Dull Romance:
He has a speech impediment, that is hinted at in the title Do Deewane Seher Mein. She is burdened with enough complexes to sink a small boat. The film, directed by Ravi Udyawar could have been a romcom; instead it’s saddled with the most boring characters in a dull story.
Shashank Sharma (Siddhant Chaturvedi), has a corporate job in a marketing company selling washing machines; he is well off enough to live in a swanky apartment and drive a fancy car, but not the sense to consult a speech therapist. He lacks in confidence because of the problem and avoids speaking in public, coming up with outlandish excuses to skip office meetings.
Roshni (Mrunal Thakur) wears huge, unflattering glasses that she doesn’t need, because she believes she is unattractive, and that’s why her last relationship broke up. She works as a content creator in the fashion business, where her monster boss (Achint Kaur) harps on beauty. She lives in a huge bungalow with a garden – a fortune in real estate there—with her grandmother, parents and brother, who have nothing to do but harp on her singledom. Like the guy (Shashank) she is about to meet, she doesn’t have the sense to seek therapy either. She does, however, break into feminist rants with her sister (Sandeepa Dhar), a needlessly docile wife, and her beauty-obsessed boss.
So, two minimally damaged people, behave as if they suffer from a terminal ailment. They meet each other in an arranged marriage set-up. He is instantly smitten, she turns him down. He stalks her for days to demand to know why; she plays hard to get. Eventually, they manage to get involved a serious relationship, but keep falling out due to the most mundane reasons, that drag the film over 137 minutes.
What’s more interesting than the morose twosome is the way Mumbai is presented, with its high rises, lavish work places, swish cafés and clean metros. If there is any poverty or squalor it is seen with a view from the top. The two take a holiday the hills of Kumaon (parents are progressive!), just for a change of scenery. Because, why not?
There is a certain charm about a romance between two ordinary people, going about their ordinary lives (the title comes from a song from the 1977 film, Gharaonda about two middle class people looking for a home to settle in), but there has to be at least a bit of the ‘deewangi’ (craziness) promised in the title. The film uses the romcom template, but hampers itself with a plodding pace, flimsy conflicts and an almost absent sense of humour. Better music could have been an asset too; Siddhant Chaturvedi is stuck in the role of the too placid character, and Mrunal Thakur with these awful glasses on her face all the time (she is seen sleeping with them on) tries to bring spice to the proceedings, but it’s an uphill task.
(This piece first appeared in rediff.com)