Cross border comedies that were made in Bollywood have never been really successful so far. War Chod Na yaar and Total Siyappa are the examples in the last couple of years. The latest film in this genre is ‘Happy Bhaag Jayegi’ and this has the backing of Anand L Rai which gives some hope. The result is a thumbs up.
Happy Bhaag Jaayegi has the central character Happy (played by Diana Penty). She is in love with Guddu (Ali Fazal) who is an idler. On the other hand, her father has arranged her marriage with Daman Singh Bagga (Jimmy Shergil). Happy decides to escape this and jumps into a truck carrying fruits. The truck lands in Pakistan and the drama triggers. Moreover, the place she lands is the mansion of a Pakistani politician (Javed Sheikh) has a son Bilal (played by Abhay Deol) who is a politician aiming really high. Happy warns of demolishing Bilal’s family image. Bilal then starts helping Happy to solve her problem and reaches Amritsar. The rest of the story is about chaos and more chaos.
This is Musaddir Azis’s second film after Dulha Mil Gaya which starred SRK in a guest appearance but sunk deeply due to delay in the making and clichéd writing and predictable drama. However, this time, looks like he has come with a decent package. The intelligent thing he did is he does away with melodrama this time. There is no such moment in the film. The film is consistent in humour. It might not be a laugh-riot but good enough to be engaged for a single watch. The characters have been written very engagingly, where each of them have a purpose to serve either story wise or humour wise or both. It also reminds some situations and the well-written characters of Rai’s films. The influence is clearly seen. The characters are not perfect. Not black or white.
Abhay Deol tops the list in the performances. He is just unmistakable. Diana took really long time to come on-screen again after 4 years, despite the attraction and appreciation she gained. She was really good, if not the best. Ali Fazal looked suited and Jimmy is getting stereotyped but again, he was perfect for the role. Piyush Mishra was at his usual best.
The film has some dull moments and almost at the verge of the viewer giving up, the film gains its momentum again by a very good joke or situation. So, throughout the 2 hour film, the film is saved by some good situational comedy.
On the whole, Happy Bhaag Jaayegi is that film, where you just need a popcorn, a coke and recliner and you will have some worthy 2 hours pass by with decent humour.
