Love Khichdi Movie review

For sous chef Vir Pratap Singh (Randeep Hooda), life is a dimsum of desires, each dumpling an attractive woman.

Film: Love Khichdi (Comedy/Romance)
Cast: Randeep Hooda, Riya Sen, Divya Dutta and Rituparna Sengupta
Director: Srinivas Bhashyam
Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes

Critic's Rating:
He doesn't really agree with his boss, master chef (Saurabh Shukla), a philosopher in the kitchen, who reminds him of the futility of running after 99 women when the special one could be around the corner. Pyaar uss se karna chahiye jisse pyar mile, he says.

But wisdom doesn't come easy to Vir, a rake driven by hormones and a no-scruples quest for upward mobility. Essentially, Love Khichdi is his rites of passage. The boy from Chandigarh has to step over a minefield of women, taste love and heartbreak, before finding his true value girl at the end.

What lifts this smart-assed flick above the mundane is its attention to detail. Every character in the film, major or minor, is neatly rounded. We have not only seen them somewhere close by; we also wish to see them somewhere close by. Cool and sexy without getting risqué, director Srinivas Bhashyam turns Vir's journey
as a fantasy fulfiller for the young, urban male. In the end, we want him to make the right choice. And when he does, it feels good.

In its narrative technique, Love Khichdi uses two innovations. The minor one is the sach ki ghanti, a bell that rings whenever the hero speaks the truth. It sort of underlines the moment. But more than that it is getting each character to talk to the audience in a soul searching, confessional mode that works as a neat narrative device. The technique allows us to peep into the heart of every character, know their motivations.

It helps that the characters are sharply delineated. There's the simple girl next door Sandhya Iyengar, a pal he croons happy birthday to, drunk late night, using a lighter as a candle. There's coquettish Punjaban Parminder Kaur (Divya Dutta), a regular scene-stealer in another scene stealing act and the husband-hating hot maid (Sonali Kulkarni) whom Vir gives the (allegedly) Shiney Ahuja sort of look. Then there is the bookstore woman played by Rituparna Sengupta, the tough cookie corporate who gets the better of him, and the hot Gujju schoolgirl (Riya Sen), who is too sexy for her skirt.

Director Srinivas Bhasyam gets great work from the ensemble. Among those who stand out are Kulkarni, Dutta and Shukla (in that order). Hooda too looks the part. What adds to the movie is a mood-enhancing track that runs through the first half. Listening to Mujh jaisa hero, meri makhna (singers: Gopal Rao, Mahalakshmi Iyer, music
: Pritam) is like watching snowflakes in the moonlight. It makes you feel young and wanted.

Love Khichdi has style, wit and that dirty five-letter word, heart. In the latter part of the second half, the movie tends to drag. Perhaps trimming it by 15 minutes would have made it crisper; just like one of those dishes that Vir rustles up. Nonetheless, it's a swell date flick. And, like the film's protagonist, don't hesitate to lie if your partner predicts your sun sign wrong after the lights come on.