Zara Hatke Zara Bachke Movie Review: Vicky Kaushal-Sara Ali Khan’s latest release Zara Hatke Zara Bachke leaves you with mixed feelings.
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Sara Ali Khan, Sharib Hashmi, Inaamulhaq, Rakesh Bedi
Director: Laxman Utekar
Writers: Maitrey Bajpai, Ramiz Ilham Khan, Laxman Utekar
“Dekho maine dekha hain yeh ek sapna, phoolon ke sheher mein ho ghar apne.” This popular song from Kumar Gaurav-Vijayta Pandit’s 1981 blockbuster hit, Love Story which plays right at the beginning of Laxman Utekar’s Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, echoes the sentiment of every middle class family who aspires to have their own house. It does even for the fictional characters in the filmmaker’s world.
Sadly, Utekar builds his house (film) with inconsistent writing and some loud performances, as a result of which, you fall short of saying ‘home sweet home’.
What’s Yay: Vicky Kaushal, a few funny scenes in the first half
What’s Nay: Sara Ali Khan, erratic writing, melodrama seeping in towards the end
Story
Set in Indore, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke opens with Kapil Dubey (Vicky Kaushal), a yoga instructor and his tutor-wife Somya Chawla Dubey (Sara Ali Khan) ringing in their second wedding anniversary with their extended family which includes Kapil’s parents, uncle, aunt and a pesky nephew.
After the celebrations go awry because of an ‘egg cake’ making its way into the Dubey household, a closer peek reveals that the blissfully married Kapil and Sharma crave for privacy in their small abode which they share with other family members. Somya believes that the only way out of this situation is by buying their own ‘ghar’. Unfortunately, the skyrocketing real estate price threatens to burn a hole in their middle-class pocket.
Finally, despite to move out of their family home, she convinces her loving-yet-cheapskate husband Kapil to exploit a government housing scheme aimed at low-income group by simulating a fake divorce with the help of Kapil’s lawyer friend and a small-time fixer Bhagwandas (Inaamulhaq). Will lady luck smile on them?
Direction
For decades, housing and the lack of privacy in their small abode has been one of the biggest dilemmas for India’s middle-class which even trickled into Hindi cinema. Remember Anil Dhawan-Jaya Bachchan starrer Piya Ka Ghar which revolved around a newlywed couple’s struggle for space and privacy in a cramped existence or Amol Palekar-Zarina Waheb’s Gharaonda which depicted the middle-class’ elusive dream of owing a house in Mumbai?
With Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, Laxman Utekar takes a step into this territory. However, instead of some subtle filmmaking ala Basu Chatterjee or Bhim Sain style, the director dials up on physical comedy. This is one of the reasons why you never ‘feel’ the dilemma or the point of conflict in the film.
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke is fun when it’s about Kapil and Soumya chomping greasy noodles and splitting fuzzy sodas at a roadside joint or Kapil’s ‘miserly’ tip to a child waiter. However, it loses some of its warmth when Utekar trades his slapstick humour for a boring plot device to evoke melodrama post interval. The writing too, fails to hit your sweet spot.
Performances
Vicky Kaushal who dabbled with a similar theme in Anand Tiwari’s Netflix film, Love Per Square Foot, gets to unleash his spirited side once again after Govinda Naam Mera, and he is sincere in his efforts. There’s a certain affable charm to him which makes you turn a blind eye or two when he goes a bit overboard or two in a handful of scenes.
On the other hand, even though Sara Ali Khan shares a lively chemistry with him, her standalone performance in the film is least impressive. While she looks her part in the film, her poor dialogue delivery skills and shaking acting chops in the emotional scenes throws off the balance in the film.
Sharib Hashmi as the good-natured watchman fares well despite a predictable role. The rest of the cast which includes Inaamulhaq, Rakesh Bedi, Himanshu Kohli, Akarsh Khurana, Srishti Rindani, Kanupriya Pandit and others add to the pantomime.
Technical Aspects
Raghav Ramadoss’ camerawork is average. In fact, he could have easily avoided a few close-up shots which was barely looked appealing on screen. Manish Pradhan does a decent job with his editing scissors.
Music
Arijit Singh’s ‘Phir Aur Kya Chahiye’ is hummable. ‘Baby Tuje Paap Lagega’ lacks zing. ‘Saanjha’ fails to have a recall value. ‘Tere Vaaste’ is our pick from the music album of Zara Hatke Zara Bachke as it slowly grows on you.
Verdict
Like the lyrics of one of the songs which goes like ‘Tere vaaste falak se main chaand launga, solah satrah sitaare, sang baandh launga,’ Vicky Kaushal-Sara Khan’s latest release makes tall promise with its relatable concept, only to collapse in the end. In a nutshell, this one is made of less ‘hatke’ and more ‘bachke’ things.
