Happy Ending Hindi Movie
I was watching an interview with Rajkumar Hirani where he mentions that in 100 years of cinema we have probably said everything that we can on love. You need not be Einstein to agree with this master of a director. And that's what makes romantic comedies so much harder. The genre dictates that you adhere to certain norms.
No, Hirani has nothing to do with Happy Ending. It has been directed by a director duo that I have been particular fond of for the quirky style of storytelling - Raj and Krishna. And their involvement is what made me hopeful of a rom-com that would be different from the rest. Guess what! law of averages does catch up after all!
Happy Ending is actually a pretty good watch in its genre. Go expecting some laughs, plenty smiles and few mushy moments and you will be satisfied. It has all the usual suspects that a Bollywood rom-com requires, including confused and commitment phobic hero played by Saif Ali Khan. The actor has repeated this act so many times that he could now sleepwalk through it. Then there is this girl who the guy would never expect to fall in love but eventually does. This time the actress is not Deepika Padukone but Ileana DCruz.
Without going to much details, Happy Ending could be well described as Cocktail of Bachne Ae Haseeno and Love Aaj Kal and some more.
Of courses the makers try to get their own originality by building the story as an spoof on how Bollywood looks at rom-com - the subtle sarcasm works. So the hero is a writer trying to script a rom-com for a Bollywood superstar. He lives his own story before finally landing in love the most cliched way. To spruce up the screenplay they add Ranvir Shorey and Govinda. These characters add the humour. Ranvir is just right and Govinda is at his spontaneous best. His comic timing remains and makes you wish that he had more to do that just five scenes and one song. A lot more.
Good thing about Happy Ending is that it's breezy as a rom-com is supposed to be. It is genuinely filled with amusing moments. Some even unintended - they have a line producer named Rahul Gandhi. Yes, that one almost made me choke on my cola! No, it's not the same Gandhi! The intended humour is driven by some kickass dialogue writing - something that Raj and Krishna's films have always had.
Happy Ending comes at a very important junction in Saif Ali Khan's career. He has not had a true hit in years. After a series of characters that did not quite work for him, this film brings him back to his home turf. But the problem is that he looks too grown up for the role now.
Happy Ending is recommended for anyone who is even slightly interested in romantic comedies. That however does not help the fact that you would want more out of these two directors than just give you something 'regular'. For one, I would have liked if the film had more to do with the writer trying to figure his story rather than his love story.
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