Friday Night Plan Hindi Movie
Vatsal Neelakantan's "Friday Night Plan" uses the familiar trope of a parent going out of town while leaving their offspring to take care of themselves. Juhi Chawla plays a single mother who has a hard time managing her often-fighting teen children. Babil Khan's Siddharth is the elder and more responsible of her two sons, and Amrith Jayan's Aditya is the more mischievous. Before going out of town for a full day of work, Juhi Chawla's character lays out the ground rules for the two: no fighting, no going out at night, and no driving. But from the title itself, we know that the kids are going to break all the rules and that something is going to go down big time. The school's Friday night party is on, Sid has something important to tell her crush, and Adi cannot wait to see what the night holds in store for them.
The set-up is cheesy and the scenarios are flimsy on paper, but writer Vatsal Neelakantan has a real feel for how teenagers talk. The film's deliberate use of half English and half Hindi makes the conversation seem urban, fun, and reasonably authentic. Vatsal also gives us a couple of scenes in Sid and Adi's school to offer us an idea of how they behave there and how their classmates treat them. Sid is more reticent, so some of his schoolmates bully him after he scores a decisive goal in school football. Meanwhile, Adi is so annoyed by the fact that Sid cannot open his heart to the girl she loves at school and that he does not let his hair down even for a while. We get a good idea of the relationship dynamics between these kids from the scenes at school itself.
The party is a bit of an excuse to give us some nuggets of wisdom about sibling rivalry. One character says, after all, what is the state of being siblings without some occasional quarreling?
Friday Night Plan is reminiscent of a film like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" in terms of how it shows teenagers breaking away from their parents and enjoying their newly found sense of freedom. Like in Ferris, Sid and Adi have a car situation, as well as the urgency of having to get back home before their mom is there. But the similarities end there. This is its own film in terms of ideas and execution.
There is an array of colorful characters in the party, including Aadhya Anand's Nitya, Medha Rana's Natasha, and Aditya Jain's Kabir. There is also Ninad Kamat as SI Suhas Pingale, who is essentially an uncle in the guise of a cop who admonishes kids. Kamat is a hoot as the cop, but I wished the makers of Friday Night Plan had used a star in the cop's role, like, say, Salman Khan. At least, then, you would have had a familiar cop with more charm.
It is refreshing to see Juhi Chawla after such a long time in Hindi cinema. Her interactions with the children are really nice. At the same time, Babil Khan and Amrith Jayan complement each other so well. They will love to show this film to their younger selves when they grow up. After all, those of us who grow old will always want to stay young at heart.
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