HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA

Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd.’s Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (UA) is the love story of Rakesh alias Humpty Sharma (Varun Dhawan) and Kavya (Alia Bhatt). Kavya lives in Ambala with her father (Ashutosh Rana), mother (Deepika Amin), brother (Aditya Sharma), grandmother (Jaswant Daman) and a divorced sister (Mahnaz Damania). She is due to get married to an NRI boy selected by her father. She is keen to wear a designer lehenga on her big day and to shop for that, she goes to Delhi to her maternal uncle’s house. Since her family won’t let her buy such an expensive outfit, she decides to earn money by means fair and unfair, to pay for the designer dress.

In Delhi, Kavya meets Humpty under strange circumstances. They become friends and soon, the friendship turns to love. In spite of the fact that she is due to get married in less than a month-and-a-half, Kavya gets physical with Humpty, who is also aware of her impending marriage.

Back in Ambala, Kavya is unable to forget Humpty. She sends him a car he had yearned for, as a gift, in return for his help in getting back the money her friend in Delhi had paid her blackmailing boyfriend. Since Humpty is also madly in love with Kavya and as Kavya had returned to Ambala without buying the expensive designer lehenga, Humpty reaches her home in Ambala with the dress she would have loved to wear on her wedding day, taking his two best friends along. But Kavya’s father is too smart for Humpty and he smells a rat. He gets Humpty to vomit out the truth and he is livid when Humpty tells him that he and Kavya are in love with one another. Kavya’s brother beats up Humpty and his two friends, Shonty (Gaurav Pandey) and Poplu (Sahil Vaid), mercilessly but instead of returning to Delhi, Humpty is persistent in his quest to marry Kavya. Anyway, Kavya’s marriage is now just a few days away.

Seeing Humpty’s persistence, Kavya’s father thinks up a plan to get him out of Kavya’s life. As Kavya’s to-be-husband, Angad (Siddharth Shukla), is due to reach Ambala, he challenges Humpty to interact with and/or observe Angad and give him (the father) reasons why he is not the right life partner for Kavya. Left with no option, Humpty accepts the challenge and, along with his two friends, sets out to find shortcomings, if any, in Angad. For, if only he can prove that Angad is not the perfect match for Kavya would her father give her hand in marriage to him (Humpty).

So, what happens thereafter? Is Humpty able to prove to Kavya’s father that Angad is not the right choice for her or not? Does Kavya sacrifice her love and get married to Angad? Does Humpty reconcile himself to the situation and walk out of Kavya’s life? What is the stance of Kavya’s father? What does Angad do?

Shashank Khaitan has scripted a love story which midway turns into a family drama too. His story about a boy falling in love with a girl who is soon to be married, reminds of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Chalte Chalte but the similarity ends there. His screenplay is quite different. The first half is light and the emphasis is on the fun element. There are many scenes in which the audience ends up smiling or laughing. The first couple of reels are routine but once Kavya and Humpty meet in Delhi, the film moves very smoothly and at a good pace, keeping the audience entertained thoroughly. The second half becomes a bit repetitive but if, in spite of that, the audience’s interest remains alive, it is because of the several twists and turns in the drama. The sequences in which Humpty and his friends try to find out the shortcomings of Angad, are truly funny. The scenes of Humpty interacting with Kavya’s father are very cute. The climax is not as arresting as the issue (drama) warrants and it also looks hurried. But it must be said that the pre-climax scene, in which Humpty confronts Kavya’s father, is a highlight and would come in for a lot of praise and even elicit claps. All in all, the screenplay, despite some dips post-interval, is engaging and entertaining. Shashank Khaitan’s dialogues are very nice and if the funny ones evoke laughter, the dramatic ones also have a huge impact on the audience.

Varun Dhawan does a lovely job and plays Humpty Sharma with all the earnestness at his command. His dialogue delivery in the typical middle-class, Delhi-based Punjabi ‘Romeo’ style, is very endearing. Alia Bhatt shines, delivering a first-rate performance as Kavya. Her dialogue delivery and expressions are simply excellent. She looks pretty too. At the rate at which Alia is going, film after film, it shouldn’t be long before she reaches the top! Ashutosh Rana is extraordinary as Kavya’s father. He plays the character with remarkable ease and understanding. Siddharth Shukla is impressive in his maiden film role. He has screen presence and charisma and he also acts ably. Sahil Vaid is wonderful as Poplu and evokes laughter with his antics, acting and facial expressions. Gaurav Pandey also lends admirable support as Shonty. Jaswant Daman (as Kavya’s grandmother), Kenneth Desai (as Humpty’s father), Deepika Amin (as Kavya’s mother), Mahnaz Damania (as Kavya’s sister) and Aditya Sharma (as Kavya’s brother) stand their own, in well-defined roles. Jaswinder Kapoor (as the examiner), Jimmy Viryani (as Bhanu), Manish Walia (as the salesman at the garment store), Sagar Kale (as the tailor), Shivani Mahajan (as Mrs. Chhibber) and the others provide able support.

Shashank Khaitan, whose maiden release this is as a writer and director, adopts a narrative style which is very easy and of the kind which would appeal to audiences of all age groups. He has used a simplistic style of direction to match his simple story of matters of the heart, and he deserves distinction marks for that. Music is very good but rather than the original compositions, the two re-arranged songs (by Sharib-Toshi) – ‘Saturday Saturday’ (originally composed by Badshah and Titans) and ‘Samjhawan’ (originally composed by Jawad Ahmed) – are the best. They are, in fact, already hits and they are supremely appealing in the film, too. The other songs (composed by Sachin-Jigar and Sharib-Toshi) are good but they aren’t very popular. The ‘Daingad Daingad’ (Sachin-Jigar) song is the better of the lot. Lyrics (Indeep Bakshi and Feat Badshah for ‘Saturday Saturday’, additional lyrics by Kumaar; Ahmad Anees for ‘Samjhawan’, additional lyrics by Kumaar; Irshad Kamil, Shashank Khaitan and Kumaar for the other songs) are very good. Ahmed Khan’s choreography in ‘Saturday Saturday’ and Adil Shaikh’s choreography in ‘Daingad Daingad’ are excellent. Remo D’Souza’s choreography in ‘Lucky tu lucky me’ and Chinni Prakash’s, in the ‘D se dance’ song are also eye-filling. John Stewart Eduri’s background music is of a good standard. Neha Parti Matiyani’s cinematography is lovely. Vikram Dahiya and Deepak Sharma’s action scenes and stunts are fairly good. Parichit Paralkar’s production design is appropriate. Manan Sagar’s editing is crisp.

On the whole, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is an enjoyable entertainer and will keep everyone associated with it, as also the audience, very happy. With around 75% of its cost of Rs. 28-30 crore already recovered prior to release, it is anybody’s guess that it will yield very handsome profits to the producers and distributors, right from the first weekend itself, while keeping the exhibitors smiling from ear to ear. Hit!