Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji

Venturing into the comedy is a road less travelled for Mr. Bhandarkar, considering the fact that he bears a monopoly of a self-invented genre which involves cherry-picking a cross-section of the society and present a multi-dimensional view. Obviously more than the expectations, it was the curiosity on his faring that made me have a go at "Dil Toh Baccha Hain Ji". At the outset the outing seems to be on the lines of the classics we have witnessed from the house of Hrishikesh Mukherjee & Basu Chatterjee.

ʘ Ajay: The mid-life crisis of a banker battling a divorce on personal front is well depicted. Him falling heads-over-heels for a girl half his age and undergoing an image makeover is inspired from "American Beauty" (hold your horses don't expect the rose petals which I suppose could have flipped the Indian censor board). Mr. Devgan seems to be under a big misnomer that off-late his signature style constipated look qualifies for acting.

ʘ Rituparna Sengupta: As a news reporter undergoing a mutual consent divorce sans alimony I expected the role to have multiple facets. Sadly the character comes across very much linear and serves no purpose as the plot moves along. Editing to blame perhaps?

ʘ Omi Vaidya: Raju Hirani and Aamir Khan deserve being accredited to extract a fantabulous performance from "the silencer" in 3-Idiots. The same cannot be said in this movie (sad). His performance barely qualifies for an average. The script has been tweaked to incorporate the videsi singing "Mera Bharat Mahaan/ Aamchi Mumbai/ Jai Maharashtra" slogans. His poems/ poetry are worse I have heard in recent years and definitely warranted good some good writing on that front.

ʘ Shazahn Padamsee: Very promising. Her makeup, costumes and effervescence brighten up the Lolita character and make forty plus go head-over-heels.

ʘ Shraddha Das: Dangling between the head and heart she gives an honest performance.

ʘ Shruti K Hassan: Honestly she has got what it takes to give Kats & Sonam a real tough fight, should she give up her condescending attitude and lighten up a bit.

ʘ Shweta Salve attempts a la Rekha of "Parineeta" and croons a number on similar lines. Best not compared I say.

ʘ Mukesh Tiwari was wasted

ʘ Tisca Chopra: The role of trophy wife who has mastered the skill to achieve the best of both both worlds is effortlessly played by Tisca Chopra with a rare maturity.

ʘ Emraan Hashmi:: A believable character whom you would bump into everyday life. Practical, suave and slimy character to which the layers are well fleshed out. Some good tongue-in-cheek lines add icing to cake. Emraan's performance is very smooth and I guess he has a flair for these type of roles.

Tisca Chopra and Emraan Hashmi clearly stand out on the acting front and practically steal the thunder from the rest. Paresh Rawal intro, a novelty, hardly contributes. The screenplay could have been tighten up a bit in conjunction with some chopping on the editing table to chase away the predictability factor. A few songs are quite hummable and neatly blend with the storyline.

Madhur should stick to doing what he is best, the slice-and-dice genre.

PS: Though the title borrowed from the song in "Ishqiya" its my firm belief that the characters from the original (Naseeruddin & Arshad Warsi) aptly justified "Dil Toh Baccha Hain Ji" when it came to the matters of heart.

This is a Hindi movie with a difference! Yeah, I expected something from the promos and well, I got exactly what I was expecting. But I said it is different, because unlike many Hindi romantic comedies I have watched, it does not portray love as stupid.

The characters in the movie are pretty detailed and distinct. The first half of the movie takes a bit time introducing the protagonists, which is a good thing, so that we actually give a damn about the characters! The title is so apt because the 3 lead characters are so different in character, but they all have a common attribute - falling in love. And their love for the girls, why they fall for them and the incidents following that, make up the story.

I don't wanna reveal anything. I am posting this review here because I have found some negative reviews here. I don't understand why! Hats off to Madhur Bhandarkar for making this movie! He had done a good job..Guys, don't miss this movie! Its kind of an eye opener too, because of some unpredictable stuffs followed by a strong climax. Awesome!

Madhur Bhandarkar's new venture, before he had directed serious movies and by this he had tried new genre. I would say first half is enjoyable as there is enough punches to make you laugh with the dose of some clumsy lines but its acceptable.

But in second half it loses its track and most of the scene looks to be imposed in movie. The Emraan Hashmi's track is half baked and also some scenes are not fitted nicely. But I would say for the some entertaining parts I enjoyed this. Although there are some of amateurish performance by supporting cast but it is leading male actors who done well also Tisca Chopra. And at last I liked the ending of the movie.

After watching Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, seeing an Ajay-Emraan duo was exhilarating only because of their stellar performances in the previous movie. If you are like me and watch this movie after that, you can notice the significant difference in the acting abilities of Ajay Devgan. With Emraan however, there is a common pattern in his character. He never plays a saint, and his reactions and playboyish charm is almost anticipated. The third guy was great too in his awkwardness and did remind me of the nerd from Three Idiots. Unfortunately, the women are overshadowed by the men in their performances. Still, you cannot detect any mistakes in their part.

Going to the storyline, it is a modern tale of three bachelors who look for love. Even though Ajay is a middle aged divorcée, Emraan is a playboy, and Omi is the naive salesman with no prospect for future, they all follow the same trends of luck and failures around the same time. This is evident as they celebrate together, mourn together, and share together. However, the saving grace of this movie is not the comedy which is barely existing, but rather the sweet day to day lives of average people without love who many can relate to.

Overall, it is a good watch if only you can watch it once. There are some sexual jokes, but nothing that might put you in a position of sheer embarrassment (unless your parents are really intolerant and strongly religious). There are no sex scenes even though there are implications. Emraan himself managed to stay away from any boldness even though he is wooing both mother and daughter at one point. Overall, it is a sweet movie for all the loveless bachelors, but could have benefited with a February 14th release day to really get the spirit flowing. It is a good watch for family too as it is not really as predictable as other Hindi movies. A good watch for a quiet night, but unfortunately nothing out of the ordinary.

Madhur Bhandarkar, a national award winning director, is well know for his hard hitting movies such as "Fashion" and "Chandini Bar", and that's why you have to give him lots and lots of credit for going out of his comfort zone.

The performances by all 3 of the leading males (Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi and Omi Vadiya) are good. The character development makes up the story; hence, we get to know more about the personalities of the three characters as the film progresses. Their respective stories are all different so the theme of love, of course, is thoroughly explored.

The cinematography is good as you would expect, as is the screenplay.

Music has been nicely incorporated; there are no songs that don't 'fit in'.

Verdict: a nice, funny and romantic movie that shouldn't be missed. 8/10.