgia of the half-forgotten era of 1990s. If you are a part of the generation which has been the witness of the transformation of music listening from audio cassettes to compact disc, of transportation from scooters to motorbikes / cars or if your past boasts of some of the moments of fixing the broken tape cassettes by adhesives, or spooling the cassettes with the help of pen / pencil or watching movies on VCR or commuting on Bajaj Chetak in narrow lanes or even those long distance calls on the sole telephone in many homes, you will have a ball of the time watching this movie.

Director Sharat Katariya has done a splendid job with the script as well as the direction. The dialogues are quirky and offer bits of laughs and smiles periodically especially owing to their successful expressed or implied bit to connect the same with the canvas of 90s era. For example, consider this, Prem’s mother speaking to her two daughters, “Ghar pahuchte missed call de dena" and turning to one daughter she says, "Tu ek missed call dena" (you give one missed call) and then turns to the other and says, “tu do dena” (you give two missed calls). Due care has been given for minute details like “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” playing at the backdrop, again bringing that smile in your face. So, there are lots of these moments and dialogues which has the tendency to take you back in time which now surely is the history but which constitute an integral part of your growing up years.

The strong scripts wins half the battle for the director and the remaining half is also well fought with the flair in showcasing that script easily visible throughout the cine watch experience. Though one may feel that predictability quotient of the film spoils some of the fun, but the simplicity and honesty of the script and the direction makes up for that minor glitch.

Music

This is one of my favorite aspect, something for which I was very excited right from the beginning and (thank god) I wasn’t disappointed. The reasons, of course, were the return Anu Malik & Kumar Sanu. Yes…the music of the film has been composed by Anu Malik and boasts of a couple of songs from our own Sanu da.

Anu Malik’s soundtrack of the movie is hugely enjoyable and he does a splendid job taking you to (perhaps) the best era of Bollywood music. The lyricist Varun Grover compliments him with the songs which gel well with the script and not letting the flavor fade away at any point of time.

“Moh Moh Ke Dhaage” is perhaps the best song of the album which has been soothingly composed, tenderly written and magnificently rendered by the singers. There are two versions of the song – male version sung by Papon and female version sung by Monali Thakur. This classical rendition is sure to take you to a different world – play it on, close your eyes and let the song do the magic. And to decide which version is better is a conflict amidst yourself and both are riveting enough to bowl you down with its charm.

Kumar Sanu offers his nasal bong voice to two of the songs in the movie. The moment each of these begins with his voice sings “hey…hey…heyyy”, you couldn’t help riding that wave of nostalgia. “Tu” is a small number about two and half minute long which plays in the background with the opening credits of the movie. “Dard Karara” is a duet sung by Sanu da with Sadhna Sargam, another popular singer from 90s. Both are typical Anu Malik and Kumar Sanu songs. If you have been listening to their songs and have flavor for them, you will know what I mean by that – the quirky music & the cheesy lyrics J

The title song “Dum Laga Ke Haisha" and "Sunder Susheel" have traditional touch to them and are situational numbers in the movie. While the former sung by Kailash Kher is a racy number which runs in the background of the competiton, the later rendered by new singers Malini Awasthi & Rahul Ram is again a situational pick which might work well post watching the movie.

Finally there is an classical instrumentation “Prem’s Theme” rendered soulfully by Papon which is again quite engrossing. But this one would gain momentum once people watch the movie.

The background score of the movie composed by Italian composer Andrea Guerra compliments well to the movie and its settings.

Acting & Other Aspects

If there is some inherent simplicity and genuineness in the film’s direction, the performances by the actors further adds to its charm acting like a cherry on the cake. The lead pair Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar does a splendid job effortlessly capturing the essence of the movie with their act. Ayushman’s renders his expressions perfectly well of a person who is dumb, unhappy with life and completely shadowed by people around him. Bhumi Pednekar makes a challenging debut with the movie carving her place amidst the wonderful performances which could have easily shadowed her.

My pick of the performance remains Sanjay Mishra playing Prem’s father. His acting skills and proficiency doesn’t need any introduction or epithets. We have seen him innumerable times both on big and small screen (remember Mishraji in Office Office?). He plays his role in a classy fashion and with so much of ease that nowhere one feels that he is actually enacting. His honesty and simplicity entertains you, have you in split in one scene and move you in another.

Rest of the cast also does a good job binding the whole movie together and the beauty is that nowhere in the film one performance appears to shadow the other ones, making it all a balanced act.

The Final Word. . .

DLKH is an honest attempt by Sharat Katariya to present a humble story with ‘easy to believe’ sequences and ‘love to watch’ characters which lends a ‘feel good smile’ on your face and ‘nostalgic vibe’ in your heart.

Go and get refreshed with this absolutely delightful film, straight from the heart. Witness the magic of yesteryears unfolding slowly before you with the wonderful music, scintillating background score and magnanimous 90’s backdrop.

Rating: 3.75/5

Watch The Trailer. . .

Watch the trailer of the movie here.

~Shubh Life . . . Om Sai Ram

© 2015 Manish Purohit (Reserved)

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