Meri Pyaari Bindu review: Out of sync

A new formula seems to be emerging in popular Hindi films. Friends-turning-lovers-turning-friends who seem to have no good, deep reason for not being together except seemingly flimsy commitment issues, and nostalgia for Bollywood songs of the past—both to use as a film title and as a device in the plot to peg memories for the above mentioned friends-lovers-friends. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil did it to some effect but Meri Pyaari Bindu hams its way through it.

Abhi/Abhimanyu 'Bubla' Roy (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a millennial generation writer peddling horror-porn bestsellers. Hailing from a middle-class Bengali family of north Kolkata, he lives out the proverbial MBA career path going on to work at a bank in Mumbai till strings of the heart pull him towards the right tune—away from 'Chudail Ki Choli', to complete a love story inspired by his own life. He has been in love with his childhood neighbour and best friend, the irreverent, 'free-bird' Bindu (Parineeti Chopra) who dreams of becoming a famous singer.

The film starts out promisingly, till the hilarious introduction of 'Booby Mashi', and then goes haywire. The trajectory of the lives and loves of the two stretches out painfully over 120 minutes, babbling between the past and present. Elements of nostalgia—a clickety-clack typewriter, dusty music cassettes or 'mixed tapes', old Ambassador cars—are thrown in. Dum Laga Ke Haisha, an earlier Ayushmann starrer, had evoked sentimentality of the 1990s well. There was tremendous potential here to weave it in nimbly and draw in an audience, which grew up between the 70 and 90s. But alas... things bubble and froth here and don't quite spill over.

Bindu's dreams and fears are real but they don't tie up well or resolve too believably. From a cutesy, confused soul, who leaves things and relationships half done, she 'tames' rather easily towards the end. Khuranna is a quintessential nice guy aka her 'anchorman' who does the Bengali act well but the smoking, stuck-in-a-rut writer sitting at the typewriter parts seem forced.

Nothing about the film lingers, except perhaps one wistful song, Maana Ke Hum Yaar Nahi. In this byte-sized, consume and purge age, that, too, is unlikely to stand the test of time. Seems like the maker of this film might have suffered a writer's block himself.

Film: Meri Pyaari Bindu
Director: Akshay Roy
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Parineeti Chopra
Rating: 2.5/5