I didn’t have high hopes with this one. The trailer revealed enough to know this movie had a suspiciously familiar plot. There were only two ways that Baar Baar Dekho could’ve still impressed – the trailer turned out to be a red herring or the story was told in such a wonderful way that you’d want to watch it again and again simply to marvel at the way it was packaged. Baar Baar Dekho succeeds in neither of these counts and at an over-long runtime of close to two and a half hours – it makes for a very difficult one-time viewing alone.
The movie starts off slow and the umpteen songs (yes, they are back) while mostly catchy and engaging, do nothing for the story which is predictable to a fault – through to the end of the line. Despite that, it unfolds at an agonizing pace, sometimes slowing down to a crawl where you wait in frustration for something to give. Well, it doesn’t.
One thing that could’ve made this a comfortable one-time watch is a perfect pair of leads – who owned the screen when they came on it and brought life to the characters and the storyline. Alas, with Siddharth Malhotra’s limited dialogue delivery and Katrina’s inability to emote effectively, that hope too is dashed to the ground. Siddharth Malhotra really had a great opportunity to show off his acting chops – but while he gives it a fair shot, he ends up falling short on this one. Of course, Katrina looks dazzling and is particularly graceful in the dance numbers. Of the two, she probably does a better job of acting as well, but they both barely make the cut. With Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra instead, this would probably be a different movie.
There are two things to appreciate about Baar Baar Dekho though – the over-focus on technology in the future giving us a glimpse of where we might be headed and making at least an attempt at telling the story without the hey presto! solution that you would typically expect in such a movie. Then again, the absolute finale does precisely that…can’t say much more.
Apart from that, the background score is commendable. While it doesn’t have a particular theme, the choice of instruments and notes meld perfectly well with the scenes and context presented.
Baar Baar Dekho then stays in line with the unsatisfactory pattern this 2016, of movies that do the same thing that others have done, and done a whole lot better. It might still make a good TV watch but there is nothing that warrants a visit to the hall. If you still plan to go, at least go with low expectations and some good company so that the one time watch doesn’t feel as long and tedious.
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