Page 35 - Seniorstoday February 2024 Issue

ambitious Shruti (Anushka Sharma) and
winning coming-of-age story about a rich
brat Sid (Ranbir Kapoor), who does not
take life seriously till he walks out of home
in a huff and has to fend for himself. At a
party he befriends aspiring writer Aisha
Banerjee (Konkana Sen Sharma), who has
moved to Mumbai from Kolkata to work
with a magazine. Circumstances force him
to share an apartment with Aisha, so he
gradually acquires a sense of responsibility
and a career as a photographer. Told with
simplicity, the film worked because it
stayed true to its milieu and concentrated
more on emotions than on style, the
casting was spot on and the performances
effortlessly charming.
Band Baaja Baraat (2010):
Directed by newcomer Maneesh Sharma,
the film had nothing novel in terms of plot,
but the treatment was fresh suffused with
an infectious joie de vivre. Bittoo (Ranveer
Singh) is a village boy, dreading the idea of
returning to his father’s sugarcane farms
after he graduates. He runs into bright and
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #56 | FEBRUARY 2024
inveigles himself into her wedding planner
business. First he has to promise not to
be anything more than a friend, because
she does not believe in mixing work with
romance. Her aim is to reach the posh
Sainik Farms via downmarket colonies.
Their company Shaadi Mubarak delivers
great weddings each time and prospers,
but Shruti breaks her own rule and falls for
Bittoo, who is too confused to reciprocate.
Wonderfully contemporary and very Dilli,
with a rare leading lady who cares more
for her career than a happily-ever-after for
herself.
Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017):
Ashwini Tiwary Iyer shifts the basic plot
of the French classic Cyrano de Bergerac
to Bareilly, where Bitti (Kriti Sanon) is
besotted by a poet, Pritam Vidrohi. This
is the pen name of a shy printer Chirag
(Ayushmann Khurrana) and when Bitti
accosts him to help her meet Pritam,
produces his friend, the real Pritam
(Rajkummar Rao), after training him to be
an outgoing flirt. A comedy of romantic
complications ensues in which Bitti falls
for Pritam not knowing that Chirag is the
writer; and Pritam is attracted to Bitti’s
friend, but is trapped in Chirag’s drama.
A funny and charming romcom where the
chemistry between the characters was near
perfect.
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