'Dum Laga Ke Haisha' is a film with a big heart. This is a Heartwarming, beautiful story about two opposites. Its wonderfully written & excellently performed.

'Dum Laga Ke Haisha' Synopsis: A middle class man marries an overweight women, due to parental pressures. Clashes follow...

'Dum Laga Ke Haisha' is about two opposites, in terms of mentality & physicality, who try to find meaning in their relationship after they get married. The Screenplay beautifully narrates their journey, offering us moments, that are both, real & undeniably sweet. I connected with both of its protagonists & enjoyed the emotional wavelength they shared with each-other. Only glitch, the second-hour is slightly melodramatic & that segment of the story, is unimpressive. But otherwise, its competent.

Sharat Katariya's Direction is decent. Cinematography is picture-perfect. Editing is pretty crisp. Music by the legendary Anu Malik, is superb.

Performance-Wise: Ayushmann Khurana & Bhumi Pednekar are in top-form. Ayushmann is a terrific actor & he pitches in a sincere, earnest performance, that definitely ranks among the best we've seen off late. Bhumi is a revelation. She's simply brilliant in her part. And the on-screen chemistry between the two, is as real as it can get. Sanjay Mishra is flawless, as always. Seema Pahwa is first-rate. Others lend good support.

On the whole, 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha' wins you over with its charm & genuineness. Thumbs Up!

Continuing a string of recent Bolly improvements with film topics such as women's rights; child disappearances, this one deals with Bolly's obsession with selling/promoting superficial skinny model features to an audience to whom this is an unrealistic fantasy (well, OK a common selling attribute in media though out the world). Made worse when that audience is largely uneducated and stuck in poverty. The reason this film is not more highly rated is that it was an unrealistic happy/feel good storybook ending. Especially, carrying twice the weight over a long cross country course. A little too made up. Other Bollys of recent good quality are "Badlapur", "NH 10" and "Ugly".

Take a story, edit the characters, and present it in an easy way through music and subtlety, and you hope to flood the audience and the entertainment industry with a new wave of fresh air. Fortunately, the audiences are clever and kick it into the less-visited stream of mediocre attempts at inventive filmmaking. This film is one such mediocre attempt.

The year is 1995. An ignorant Kumar Sanu fan Prem (Khurrana),who runs his father's audio video shop in Haridwar, finds himself struggling with the threads and aftermath of a forced wedding. Equally ignorant are his family who think that the arrival of an educated girl (Pednekar) in their house would inspire happiness and bring about prosperity. Things get out of hand when Prem openly derides his wife's bulkiness. What follows is a seen-before parade of almost friendly intra- and inter-familial tiffs originating from this hassled marriage.

Then the film uses same old methods for salvaging this implicated complication. As a result, predictability takes over and that fresh air turns stale. Now the setting is fine, where the guy is a 10th-grade failure and the girl a teacher aspirant: perfect source of egos that could wreak havoc. One senses the climax even before the film starts narrating its story, thereby losing its sheen. The expectations that a twist or a story arc would save the play ends in disappointment.

Khurrana is good, but newcomer Pednekar is better. The former is in a different avatar than whatever he was in his previous disaster Hawaizaada (2015). Pednekar acts through her face and is only supported by her portly frame. Supporting cast is brilliant.

Writing is good at parts starting with the collective wedding (samuhik vivah) and ending with a fun game. The no-nonsense narration always comes directly to the point. The short running time is a relief and so is the sporadic family humor that is better than the story itself. The mature setup and characterization further adds into the pleasure. The score sounded plagiarized, but the songs by Anu Malik are good. Welcoming Kumar Sanu to the industry after a long hiatus gives it brownie points. Great camera work captures the drama well while the native language adds to the originality, unlike how it was in PK (2014).

But if there is a best thing about the film, then it is the virtue of the husband who accepts his failures rather coming as a winner.

BOTTOM LINE: The attempt is mediocre narrating a clichéd story, but for the multiple messages that it conveys and a simple storytelling, it is worth a lazy afternoon watch. 5/10.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO

Vulgarity: Mediocre