Half Girlfriend

Adaptations will just create countless atrocities against Bollywood if they don't know how to execute a consistent screenplay. This movie basically explains everything from cheesy one-liners to cliché romantic factors.

So the movie focuses on Madhav Jha, a Bihari who gets admission in St.Stephens. His way of speaking English is poor but good in nature in terms of sports. He falls in love with a rich girl that goes by the name of Riya Sonmani who is also good at basketball. After a match, they become friends but their friendship gets more serious especially when they kiss. After going through a painful phase in terms of family, Riya runs away to New York happily married to someone else and also fulfilling her dream as a musician and Madhav moves back to Bihar. Riya gets divorced and how Madhav tries to win her back even if she is a cancer patient is basically what this film is about.

Quite frankly, this movie is an absolute snooze fest. The trailer wasn't interesting which made me least excited for the film but Chetan Bhagat is one of my favorite writers so i had to check this one out. The romantic factors in the movie are as low as his writing. The script itself contains such romance that will mislead you into falling in love.

The acting was below my expectations.

Arnold Schwarzenegger gives better expressions than Arjun Kapoor in my opinion. Although he was good in Ishaqzaade, but his role as Madhav just couldn't fit the part in a way that I was expecting.

Shraddha Kapoor gave a repeat performance than what she did in Baaghi and OK-Jaanu. Although the 1st half, she managed to pull it off well but her innocent face in the end really couldn't justice to the film.

The music in the movie is highly average. Baarish and Tumko Chahunga are decent tracks but the rest of the music wasn't good and really not my playlist listener.

The direction of the movie was not as good as well as the cinematography which looked highly vintage and less crisp. Mohit Suri gave some good films like Ek-Villain and Aashiqui 2 and bad films and watching this proves that Hamari Adhuri Kahaani and Crook are not the only films he made so this movie counts in that category.

Overall, I just couldn't stand this movie although some of the music saved the film but not a fair decision to go see it. Just don't waste your money this weekend and 2 states can do some justice to your weekend because it is a Chetan Bhagat's film.

Many of the credible directors try something new and fail miserably like Aditya Chopra for Befikre, Vikas Bahl for Shaandaar, Anurag Kashyap for Bombay Velvet etc. But there are many directors who stick to their genres and discover their new exposures like Sanjay Leela Bhansaali, Karan Johar, Rajkumar Hirani, Kabir Khan David Dhawan, Mohit Suri, Neeraj Pandey and others. So do never try to judge or evaluate their capability at any cost. Mohit Suri has a strong command on perfect depiction of love and does justice in story telling in his movies. He proves gain with this one. Arjun Kapoor gave his best performance in this movie after 2 states. For Shraddda Kapoor, she like Alia Bhatt is best in absorbing all kinds of roles and does not lacks anywhere when she is being guided by a good director, so as she gave an excellent performance in this movie as well. Previously Hamari Adhuri Kahani was bashed by critics but is one of the best films ever made and no one would deny with this fact who has watched it with a sense of feel that the movie was made to deliver. Half Girlfriend is also one of such movies that are made once in a lifetime. It does not has all time "rona dhona" like Ae Dil Hai Mushkil nor all time "masti" like Befikre where in the end, you are left thinking "Was this movie satisfying enough?". I have reviewed a movie for the first time because i felt that the reviewers are not doing justice by underrating this movie. This movie will remain with you like many other cult classic love stories, i bet. Forget everything, go watch it!

Here's another movie where ½ the viewers love it and ½ hate it. Both groups accurately describe how they felt about the movie. So I'll try to help the reader determine which ½ they should be guided by. Those who hated it seemed to have been expecting a fast moving and very different type of movie and, hence, they were disappointed when their expectations were not met and they vented their frustration in their review.

I thought the movie was quite good, albeit not one of the best of all time. I'll address two of the most common complaints from the haters. First, they call it "slow". It indeed is NOT a fast paced action thriller. However, for me, it didn't drag, it was just a normal pace and moved right along such as for "a slice of life" type film. Also, it was NOT an "all talk" movie by any means.

Second, they thought the story line was a cliché. Yes, it is a romantic movie about a poor boy who falls for a rich girl - sometimes it's a poor girl who falls for a rich boy - and about the troubles associated with coming from two different classes and especially the problem that the poor one has fitting in with the rich set. This indeed is a very common theme.

However, I do strongly disagree with some other criticisms. I think that because the haters found themselves watching the wrong movie genre, they took out their frustrations by criticizing everything including both leads and the director. I have no acting talent, but based on decades of experience, my impression of acting talent has in the past always been on target even when viewing movies from the 1930s & 40s. For those movies, I had not had expectations or knowledge of their reputation, with a few exceptions, but my impression always matched the critics even for the most unexpected. Later, in the mid-60s, I saw Sophia Loren's first performance when she was very young in "Two Women" and came out raving about her star power. Similarly, after I saw Natalie Portman in "Beautiful Girls" (she had a relatively minor role and was just 14 when filming), I raved to my stage actor son that I just seen a girl who was destined to be one of the top actresses of her generation. To date, I've had no missteps.

Anyway, I thought Arjun Kapoor was extremely expressive and exactly what the role called for and he really carried the movie. There are many styles of acting. If one chooses the "expressive" style, one can be accused of overacting or being hammy, but if one does it right, like Arjun did, it can be the most effective style for having IMPACT and conveying strong emotions - Arjun's choice and execution reminded me of others whose expressive style won them Oscars! In contrast, Shraddha Kapoor was more restrained as she played a woman with a mystery which the story required be kept mostly under wraps - again, her performance was right on target with the storyline. Finally, I was most impressed by the director, especially for the last half of the movie where his innovative handling of some innovative aspects of this tried and true storyline echoed the creative genius of D. W. Griffith. The movie was not fast paced, but it had depth. Also, I see that of the "1/2 that loved it", most echoed my sentiments although they were less verbose.

It was a sweet one time movie. I watched it on Netflix. Arjun Kapoor's acting was good. The movie was bit of a drag in between but generally good time pass.

Please don't get influenced by the negative reviews, #HalfGirlfriend is a pretty decent adaptation of Bhagats bestseller. Most of his stories are absolutely filmi n this story is no exception. Performances by Arjun, Shradha n Vikrant are sincere. Bill Gates plays a small role (yes, u read it right). Shradhas styling is perfect n she looks classy n lovely. "Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga" by Arijit is a melodious n sentimental number n it stays with you long after the film is over. The film doesn't take sides n doesn't malign the Hindi-speaking community, Possibly, Biharis will be accorded more respect after viewing this film. The concept of "beti bachao, beti padhao" is also thrown in for good measure. Rating 3/5.