what a movie to watch a day before your boys wedding

what a movie to watch a day before your boys wedding

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 350 of 365 of my year long challenge

Week 50: Bollywood
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not nearly as clever as it believes itself to be, Pyaar Ka Punchnama has potential but ends up just being a waste of time all around.

In a story of "good guys" coming last, Rajat (Kartik Aaryan), Nishant (Divyendu Sharma) and Vikrant (Raayo S Bakhirta) are three bachelors who love living together and having fun. When each one starts to fall for a girl, they each find themselves caught up in a twisted version of a highschool-like relationship. Rajat's girlfriend Neha (Nushrat Bharucha) has a penchant for tantrums, Charu (Ishita Raj Sharma) abuses Nishant for financial support while really dating other men, and Vikrant's love, Riya (Sonalli Sehgall), just can't get over her ex. Fed up, the boys decide to go on holiday but are soon at their wit's end when the girls tag along too.

You've got to wonder what happened to the team behind this. There's not a healthy relationship, or person, in sight and it's actually kind of scary. The men are pathetic, the women are monstrous but somehow, whoever's heart was stomped on still thinks of themselves as the "good guy" who got shafted by life. No dude, you're just a bit of a dick who needs to sort things out.

To pile on to that, the cast is a set of shiny 20-30 somethings who look perfectly suited but really don't add all that much. The women in particular come from the same cookie cutter mould. All attractive but as shallow as a puddle, they are the butt of every joke and criticism. Anyone could've played their parts and they all could've played each other but hey, we all have a type I suppose. The guys, on the other hand, are, well, they aren't all that different really. There's the nerd, the average Joe and the "ladies man" but they're all equally pathetic and represent just about every trio of lifelong friends ever. Anyone could pull off their buddy antics but the trio corralled here have just enough chemistry to make it almost charming.

It's interesting watching a Bollywood film that feels so unlike Bollywood. Traditional values are bucked, stoic heroes and magnetic ladies are shoved to the side and musical numbers just aren't there. Most striking of all is that Pyaar Ka Punchnama comes in well under the usual 3-hour runtime and still feels far too long.

Beyond that, Pyaar Ka Punchnama just looks and feels too shiny. It's obvious that someone grew up watching the biggest sitcoms of the 90s and 00s but they don't quite hit the same notes in their feeble attempt here. The real shame about that is, given a lot more polish, a lot of editing and a smarter script, Pyaar Ka Punchnama could've actually been really entertaining. Brief glimpses make their way to the surface along the way but the bitterness of a man scorned squash it back down as the film explains all the ways that women are terrible. Sadly, no one had the heart to tell him that this was too.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 350 of 365 of my year long challenge

Week 50: Bollywood
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not nearly as clever as it believes itself to be, Pyaar Ka Punchnama has potential but ends up just being a waste of time all around.

In a story of "good guys" coming last, Rajat (Kartik Aaryan), Nishant (Divyendu Sharma) and Vikrant (Raayo S Bakhirta) are three bachelors who love living together and having fun. When each one starts to fall for a girl, they each find themselves caught up in a twisted version of a highschool-like relationship. Rajat's girlfriend Neha (Nushrat Bharucha) has a penchant for tantrums, Charu (Ishita Raj Sharma) abuses Nishant for financial support while really dating other men, and Vikrant's love, Riya (Sonalli Sehgall), just can't get over her ex. Fed up, the boys decide to go on holiday but are soon at their wit's end when the girls tag along too.

You've got to wonder what happened to the team behind this. There's not a healthy relationship, or person, in sight and it's actually kind of scary. The men are pathetic, the women are monstrous but somehow, whoever's heart was stomped on still thinks of themselves as the "good guy" who got shafted by life. No dude, you're just a bit of a dick who needs to sort things out.

To pile on to that, the cast is a set of shiny 20-30 somethings who look perfectly suited but really don't add all that much. The women in particular come from the same cookie cutter mould. All attractive but as shallow as a puddle, they are the butt of every joke and criticism. Anyone could've played their parts and they all could've played each other but hey, we all have a type I suppose. The guys, on the other hand, are, well, they aren't all that different really. There's the nerd, the average Joe and the "ladies man" but they're all equally pathetic and represent just about every trio of lifelong friends ever. Anyone could pull off their buddy antics but the trio corralled here have just enough chemistry to make it almost charming.

It's interesting watching a Bollywood film that feels so unlike Bollywood. Traditional values are bucked, stoic heroes and magnetic ladies are shoved to the side and musical numbers just aren't there. Most striking of all is that Pyaar Ka Punchnama comes in well under the usual 3-hour runtime and still feels far too long.

Beyond that, Pyaar Ka Punchnama just looks and feels too shiny. It's obvious that someone grew up watching the biggest sitcoms of the 90s and 00s but they don't quite hit the same notes in their feeble attempt here. The real shame about that is, given a lot more polish, a lot of editing and a smarter script, Pyaar Ka Punchnama could've actually been really entertaining. Brief glimpses make their way to the surface along the way but the bitterness of a man scorned squash it back down as the film explains all the ways that women are terrible. Sadly, no one had the heart to tell him that this was too.