Business Rating: 3.5/5
Star cast: Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi, Omi Vaidya, Shahzahn Padamsee, Shruti Haasan, Shraddha Das, Tisca Chopra, Rituparna Sengupta, Mukesh Tiwari.
Plot: Three friends are in search of soul mates. Ajay is seeking a divorce from his wife and, therefore, needs a new companion even if the friend (Shahzahn) happens to be almost half his age. Emraan is a playboy but ultimately, falls in love with Shruti and wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Omi believes in true love and he thinks he has found that when he meets Shraddha. But what do the girls think?
What’s Good: The comedy; the dialogues; the performances of the actors.
What’s Bad: Nothing really!
Verdict: Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji is an enjoyable slice-of-life film which makes you laugh and smile.
Loo break: A couple when some things get repetitive in the first half.
Watch or Not? Definitely! You will feel entertained.
Wide Frame Pictures and Bhandarkar Entertainment’s Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (A) is a romantic comedy about three friends and their search for their respective life partners. Naren Ahuja (Ajay Devgan) is in the process of divorcing his wife (Rituparna Sengupta). He moves out of his house and into the ancestral home which is fairly large. Lonely, he looks out for paying guests and gets two in the form of Abhay Suri (Emraan Hashmi) and Milind Kelkar (Omi Vaidya).
Naren has a very young, new intern in office, June Pinto (Shazahn Padamsee), whose easy-going nature and childish innocence is misinterpreted by him as love overtures. Since he is very fond of her, he soon starts accompanying her to parties and generally spends more time with her in spite of a huge age difference. Abhay is a confirmed Casanova and his full-time job is to woo rich girls who can help him maintain a rich lifestyle. He gets a new catch in Anushka Narang (Tisca Chopra), an erstwhile beauty queen who uses him as a toy boy. She provides him all the luxuries as a bait and Abhay is thrilled but only till he meets Nikki (Shruti Haasan), the step-daughter of Anushka, and herself a social worker. He falls in love with Nikki and also has a fling with her. He is sure, Nikki too loves him. Milind, who works in a matrimonial services company, is a romanticist and an amateur poet. He values love and is in search of a girl whom he could selflessly love all his life and who could love him likewise. He finds Gungun Sarkar (Shraddha Das), a radio jockey, who is desperately trying to get a break as an actress in films. Gungun uses Milind but the latter is so madly in love with her that nothing else matters to him.
Days pass by and the three friends think, they are lucky to have found their soul mates. But what about the three girls? Are they also equally serious about the three guys? Do the three love stories have a fairy-tale ending?
Story and Screenplay
Madhur Bhandarkar, Neeraj Udwani and Anil Pandey have penned the story and screenplay of this slice-of-life film, infusing a lot of humour in the drama. The jokes and comedy are more city-centric but they are very entertaining. The first half is slightly long and doesn’t move too much because of which a bit of boredom creeps in. The second half has quite a lot of drama, which is both, engrossing and entertaining. The emotional under-current in the three love stories may not draw tears from the audience’s eyes but it does create an impact. In other words, the sentimental part of the drama is not a tear-jerker, yet it helps make the film more weighty and prevents it from remaining a frivolous comic fare. The climax, though predictable, is lovely and leaves a big smile on the faces of the viewers.
In fact, the film in its entirety is a feel-good one and keeps the audience smiling and/or laughing. Sanjay Chhel’s dialogues are witty and enjoyable, going perfectly well with the screenplay and the mood of the film.
Star Performances
Ajav Devgan does a marvellous job. He gets into the skin of the character and comes out with flying colours. His awkwardness at falling in love with a girl almost half his age has been portrayed brilliantly by him. His costumes – he wears formal clothes – give him a distinct and endearing look. Emraan Hashmi acts with effortless ease and makes himself lovable in no time. He is splendid. In spite of his bed-hopping habit, the audience mentally roots for him and feels bad when he is let down. Omi Vaidya is very good and wins the audience’s sympathy with his simplicity. Shazahn Padamsee is a revelation. She is cute and her free acting is commendable. Her childish innocence has been beautifully exploited. Shruti Haasan leaves a mark and does well what is required of her. Shraddha Das, whose character has shades of grey, does justice to her role. Tisca Chopra stands her own and gives her cent per cent to the role. She is excellent. Aditya Kapoor is average as her husband. Mukesh Tiwari is comical and evokes laughter when he comes on the screen. Rituparna Sengupta lends able support. Daisy Irani is alright as June Pinto’s grandmother. Howard Rosemeyer, Imran Khan, Javed and Shveta Salve provide the desired support. Manoj Joshi stands out in the solitary scene he has. Kamlesh Ojha, Girish Sachdev and Sachin Parekh (as the three office colleagues of Naren), Shikha Talsania (as Naren’s assistant, Aisha), Pratishi Mishra (as lawyer Sunanda), Oliver Pereira (as lawyer Shirke), Mukesh Tyagi (as owner of the leaking flat), Dhruv Bhandari (as Chris), Parth Malhotra (as June Pinto’s friend), Arun Kadam (as florist), Neha Janpandit (as Gungun’s friend), Priya Marathe (as the girl whom Milind meets at the airport), Chetna Pandey (as the girl whom Abhay meets at the airport) and Neha Pendse (as the lady whom Naren meets at the airport) are all effective. Paresh Rawal’s commentary in the beginning, to introduce the three protagonists, is laced with fun-filled dialogues.
Direction and Music
Madhur Bhandarkar’s direction is very good. He does full justice to the script and keeps the mood of the drama light and fun-filled. Also, he has extracted wonderful work from his artistes. Pritam Chakraborty’s music is engaging but a couple of super-hit songs would’ve added to the box-office results. Abhi kuch dinon se is an appealing song (beautifully rendered by Mohit Chauhan). Tere bin and Kya palak are also good songs. Lyrics (Neelesh Misra, Kumaar, Sanjay Chhel and Sayeed Quadri) are good. Ravi Walia’s cinematography is of a good standard. Sets (Priya Suhas) are fair. Editing (Devendra Murdeshwar) is sharp.
The Last Word
On the whole, Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji is an enjoyable entertainer. It leaves a smile on the viewer’s face and that is its biggest victory. The youth will love it and a section may even repeat it. Its business is expected to be the best in the big cities and the multiplexes. The producers have already made a profit by selling the various rights, and given the merits, the distributors will also make comfortable profits.
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