Dum Laga Ke Haisha is a movie without pretensions —
neither in its cast, direction, performances, nor in its music.
As a man who attained adulthood in the early 1990s,
the YRF film resonates with me more than it perhaps would with people from
other periods of time. But the ’90s era is not a defining characteristic of Dum
laga ke, which is in good old Bollywood tradition a love story at heart.
This is a ‘prem kahani’ that begins quite some time
after a marriage that is arranged against the groom’s (Ayushmann Khurrana)
wishes. The girl is willing and loving but the boy feels trapped and cheated. The
twist in their story is not a clever turn of the script but a physical
attribute – the girl is overweight.
Bhumi Pednekar as the educated but overplump Sandhya
is an absolute delight. Like Parineeti Chopra before her (also a YRF
discovery), Bhumi’s assured acting never gives away the fact that this is her
first film.
This is also perhaps the first time in Bollywood
history that a mainstream movie heroine is a plus-size woman. Like Prem (Ayushmann),
who discovers the virtues of his wife over the course of the film, we, the
audience, too come to appreciate that heroines need not always be size-zero or a
ramp-model goddess. A very plump woman is as good at her job as her slim-trim counterpart.
The movie certainly belongs to Bhumi, with Ayushmann
providing able support as a contemptuous, no-good husband who is imposed on by
his condescending but loving father (Sanjay Mishra). His character Prem (a
favourite screen name of Salman Khan in the ’90s) is a return of the
middle-class hero in the Amol Palekar mould.
The rest of the cast include redoubtable actors such
as Seema Pahwa (as Bhumi’s mother – remember Badki from ‘Hum Log’), Alka Amin (as
Ayushmann’s mother) and Sheeba Chaddha (Buaji).
No review of Dum laga ke can be complete without
mention of its music. Anu Malik is back with an impressive collection of songs
that easily bridges the divide between the 20th and 21st centuries.
If ‘Moh moh ke dhaage’ is a moving song that
captures a pining, concealed love, then Malik excels in full-blown nostalgia
with Dard karara and Tu. Another pleasant surprise (other than Malik’s return
to form) is the ’90s king of melody’s resurrection. Kumar Sanu sounds as
effortless as he did in his heyday. Strange neither Malik nor Sanu is in demand
now.
Those are things to ponder for Bollywood – why not
give more plus-size women their due and why not give faded, if not forgotten, players
of filmdom another chance, and why not allow the middle-class hero to take
centre stage more frequently.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha is not a film you want to miss. If
scores matter, it easily gets an 8 on 10. Do watch.
