Mere Husband Ki Biwi is a lackluster romcom

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Ankur Chadha (Arjun Kapoor) has had a troubled relationship with wife Prabhleen (Bhumi Pednekar), to whom he had proposed ceremoniously. In sheer defiance, after a very traumatic phase, she aborts their child, and an infuriated Ankur decides to move on after a divorce.

Convinced that he can never find love in life again—nightmares of his ex-wife still haunt him—when he meets his college’s siren, Antara (Rakul Preet Singh) and they become friends. Antara has done Sports Medicine and also is a para-gliding instructor.

Ankur’s friend, Rehan (Harsh Gujral) keeps doling out advice at every stage of life to him and he suggests that he has got his second chance. Soon enough, Antara starts loving Ankur and vice-versa. Her NRI brother (Dino Morea) comes down to India after Ankur bares his past to Antara, who knew Prabhleen as they were all in the same college, and would have spats with her. . Moreover, Ankur himself has largely been at fault in the events leading to the divorce. Antara is now disturbed and doubtful about a future with Ankur and seeks his solace. But Ankur reassures her and Antara is convinced.

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Just then comes the news that Prabhleen has had a major accident and is suffering now from retrograde amnesia of happenings only in the last five years. She therefore still considers Ankur as her husband with whom she was in love. Soon, Ankur comes to know that Prabhleen and Antara have decided to have a battle of wits with him as the “prize”, and revolts.

This tale would have had promise if the garbled script had made much more sense. For starters, the Prabhleen memory loss seems extremely contrived, even medically. The one-upmanship when Prabhleen realizes that her one-time husband is now in love with Antara, and how Antara and Prabhleen make it an ego-battle makes it sillier. There is this man named Rajveer (Aditya Seal) who appears out of the blue and claims to be Prabhleen’s love: we are never told about Prabhleen’s life in the five years post-divorce.

An imbecile-like neurologist (Tiku Talsania in hyper-irritant mode) makes things worse. There is a pointless flirtation between Rehan and a ceremony hostess that leads nowhere. We are suddenly shown that Antara’s family is not just about a brother but she has parents too who reside in Scotland.

And then we have an oh-so-predictable twist and climax after about 150 minutes of convoluted happenings.

A mediocre storyline, occasionally good dialogues, fantastic camerawork and the usual assortment of songs from various song-makers with heavy Punjabi overtones, makes for a middling and lackluster film that tries to be a twist in the Pati Patni Aur Woh tale (writer-director Mudassar Aziz had made a poor rehash of the B.R. Chopra classic too, which was claimed to be a success).

Of the Punjabi songs, however, the song, Rabba mereya, works as most of the lyrics are in comprehensible Punjabi and the music and vocals (both by Vishal Mishra) have intense melodic nuances that lend it a lot of soul.

Arjun Kapoor is excellent as the star-crossed Ankur, and his eyes especially do a lot of talking here. Rakul Preet Singh (ditto) is also in her element. Bhumi Pednekar needs to go beyond stereotypical acting now. She has excelled in diverse roles even in poor films but cuts a sorry figure here. Dino Morea exudes charm in his limited role. Harsh Gujral puts in a great turn as Arjun’s friend. The rest of the cast is alright.

Wish the film too was! For Mudassar Aziz, this is a more-than-steep comedown after the masterly Khel Khel Mein.

Rating: **

Pooja Entertainment’s Mere Husband Ki Biwi  Produced by: Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani & Deepshikha Deshmukh  Directed by: Mudassar Aziz  Written by: Vashu Bhagnani & Mudassar Aziz  Music: Bappi Lahiri, Sohail Sen, Tanishk Bagchi, Vishal Mishra, Badshah, Akshay & IP  Starring: Arjun Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar, Rakul Preet Singh, Harsh Gujral, Dino Morea, Kanwaljit Singh, Anita Raja, Alka Badola Kaushal, Shakti Kapoor, Mukesh Rishi, Tiku Talsania, Sp. App. Aditya Seal & others

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