Baar Baar Dekho
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Katrina Kaif
Director: Nitya Mehra
You wake up and realise that it’s going be the last day of your life. You look back at it and regret the moments you missed in search of a dream. But, this isn’t over yet. You can still alter the situation. The catch is you can change just one thing, but will you be able to spot that one tiny thing.
Jai (Sidharth Malhotra) is a genius who wants to make it big in the world of mathematics. His research papers are accepted at various schools throughout the world and he is patiently waiting for a call from the Cambridge University, his dream destination. But before that he has to get married to Diya (Katrina Kaif), a girl fond of her family and India.
It’s a clash of different thought processes. While Jai is concerned about his own career, Diya is all for the community and how our happiness depends on people around us.
There is no time machine, but time travel has been used as the narrative technique. Our professor keeps going back and forth in time and that doesn’t stop him from shaking a leg or enjoying exotic locales. In short, Nitya Mehra makes sure you don’t miss any of the typical Bollywood ingredients.
Baar Baar Dekho is not Run Lola Run or Back To The Future or even Vantage Point. It’s nowhere close to The Butterfly Effect either. It’s a typical ‘masala’ entertainer that wants to re-establish the emotions that Karan Johar and his team have done in many films. Johar is one of the producers of Baar Baar Dekho.
Time travelling begins to lose its sheen after a while. Predictability and reluctance to break out of the comfort zone on the director’s part make it repetitive.
What works for Baar Baar Dekho is its high emotional quotient. Malhotra has restricted himself from going overboard, and that works tremendously in favour of the film. He is relatable, likeable and confident.
His chemistry with Kaif, however, doesn’t take off as the latter drastically fails to do the emotional bits. She looks ravishing in the songs, but that’s probably not enough.
Rajit Kapoor as Pandit Ji tries his bit but the other secondary characters lack depth restricting Baar Baar Dekho from rising above the average. A little work on Kapoor’s role could have done wonders for this story.
Confused writing adds up to the film’s woes. The arguments given in favour or against of familial values don’t sound concrete and makes the characters flippant. It takes them really long to utter that ‘no equation is perfect without balance’.
Baar Baar Dekho is hardly even a bird’s eye view of the new generation’s choices and desires. Its philosophy lacks strength and gloss takes the centre stage right from the beginning.
But, if you stop taking it seriously then it may provide you some happy moments in exchange. After all, who doesn’t like a big, fat Punjabi wedding!
Rating:
