Aditya Chopra's French kiss comes a cropper

Befikre, the filmmaker's Parisian-scented romance, may have broken YashRaj's template for love stories, but it is still far from convincing

No two or three ways about it: Befikre has been the biggest disappointment of 2016, a year which indeed yielded quite a few let-downs.
At the age of 45, Aditya Chopra, who helms the super-clout-wielding YashRaj banner ever since his father - the monarch of romance Yash Chopra - passed away four years ago, came up with an addition to his lean filmography with Befikre. It is the fourth film he has personally directed in a career span of over two decades.
Perhaps there's no point in reminding you that Chopra Jr, at the age of 24, had crafted the widely-cherished Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). That was another era, another millennium. So, let's do away with comparisons and contrasts already. If I do bring up the ghost of DDLJ, it's merely to point out that Aditya Chopra, with the films he directed subsequently like Mohabbatein (2000) and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), has been going downhill. And I say this with concern because the Aditya Chopra who would allow a select few to call him 'Adi' is totally possessed by cinema. Quite endearingly, he had once confided, "For years till I grew up, I was sure that everyone in the world made movies just like my father did."
When he was in college, he had written a script vaguely inspired by Hollywood's Indecent Proposal. But once he graduated with a B.Com degree, he shelved the script. Instead, he chose to regularly attend the script and music sessions of his father's films, mostly held in a 'think' room of their commodious bungalow in Mumbai's upscale Juhu-Vile Parle housing colony. And it is believed that during the later years of Yash Chopra's life, his creative inputs in his father's films, especially Dil To Paagal Hai, Veer-Zara and Jab Tak Hai Jaan were more than substantial.
Immensely proud that Adi had become a topline director and was equipped to take over the family's film production banner, Yash Chopra would joke, "See, his first film earned more money and acclaim from the critics than any of my films did." Doubtlessly, Adi was poised to become one of Bollywood's most influential film personalities despite his aversion to publicity and stubborn isolation from the showbiz crowd. While the father was unwaveringly gregarious, Adi was just the opposite: inaccessible.
Perhaps the gamble has paid off to a degree. Adi, as a producer, has been responsible for some of the highest cash-earners (the Dhoom series, Ek Tha Tiger and this year's Sultan, to cite just a few examples). As a director and writer, alas, the Adi of yore - who had freaked out on Sooraj Barjatya's Hum Aapke Hain..Koun! - has changed drastically, and not for the better - evidenced clearly in Befikre, which is devoid of a strong storyline, a magical musical score and a freshness of technique and purpose.
There was a time when he would wisely say, "A film should be made only if it has a story that must be told. No filmmaker can repress a story in which he believes with all his heart and mind." Right. But the plot, or whatever there is of it in Befikre, revolves around an unbelievable twosome who meet in Paris, deal with 'commitment problems' (reminiscent of the YashRaj banner's flop film Neal 'n' Nikki) and, well, sort themselves out. Banking far more on the chemistry between the lead players Ranveer Singh and semi-newbie Vaani Kapoor, who was earlier seen in a supporting role in the YashRaj romedy Shuddh Desi Romance, than on an engrossing screenplay, the outcome was okayed by the Censor Board with uncharacteristic leniency. Incidentally, the print released in the UAE is an edited version.
Although Aditya Chopra, during the publicity campaigns, declared that the film was quintessentially him and close to his heart, the intention didn't quite gel. Yet, quite inevitably, Befikre met with an encouraging public response during its opening weekend - in no small measure because of the current flavour of the season, Ranveer Singh, who amassed a huge fan following for his performances in Dil Dhadakne Do and Bajirao Mastani last year.
Whatever the commercial fate of Befikre may turn out to be, there's no turning away from the fact that the discerning lot of critics have unequivocally lambasted the Parisian-scented romance.
Like it or not, the film is certainly not in the league of romances, the template for which Adi inherited from Yash Chopra. To end the year, here's sincerely wishing and praying that Adi returns to form sooner or later. His heart is in the right place but overconfidence has often led the best of directors to totter through the 'befikre' route. Now that's something to worry about.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com