Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl

Having seen Band Baaja Baaraat which I really liked, I'd had quite some expectations from Maneesh Sharma's next feature, Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl, which stars the same actors in lead roles. For me, the film is a great disappointment, though it is not that bad per se. Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl is an unoriginal film about a con man who, using different names and identities, woos young women only to eventually rob them of their property. Then his victims hire a girl to take revenge and get their money back, and this girl he really falls in love with. Blah. Yeh, this is quite an old cliché and so is this movie, which lacks not only originality, but also depth and substance. It's a glossy one though, I must say, and watching it with friends may be quite enjoyable, particularly if they are not in the mood for something serious. The film has some catchy songs as well, though none really is memorable enough. The actors are good enough, but no one is great. Ranveer is alright. He's confident, at times over-confident, but the part is too ordinary to make a difference really (and maybe I was expecting more after BBB), and it does not challenge him in any way; instead it just gives him some corny lines and silly makeovers, and the good moments are too few to matter. Anushka is just too charming to ignore, although, just like with Ranveer, the role itself is nothing special compared to her brilliant turn as Shrutti Kakkar in Band Baaja Baaraat. Yet, there is something about this girl. It's amazing how often she reminds me of Preity Zinta. She is spunky, vivacious and very pretty, and has a strong screen presence, so I still believe she has quite a future in the industry. Of the three girls, all are quite hot, but Parineeta Chopra is clearly the show-stealer and is quite a promising newcomer. She is incredibly cute and consistently credible thanks to her natural flair for comedy and superb dialect. Sadly, the cast were not given a very memorable film to work in. Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl is a most predictable film; the script is well contrived for its own good and the ending couldn't be more saccharine. It has its moments, but it's still forgettable. Watch it if you must, really.

Ladies Vs Richy Bahl makes for a pretty good watch for quite an amount of reasons. The movie was short, didn't get draggy at all which is only the second best part of the movie after the HOT BOD Anushka Sharma flaunts in the movie. have to give it to her, AMAZING. She could give the other ladies in the industry a run for their money. The plot is decent enough to keep you on your seats and the music well done too with a good amount of laughter moments thrown in too at good intervals mainly by this Delhi girl character(whose name I forget).

So all in all the Ranveer-Anushka duo made good stuff on the screen after their first outing in Band Baaja.

Again a Yash Raj movie,again a Maneesh Sharma film,again Anushka-Ranveer pairing that worked wonders in Band Baaja Baraat,but on the contrary Ladies vs Ricky Bahl never has that element of magic that BBB had.Of course u can blame Anushka coming to the fore in the second half,but the movie actually subsides in the second half itself not only because of some boring sequences but the predictability the movie creates as we rush through second half.First half is fun-filled specially because of the presence of Parineeti Chopra (Priyanka's cousin) and it never ever seems its her first movie.Ranveer as always is impressive not only in conning girls but flaunting his body with those 8 pack abs.Dipannita and Aditi have done commendable jobs.Anushka(especially in the black bikini)looks hot.Songs are OK.Overall the movie could have been better in the second half.Go for it only if you are an ardent fan of Ranveer.I go with 6/10

Team-BBB (Band Bajaa Baraat) clearly had an advantage with their first outing. Yashraj films were at its lowest ebb which translated the expectations to sub-zero. When the winning combo decided to strike again, the sky-high expectations ended up working against it.

What works?

Ѻ Well written conning portions. Bollywood has generally witnessed scarcity in on this genre, Mr. Sampat and Mr. Natwarlal in the past and Bluffmaster and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! in the recent come to my mind.

Ѻ Ranveer Singh - Undoubtedly he is the one who has what it takes to carry the mantle forward.

Ѻ Anushka Sharma - Seamless performance. A word of advice to the leading ladies of 90's who are toying the idea of returning from sabbatical. You quit when you were ahead of the game, so stay put. Watch her and you will know why.

Ѻ Parineeta Chopra - A surprise package. This dark horse nearly stole the thunder from Anushka Sharma.

Ѻ Choreography on a few select songs.

Ѻ Authentic supporting characters.

Let downs.

Ѻ The mushy-mushy YRF ingredient. Seriously, the plot had enough potential to steer for a better finale otherwise.

Ѻ The spicy ingredients which went missing in the second-half.

Ѻ The grand conning act appears to be long drawn.

Verdict: A definite one-time watch material. And looking forward to the next outing from Team-BBB!

Expectations - If you have watched "Band Baaja Baaraat" then you can't even think to miss Ladies V/S. Ricky Bahl. Ranveer-Anushka chemistry, Ranveer's charm and killer looks, Anushka's smart and stylish acting skills, superb music by Salim-Sulaiman and Maneesh Sharma's smart and entertaining direction skills which comes in a "Yash Raj Films" brand-mark - everything was back again in this movie. The stylish promos, Ranveer-Anushka's "Thug Le" music video & that promising comeback feel - everything raised people's expectations much much higher. Frankly, I was extremely keen for LVRB as I liked BBB very very very much. That movie delivered much freshness in Rom-Coms released in Bollywood.

LVRB is a smart-tale from start to end which can be called "Classy" in a word. But still an inspiration from a very famous movie "John Tucker Must Die (2006)". But some usual changes do take place as the story of this movie is written by Aditya Chopra. So, the romantic and emotional parts are much tighter here.

As the story unfolds from start to last, Dimple (Parineeti Chopra) falls for a gym-trainer Sunny Singh who cons his dad and flees away that instant. Next we see Raina (Dipannita Sharma), a hard-working, successful corporate woman who is conned by Deven Shah. Then both of them come to know that Saira (Aditi Sharma), a simple, hard working widow was also conned by Iqbal Khan. They figure out that Sunny, Deven & Iqbal are the same person. Who Is He? Meet Ricky Bahl (Ranveer Singh) - a lady-charmer, a perfect conman whose only motive is nothing but money.

Raina, Dimple & Saira plans to track down Ricky through Ishika Desai (Anushka Shrma), a young and ambitious Goa by conning Ricky and get their money back. The Ultimate Showdown begins is Goa....

Director Maneesh Sharma handles some moments perfectly like The Dimple story, Ranveer's entry and much more. A Smart script is noticed in the whole movie. But he disappoints much as one expected another BBB from him. But many qualities that BBB had lacks entirely in the movie. Entertainment quotient, 'Jhallipan' in lead actors, Ranveer was charming but not the BITTOO SHARMA that justified him, Anushka also looked much sour. Music By Salim-Sulaiman is as usual top notch. Tracks like "AADAT SE MAJBOOR" & "JAZBA" works perfect, "FATAL ATTRACTION" was awesome & "THUG LE" was the show stealer for its mind-boggling choreography by Vaibhavi Merchant. Aseem Mishra's cinematography was fine as GOA was mostly captured in the movie. Habib Faisal's dialogs lacked confidence and spice.

We have seen Ranveer Singh in on of the most liked characters ever that was BITTO SHARMA. Ranveer's role is LVRB was totally opposite of it. Special Charm, Smartness & classy attitudes were the main ingredients of this role which Ranveer gave much justice to. Ranveer can now be easily called as one of the finest heroes appeared at recent times. He is undoubtedly the Show-stealer in all respects. Anushka Shrama (better known as 'Tani Partner' or 'Shruti Kakkar') evolves even more as an leading lady through this movie. Her acting was convincing, confident, ambitious and lacked dullness. The pair of Ranveer-Anushka is the winner of this movie.

We see a new talent coming up through this movie which is Parineeti Chopra (Priyanka Chopra's Cousin). Her role was total "Jhalli" and she carried it out perfectly. Bravo! Dipannita Sharma was perfect as a no-nonsense corporate woman. Aditi Sharma was fine but natural. Shireesh Sharma, father of Dimple in the movie was fine.

Finally, Ladies Vs. Ricky Bahl doesn't disappoint. What disappoints is Maneesh Sharma's promising comeback. Band Baaja Baaraat was one of the best movies of last year while LVRB is a decent fare. Ranveer and Anushka's deadly chemistry and performances by lead actors try a lot to abolish the flaws of the movie but it failed to convince the audiences who came to watch another fun-flick like Band Baaja Baaraat. The conning episodes, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, both of them together, the romantic portions and climax works for a big time, but still the movie lacked 'unforgettable' moments and freshness. Watch If You've Nothing Better To Do!