First Published at https://myunwantedreviews.wordpress.com/2017/11/12/qarib-qarib- singlle-qarib-qarib-good/
Romance is a genre Indian cinema is quite fond of. Most of its movies revolve around the premises of love and love stories. Rarely a movie comes which gives a fresh perspective on this overused idea of Bollywood romance. Qarib Qarib Singlle is one such movie.
What makes it different is the fact that unlike usual romantic movies, the lead couple here is quite matured with its own worldview and different sets of sensibilities. They don't want to cross oceans for each other and fight with everyone to be together. They rather take the things slowly and take a road less travelled to reach their destination, quite literally. Instead of forgetting their past and move on, they explore it and find a future for themselves.
The best part of the film is its casting. Parvathy as Jaya is sensible and has quite a measured yet an open view of life. She is a 35-year-old-widow who lives alone, but that, at any point doesn't let her be any less. She is independent and has a stable job. She has a positivity involved with her not-so-heroin like vibe. You can connect easily with her and if anything left, she breaks the fourth wall on multiple occasions to connect directly with the audience. She hasn't been involved in any relationship for so long that her friend jokingly said that she could become a virgin again. That's when she reluctantly makes a profile on a dating website, and eventually meets Yogi through it.
Irrfan as Yogi is relatable. He is a 40-year-old single and a self- styled poet who has quite a relaxed attitude towards life. He is outspoken and master of his own life. As an unlike hero of a romantic movie, Yogi gives an impression that the guy next door can be a hero too. He is not easy to get used to but has a strange charm about himself. He doesn't think much and does what he feels like. One such decision is when he decides to meet his exes with whom he did a 'Jaanlewa and Ghanghor Ishq' and believes that they still love him the same way. And that's when the journey starts.
The first half of the film explores the lives of the lead pair and sets a good backstory for Jaya. Although she has lost her husband quite early, she isn't broken. Tanuja Chandra, who is returning after quite a long time doesn't paint a sympathetic portrait for Jaya, rather she paints her in all the colours she could use. Jaya is a loving, caring and free-willing lady who is always ready to help. On the other side, the film doesn't create a sizeable backstory for Yogi but take us on a trip to his past with all his antiques in the present. This half is a comedy of errors which paces smoothly in the forward direction with the amazing timing of Irrfan and an unadulterated innocence of Parvathy. It has the wit, some really funny moments and some picturesque locations to be in awe of, which are beautifully captured by Eeshit Narain. Kamna Chandra's dialogues and the way they have been delivered are the soul of the film, complemented perfectly with the soulful music.
For the entire duration of the first half, the film remains high on energy and seems to be building a strong plot to progress upon, but things don't go that way in the latter half. The high it reaches in the first half only looks like the top of bell curve from where it only starts to fall. Probably in the lack of a good screenplay, which surely has a freshness attached to it but it fails to connect the dots. It seems to be going slower than it should and becomes very predictable at one point. But even in the weak second half it manages to have a few good scenes. One of them involves amazingly talented Brijendra Kala in it and another is when they make a conversation in bed next morning, it's not how it sounds like but it was neatly directed and performed. Sadly, it doesn't translate entirely for the rest of the scenes. The movie has its moments but they are not evenly distributed.
Despite all its flaws and weaknesses here and there, the movie thrives on the amazing chemistry of its lead pair which makes the film charming even in its weakest moments. And the fact that it deals with a subject of an otherwise 'questionable' and marginally 'tabooed' behaviour of two adults in Indian society without being preachy and in the easiest way possible is commendable.
I'm not entirely disappointed with the movie but it certainly didn't live up to the expectations I had with it, especially after a brilliant trailer and a superb first half. I would neither say it was a bad movie, nor I would say it was good. It was qarib qarib good.
Romance is a genre Indian cinema is quite fond of. Most of its movies revolve around the premises of love and love stories. Rarely a movie comes which gives a fresh perspective on this overused idea of Bollywood romance. Qarib Qarib Singlle is one such movie.
What makes it different is the fact that unlike usual romantic movies, the lead couple here is quite matured with its own worldview and different sets of sensibilities. They don't want to cross oceans for each other and fight with everyone to be together. They rather take the things slowly and take a road less travelled to reach their destination, quite literally. Instead of forgetting their past and move on, they explore it and find a future for themselves.
The best part of the film is its casting. Parvathy as Jaya is sensible and has quite a measured yet an open view of life. She is a 35-year-old-widow who lives alone, but that, at any point doesn't let her be any less. She is independent and has a stable job. She has a positivity involved with her not-so-heroin like vibe. You can connect easily with her and if anything left, she breaks the fourth wall on multiple occasions to connect directly with the audience. She hasn't been involved in any relationship for so long that her friend jokingly said that she could become a virgin again. That's when she reluctantly makes a profile on a dating website, and eventually meets Yogi through it.
Irrfan as Yogi is relatable. He is a 40-year-old single and a self- styled poet who has quite a relaxed attitude towards life. He is outspoken and master of his own life. As an unlike hero of a romantic movie, Yogi gives an impression that the guy next door can be a hero too. He is not easy to get used to but has a strange charm about himself. He doesn't think much and does what he feels like. One such decision is when he decides to meet his exes with whom he did a 'Jaanlewa and Ghanghor Ishq' and believes that they still love him the same way. And that's when the journey starts.
The first half of the film explores the lives of the lead pair and sets a good backstory for Jaya. Although she has lost her husband quite early, she isn't broken. Tanuja Chandra, who is returning after quite a long time doesn't paint a sympathetic portrait for Jaya, rather she paints her in all the colours she could use. Jaya is a loving, caring and free-willing lady who is always ready to help. On the other side, the film doesn't create a sizeable backstory for Yogi but take us on a trip to his past with all his antiques in the present. This half is a comedy of errors which paces smoothly in the forward direction with the amazing timing of Irrfan and an unadulterated innocence of Parvathy. It has the wit, some really funny moments and some picturesque locations to be in awe of, which are beautifully captured by Eeshit Narain. Kamna Chandra's dialogues and the way they have been delivered are the soul of the film, complemented perfectly with the soulful music.
For the entire duration of the first half, the film remains high on energy and seems to be building a strong plot to progress upon, but things don't go that way in the latter half. The high it reaches in the first half only looks like the top of bell curve from where it only starts to fall. Probably in the lack of a good screenplay, which surely has a freshness attached to it but it fails to connect the dots. It seems to be going slower than it should and becomes very predictable at one point. But even in the weak second half it manages to have a few good scenes. One of them involves amazingly talented Brijendra Kala in it and another is when they make a conversation in bed next morning, it's not how it sounds like but it was neatly directed and performed. Sadly, it doesn't translate entirely for the rest of the scenes. The movie has its moments but they are not evenly distributed.
Despite all its flaws and weaknesses here and there, the movie thrives on the amazing chemistry of its lead pair which makes the film charming even in its weakest moments. And the fact that it deals with a subject of an otherwise 'questionable' and marginally 'tabooed' behaviour of two adults in Indian society without being preachy and in the easiest way possible is commendable.
I'm not entirely disappointed with the movie but it certainly didn't live up to the expectations I had with it, especially after a brilliant trailer and a superb first half. I would neither say it was a bad movie, nor I would say it was good. It was qarib qarib good.