Movie Review: Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania – aka DDLJ
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Mainly shot in Mumbai and Punjab, the film has two lead characters, Kavya Partab Singh (Alia Bhat) and Rakesh Humpty Sharma (Varun Dhawan).
Bold and jovial Kavya, a small-town, but rich Punjabi girl from Ambala, is all set to marry a foreign return doctor Angad Bedi (Sidharth Shukla) of her father’s (Ashutosh Rana) choice. Young Kavya is happy, but she has one condition – to wear a designer lehnga on her wedding.
Soon she sets off to Delhi to buy a wedding dress, where she meets happy-go-lucky Delhi boy, Humpty. Eventually, they both fall in love, despite knowing that Kavya is soon to marry someone else.
Love struck Humpty follows Kavya back to her hometown. But what happens next?
How Humpty proves his love for Kavya to her family is what I leave you to find out.
If we compare Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania with DDLJ – both have the same storyline and Punjabi wedding traditions. What makes it different from the latter is its cast.
Both lead characters, Bhat and Dhawan, may not be famous actors and may even have flaws. But the sizzling chemistry between the two is what makes this film enjoyable.
Dhawan has done a remarkable job in his performance keeping a good balance in emotional and comedy scenes. Seems like he's finally taking his acting seriously!
Bhat’s confidence, on the other hand, shows she has matured after Highway and Two States.
Both actors support each other during their scenes together, which seemed to lack in DDLJ.
Rana came on big screen after a long break, but his performance didn’t falter a bit. From dialogues to body language, he played his part best.
The supporting characters, Humpty’s two close friends Shonty (Gaurav Pandey) and Poplu (Sahil Vaid), did surprisingly well and are worth a mention.
Director Shashank Khaitan has a strong grip on the film’s theme. While the story may be old and traditional, the screenplay, lead roles and supporting actors, all show good coordination; with the typical melodrama avoided at best.
The film soundtrack is average with six tracks in total that can be good dance numbers, but not appealing enough to remember.
The final word
Funny, witty and with all the wrong dialogues at the right moments, the film is an enjoyable romantic comedy.
Read this review in Urdu here.
Dharma Production’s romantic flick ‘Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania was released on 11 July 2014.
Written and directed by Shashank Khaitan; Produced by Karan Johar; Music by Sachin-Jigar, Sharib Sabri and Tushi Sabri while lyricist are Shashank Khaitan, Kumar and Arshad Kamil; Editing by Manan Sagar ; Cinematography by Neha Parti.
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sidharth Shukla, Ashutosh Rana