Mere Husband Ki Biwi
Starring Arjun Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar, and Rakul Preet Singh
Directed by Mudassar Aziz
Stop right here for a lighthearted reprieve from all the tense, dark historical combats that have assailed our senses lately. As any competent filmmaker would tell you, a comedy is the toughest genre to pull off. The actors and team may laugh their heads off while shooting, but there is no assurance that the audience will follow suit.
Well, here is proof that a comedy can make that tricky transition from paper to screen without slipping on the proverbial banana peel. Not an intellectually aggrandized laughathon by any means, Mere Husband Ki Biwi gets going on the strength of its basic ingenuity and wickedly irreverent writing.
Incredibly, the actor playing Arjun Kapoor’s best friend (Harsh Gujral) has funnier lines than Kapoor. This goes to show that the writing is the real hell-raiser here, and to hell with the stars.
The plot about a failed marriage and the first wife’s…ummm… revenge on her replacement doesn’t derail even when the characters seem to be slipping into a dizzying game of oneupmanship. Bhumi Pednekar is the epicentre of the seismic comedy. She is one of those rare actresses who doesn’t mind if her makeup peels. As Prableen Dhillon, the college firecracker and the nagging wife, she blazes a trail of eccentric behaviour that makes her one of the zaniest female protagonists in recent times.
Bhumi contributes a bomb to the capricious love triangle. Not afraid to fall off the roof, Bhumi gives a freefall performance brimming with verve and self-affirmation.
Perhaps the praise I am heaping on Bhumi’s performance is not commensurate with the merit of the other components in the film. The film is overly talkative, but most of the rapid-fire conversations are amusing, provided you aren’t looking for red or green flags. Just blues chasers.
And yet, it is not all pointless. There is an underlying statement on why couples in a marriage need to get over their initial awe of the institution before negotiating the actual hurdles of a life together.
The mid-point section of the comedy does get out of hand. But by the time the entire cast assembles in scenic Scotland for a big fat wedding, the narrative is in control of the characters and their overwrought antics.
Director Mudassar Aziz is no stranger to comic belief and comic relief. He strings together a seamless sequin of thoughtful but not over-thought sequences meant to spotlight the love triangle with a bevy of family members hovering gracefully in the background. No one gets in the way in spite of the jostle.
While Bhumi, Arjun Kapoor, and Rakul Preet Singh occupy the forefront with confidence, I found myself playing an impromptu spot-the-celebrity with the wonderful supporting cast: Kavita Kapoor, Kanwaljeet (both were once a part of a popular series Saans), Anita Raj, Mukesh Rishi… A special mention of Dino Morea and Aditya Seal, who bring a scintilla of charm to the hyper-ventilating antics of a cast that is vast and determined to have a blast.
