Phillauri

Last week we saw the release of 'Beauty and the Beast,' a fairy tale romance with magical elements. Interestingly this week's Hindi release 'Phillauri' is a fairy tale in its own right. Phillauri is a brave movie because we don't tend to give stories that stray from the norm an equal chance. We call them different or 'hatke' and that defines their success. It doesn't matter if they're good or bad because they're termed as different and set aside. Phillauri is unique, certainly, but aren't all good movies?

Anushka Sharma was the youngest actor-producer in Bollywood when we she decided to back and act in 2015's 'NH10'- a courageous decision and even braver film. Two years later she's back with her second outing as producer with Phillauri. While polar opposite to NH10 in terms of story and tone, the bravery is still present. First, if you never saw NH10, do. And then give Phillauri a chance.

Phillauri begins with a young groom, Kanan, (played by Suraj Sharma) forced to marry a tree because he's 'mangilk' (possibly cursed) before he can marry his longtime girlfriend. While both families are relatively modern thinking, superstition runs deep. Soon after his nuptials with said tree he's haunted by a ghost named Shashi (Anushka Sharma) who claims he married her and not the tree. These first few moments evoke a few chuckles. The plot is slow to pick up but eventually tells us about the ill fated romance of Shashi and Phillauri (Diljit Dosanjh) in early 1900s Punjab. The movie tells two vastly different stories about a present day couple having wedding jitters and star-crossed lovers from a time long gone. Personally, I enjoyed the scenes in Punjab tremendously. Anushka and Diljit share an easy chemistry and both are incredibly likable in the movie. The present day portion isn't anything special but watching the couple be 'haunted' by Shashi is amusing enough.

Lead actor and producer Anushka Sharma walks away with the meatiest role and does full justice to her part. You're rooting for Shashi the whole way. Diljit Dosanjh, who we last saw in Udta Punjab, is equally convincing as a carefree singer who wears his heart of his sleeve. Suraj Sharma of Life of Pi fame and newcomer Mehreen Pirzada, who plays his fiancé, are fine in their respective roles but don't leave a lasting impact.

First time director Anshai Lal is unpolished but handles a few sequences well. The music is a highlight and gels perfectly with the screenplay. Every song is heavily influenced by Punjabi folk music which might not appeal to everyone but I've been listening to and enjoying the soundtrack for a few weeks now. The portions in Punjab are shot with great care and the flavor and culture is enchanting.

You may have seen pictures of Shashi the friendly ghost making appearances all over the world and throughout history as part of the Phillauri promotional campaign. It was a brilliant marketing strategy that stays true to the nature of the film. Honestly, the promotional campaign was better executed but this is still a light and feel-good movie that blends old fashioned romance with a fairy tale narrative. Watch it for Anushka and Diljit who light up the screen with their charm. And kudos to Ms. Sharma, please continue breaking barriers and taking risks.

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This is a good movie, but it could have been better if the flashbacks weren't so lengthy. It drawls especially towards the second half. Phillauri has a crazy, goofy start with Shashi (Anushka Sharma) getting confused with the technology of the 21st Century. The makers could have added some more confusions and cut most of the flashback scenes to give it some speed. Worth a watch.

These ghost/friendly spirit films make me cringe a lot especially when I saw Urvashi Rautela in Great Grand Masti. This film is basically a loose adaptation of Tim Burton's The Corpse. When I saw the trailer of this film, I didn't expect much from it.

So the movie revolves around a NRI westernized slacker named Kanan who has plans of marrying his love life Anu. Based on his Horoscope, he is forced to marry a tree to avoid giving any bad luck to his fiancée. While sleeping, a friendly spirit named Shashi comes to haunt Kanan and after a few mishaps, she manages to tell Kanan that instead of marrying the tree, he married the spirit who lived inside that tree. Knowing the truth behind the ghost's past and fixing it is basically what this film is about.

Honestly, this film is highly average at best. The story and screenplay is decent which makes the gripping factors of romance very consistent but this is only during the 1st half of the film. Post the interval makes it too far-fest and uneasiness starts to creep in especially during the climax.

It did become a bore to such extent when it came to the music which didn't do any justice to the film.

The performances were strong which made it a paisa vasool.

Anushka Sharma as usual has given a brilliant performance but the comedic factors in her role was a bit cold at times.

Diljit Dosanjh in Udta Punjab was commendable and so for this film when he played a poet from Phillaur.

Life of Pi was a benchmark with Suraj Sharma's performance. His debut in Bollywood was decent and charming. He is good which did make me laugh alright during some times in the movie.

Mehreen Pirzada was also decent and she started off well in this film but could've been better.

In contrast, there are issues in the film which compromised the depth of the film.

The music is average and no song really stands out as such especially when getting new composers for such movies.

Although Sahiba is a light hearted and kindling soundtrack but still the music is the culprit behind the snooze-fest elements in the movie.

The movie does stretch another 15-20 minutes making the climax very crass with alleviated grips.

Overall, the movie could've been better in terms of avoiding a predictable plot, music, and direction making it a bit rather underwhelming but the earnest performances kept the movie alive.

2.5/5- just save your money this weekend unless if you're craving to see Anushka Sharma's commendable acting chops.

I liked this movie because it imparts a lot of meaning to life. Anusksha Sharma acted her role superbly and the Diljit was true to his role and both of these important roles could not have been edified without our young Bride and Groom. Well written script and of course the poetic love songs of Phillaur takes it to another extreme high. To me it made a big difference since I do not speak or understand the movie but just seeing the movie made me universal and comprehensible. Excellent artistic work of the Director. Credits to all that made this movie a success. The story was of course a standard format but the actors highlighted it and made it dynamic and smooth sailing. Sadness of massacre and sadness and loss by suicide are finally neutralize peacefully with happy endings. My two good friends from training program used to sing clips of poems during lunch hour and of course they were born and brought up as children from this region or culture. I was amazed then and I am amazed now. I give it a 7.4 Also I want my hands on the big collection of LP's just mail me the address of that location.

Phillauri is Anushka Sharma's second movie as a producer after NH10 and this time she has ventured into the genre of romantic comedy.

While there are many Bollywood movies consisting of love stories, Phillauri is a movie you don't get to see everyday. Although the story of the movie was not new, the concept of the movie was something fresh and people were eager to watch the movie right after seeing the trailer. Phillauri's story is an average story but the way the story was set up was new. Anvita Dutt has written the story and screenplay of the movie and she has done a really commendable job. Anshai Lal as a debutant director has done a job worth praising.

The cast of Phillauri consist of Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Suraj Sharma and Mehreen Pirzada. Anushka Sharma's performance as a ghost and a long lost lover was quite heartwarming and lovely to watch. Suraj Sharma's performance as a confused NRI was quite fun to watch although he was lacking a bit of depth in the emotional side, Mehreen Pirzada's performance as his lover was quite impressive. While all the cast members did their job wonderfully, it is Diljit Dosanjh who steals the show, Diljit handled his role quite sincerely and weaved his character brilliantly in the movie.

The music is probably the best part of the movie. The music has its own uniqueness and this kind of music is rare to find in any Bollywood movie nowadays. The background scores by Samir Uddin and the songs by Shashwat Sachdev & Jasleen Royal were wonderfully composed which sincerely sticks to the theme of the movie.

The VFX and editing was very good and impressive, the cinematography was quite impressive as well.

The only downside of the movie was that it was progressing in a very slow pace and it gets slower in the second half. Certain scenes looked stretched, certain scenes could have also been avoided and more elements could have been added to the story instead.

Although the progression of the story was slow, the ending of the movie was totally unexpected, it was also quite quick owing to the fact that the movie was slow, but then again the ending was quite satisfying and truly concludes the whole movie.

Conclusion-

Although Phillauri is your average love story, it has been beautifully weaved with a new concept. The progression of the movie was slow but the performances of the cast makes you forget about the slow pacing. In short, it is a heartwarming film about love which will truly entertain you and won't make you disappointed.