I had to gather the courage, first, to watch Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui and then, to review the script. The story is by Abhishek Kapoor, Supratik Sen and Tushar Paranjpe. Screenplay by Supratik Sen and Tushar Paranjpe CRINGE ALERT Yes, the dialogues in this film may sound offensive in many ways. Particularly for the reason that Bollywood writers somehow manage to get into untapped zones with the intent of targeting the millennial but unfortunately have no idea how to deal with such topics.
THE LOGLINE
The Netflix logline reads -
Sparks fly when bodybuilder Manu meets Zumba instructor Maanvi, but Manu struggles with ingrained bias upon learning Maanvi's deeply personal story.
This logline is a well thought one, especially for Netflix.
It has an adequate amount of conflict but misleads us to believe the protagonist to be Manu. Whereas it truly is Maanvi's story.
Like the writer of Atrangi Re, writers here too are bitten by the Male Protagonist bug.
STORY IDEA and SCRIPT
A romcom with new age twist. That's it! That's about it. I would have loved to delve more into Maanvi's story. Her past, her conflict, the journey that led her to take the brave decision, the challenges before and after her transformation. Instead, the writer indulges in the story of Manu, a bodybuilder and his aspiration. I don't care. He could have been just about anyone.
It is a story that could have a lot of conflicts and eventual resolution but instead, we have caricaturistic characters walking in and out without really adding to the story.
THE SCREENPLAY
With over 20 minutes of songs that add nothing to the story and with some unnecessary scenes, the film is about 40 minutes longer than it should be. About 20 pages of the screenplay could have been easily chopped off during the rewriting process. The writer takes over 40 minutes to tell us what the story is about. It could have been done on the tenth page, in the first ten minutes of the film.
But there has to be the customary intro song, the romantic song, the sad song and the funky song.
The conflict resolution comes almost automatically and spontaneously with little to no effort from any of the characters.
Frankly, not even from the writers.
The dialogues try too hard to be comical but the scenes simply don't land.
You are just about to like Biji's character inspired by The Lunchbox but she vanishes after the first few times of comic relief.
Surely, the makers planned a theatrical release for this one. But we need to get this clear - if it is for OTT, the typical Bollywood song mandate isn't necessary at all. Music could be a part of the content but should be used with purpose not for filling gaps in the storyline.
If we need to use the washroom we always have the option to pause.
CHARACTER ARCS
Manu
Manu has the ambition of winning the GOAT championship but he also has to fall in love and create complications in his absolutely monotonous and dull life. In doing so he also has to overcome his personal ingrained biases by enlightening himself with YouTube videos, Google searches and social media updates.
Maanvi
Maanvi is different, special, trying to make herself be accepted by the world for who she is. Unfortunately, she falls in love with an absolutely unlikable and loud Manu. There is an ongoing conflict in her life that she is already finding difficult to handle. To add to that Manu walks into her life and has sex with her only to realize he has ingrained biases so he has to overcome those and win her over.
Maanvi, just say FUCK OFF to Manu and move on. He doesn't deserve you at all.
Other Characters - The other characters cannot have an arc since they are simply cardboard single-dimensional emojis.
WORST SCENE
The scene where Manu tries to explain to his twin friends about Maanvi.
If a writer has to depict crassness (which definitely exists in the real world ) the writer needs to step back from his own ingrained biases as Manu does. These new-age story ideas require sensitivity which the writer lacks completely.
It is out an out dull, boring, BAD script trying to reach the average mark with cliched crutches.
NOZZER PARDIWALA
*Since I review the film from the perspective of the SCRIPT alone, I may not comment on the acting, music, and other aspects of the film, however exceptional they may be. Lyrics by Irshad Kamil are appreciable.
Read other Script Reviews
Comments