Amidst much hype, the Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan starrer “Zara Hatke Zara Bachke” released in the theaters this weekend. “Mimi” fame director Laxman Utekar writes and directs this romantic comedy movie as it is jointly produced by Dinesh Vijan and Jyoti Deshpande.
Set in Indore, this is the story of a middle class couple Kapil Dubey aka Kappu (Vicky Kaushal) and Saumya Chawla Dubey (Sara Ali Khan) who live with their family in a small house. Kapil’s maternal uncle and aunt have come to stay at his house with no clear intention of going back, making the couple long for privacy and romance. On top of that, Saumya has to listen to taunts of his aunt for every small mistake she makes.
Just like any other middle class couple, Saumya and Kapil have a dream to buy their own house for which they have been planning for a long time but for some reason things have never worked out. From somewhere, they stumble upon the government’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna programme, but to be eligible for it their last resort is to divorce. As the two go ahead with it, things start taking an ugly turn in reality. Now what will Kapil and Saumya do to save their relationship, will they get their house? Where does their family stand in all this mess?
Vicky Kaushal as Kapil suits the role of a typical middle-class man we see around us – one who tries to save on everything and showers love on his wife making us laugh and go aww over him at the same time. He’s the most refreshing element in the film and the conviction with which he has brought all the shades of Kappu on the screen is mind-blowing.
Sara Ali Khan’s pairing with Vicky is good but somewhere Sara lacks behind when it comes to performance. Especially in comedic scenes where the acting doesn’t feel organic at all. Together their chemistry is good enough to make you feel single.
The supporting cast including Rakesh Bedi as Saumya’s father, Neeraj Sood as mama and Kanpuriya Pandit as mami has done a noteworthy job. Also look out for the wonderful Anubha Fatehpuria and Akash Khurana together in the role of Mr. and Mrs. Dubey.
The background score and songs of the film are fairly engaging to keep you engaged. The songs are already quite a hit among the music lovers. The music moves along with the story and the situations are very well connected with the songs whereas the rest of the technical aspects of the film such as cinematography and editing come across as decent.
Director Laxman Utekar has tried very well with ”Zara Hatke Zara Bachke”. He has presented the story of a middle-class family, which is probably the story of millions of people in our country with sheer honesty. In fact, it will remind you of couples or people from your real life trying to build a home for themselves in the chaos of the cities. The way in which a middle class family and its problems with dreams, romance and comedy have been shown on screen is impressive but there are certain moments where they fail to bring in the genuineness needed. Take for example, the reaction given by Kappu’s family to his and Saumya’s divorce. No middle class family reacts like that to a topic like divorce in our society, and here none of the internal dynamics feel earned.
The first half of the film is where most of the funny bits are. It contains a lot of funny and light hearted moments making it a good family entertainer but as we move into the second half the film starts losing its hold. It lets you down both in terms of scripting and presentation. It becomes too slow and stretched after a point that all the fun of the first part starts fading as well.
Overall, “Zara Hatke Zara Bachke” is an average film which you can enjoy with your family for all the joyous moments it carries. Nevertheless, you won’t miss out on something extraordinary if you decide to wait for the OTT release.
“Zara Hatke Zara Bachke” is currently running in theaters near you.
