Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon Rom Com
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya Review: Shahid and Kriti’s film, directed by Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah, falls prey to its own vision.
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya Review: It’s great to think and tell out-of-the-box stories. Even better if you get a chance to showcase it on the big screen. But it for sure deserves some serious thought before serving something as lame and ridiculous as Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (TBMAUJ). In the name of experimenting, this sci-fi romantic comedy tests your patience to a point that after a while, you realise it’s a lost battle and you’ve been trapped into it.
Or perhaps tricked into believing that it’s actually a novel idea or a sensible and realistic love story between a human and a robot. In a bid to show human-machine coexistence, and conflict, the film transcends all boundaries of sanity, and leaves you with a big question mark.
TBMAUJ story
Written and directed by duo Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah, the film falls prey to its own vision. I mean what on the earth were the writers thinking while jotting down the storyline. Even if I see it as a well-intentioned plot, it is terribly ruined by a pointless script, lazy screenplay and an inconsistent pace. A robotics programmer Aryan Agnihotri aka Aaru (Shahid Kapoor) develops feelings for a robot named Sifra (Kriti Sanon) while he unknowingly tricked into the final testing stage by his US-based maasi Urmila (Dimple Kapadia), who is the CEO of a robotics company.
Eventually love happens, Aryan takes Sifra home to meet her family, and wants to marry her. Okay, that’s about it. Any word say hereafter would be a disservice to a genuine viewer who actually wishes to watch this piece of craft, and realise the new low we have reached in the name of creative writing.
TBMAUJ review
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya puts all other futuristic films and shows to shame that entertained us or at least tried to keep us hooked to the world of robots and science. Remember Rajinikanth as Chitti? He was endearing and kept us intrigued each time he pulled off a stunt onscreen or did some mischief. He was genuinely funny! Rewind a little more and pick TV series Small Wonder or its desi version Karishma Ka Karishma, where a female robot lives with a family as their second child.
Those sitcoms actually made us laugh and how! Even Ra.One featuring Shah Rukh Khan as a video game protagonist was not this bad. But with Sifra playing a heavily programmed robot who can to catch the slightest of emotions on a human’s face but bears no iota of common sense, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya fails to evoke any emotions or offer a wholesome experience.
Where are the jokes?
The first half is nothing but a snoozefest with all senseless events unfolding onscreen. The way Aryan and Sifra meet, come close, share some steamy lip-locks and make love without realising that Sifra is actually a robot is too far fetched to be even called believable. It’s only in the second half when Aryan takes Sifra home that some light humour comes in, and the sci-fi turns into a family entertainer. Yet, some of the jokes fall so fall flat that they actually expect you to have a forced laughter like Sifra.
In one of the scenes when Aryan is running from his house, he bumps into his dada and says, ‘Main toh bhaag raha hoon’. I was instantly reminded of Geet from Jab we Met. Sadly, this one scene that makers could have turned into a wow moment, is so underplayed that it barely leave an impact or gets noticed.
After 2 hours 23 minutes, I was left asking the very premise of this film. If it’s a comedy, where are the jokes? If it’s a romantic tale, where’s the romance? If it’s a sci-fi movie made for kids, where is the science in it? Even the dialogues are so bland that you wonder if writers were themselves bored while putting their thoughts on paper.
If anything that saves this sinking ship is the final 20 minutes and an intense climax that clears the sole intent of the film, if there was any. And sit back for a little while before end credits roll, and a cameo brings the much needed breather and refreshes your tired senses.
The performances
Otherwise, if anything that makes Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya barely watchable is Shahid and Kriti’s presence on screen. Shahid is all goofy and funny, and has quite a few funny one-liners, though some lack the fun element. He realises his star power, and that what he rides heavily on throughout the film.
The initial scenes between Aryan and his maasi are heartwarming, and I wished the makers had held on to that tonality for the rest of the film. Kriti, on the other hand, as a robot is an extremely fine portrayal in terms of her hand gestures, walk, talk and overall body language. She looks drop-dead gorgeous in every single frame. She gets ample scope to perform, but the poor storyline doesn’t really let her go all out.
Switch to Aryan’s extended family, and there’s an ensemble cast comprising his dada ji (Dharmendra), papa (Rakesh Bedi), mummy Sharmila (Anubha Fatehpuria), Mama (Rajesh Kumar), bua (Grusha Kapoor), foofa (Brijbhushan Shukla) and cook Pappu (Raashul Tandon). Aryan also has a best friend Monty (Ashish Verma), who turns out to be his partner in crime, but is only present in important scenes and is otherwise mostly absent from the scene.
Together, this supporting lineup tries too hard to elevate the script, but there’s only so much one can do with the material at hand. And let’s not forget, their character arcs are as cliched as it gets for a joint family scenario.
A lacklustre affair
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya is a rather bland and lacklustre affair that struggles to keep you engaged, and only tries to cash in on its good-looking lead pair. If anything, it’s the three song and dance sequences in the film, and one in the end credit (title song) that might make it an enjoyable trip to theatres.
