Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay Review: Guru Randhawa Should Stick To Singing Unless He Can Auto-Tune Acting, Saiee Manjrekar Falls Flat
It is awful!
0.5 / 5
For all the Guru Randhawa fans, today is a big day. His debut film Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay has hit the theatres. Saiee Manjrekar is the lead actress in this rom-com. Directed by Ashok G, the film also stars Anupam Kher, Ila Arun, Atul Srivastava, Paresh Ganatra, and Paritosh Tripathi as pivotal characters. The film revolves around the love story of Heer and Iraa, and how some unrealistic expectations of their respective families lead them into getting married and eventually faking their pregnancy. While I appreciate the thoughtful messaging of Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay, the execution, performance and storyline in the film horribly fail to hit the right mark. Here’s a detailed review of what went wrong in the film with a few positive pointers!
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Plot
Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay’s plot is about Heer (Guru Randhawa) and Iraa (Saiee Manjrekar) and how their simple love story gets complicated due to familial pressure. Heer and Iraa are both IAS aspirants, but the latter is way more determined to fulfil her goals. Their love story takes an unexpected turn when Heer’s Bauji (Anupam Kher) emotionally manipulates him into getting married with hopes of having a grandchild in the family. Iraa’s mother also puts a similar kind of pressure on her marriage. This constant persuasion leads to Heer and Iraa getting married, but only for the sake of their families. While there is love between them, the marriage is strictly a contract where Heer agrees to support Iraa’s IAS dreams while the latter keeps his family happy. Ila Arun, Atul Srivastava and Paresh Ganatra play Heer’s aunt and uncles respectively. Heer’s Chawla family only wants to see the face of their grandchild and this expectation forces Heer and Iraa to scheme their fake pregnancy. This story further progresses to show the extent to which the couple goes to keep up with their lies while simultaneously getting Iraa closer to her IAS dreams. All the fun and drama become serious when Iraa discovers that she can never conceive a child, and how this makes her make some difficult decisions of leaving her in-laws, and most importantly Heer.
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Story And Direction
Guru Randhawa and Saiee Manjrekar’s film Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay is unnecessarily complicated, and very honestly speaking, dumb too! The writing is flawed and that would clearly be an understatement. The linear narrative of the film has so many ellipses that it left me wondering, “Did I just doze off in between?” But well, that was not the case, because Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay is just an awfully edited film with the addition of some scenes that make the story look too convenient, and as well as stupid! The robotic nature of storytelling with little to no attempt to make it emotionally driven left me feeling frustrated and bored. Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay’s important message of how the elders’ unreasonable expectation from the newly married couple to birth the “family’s Chirag” leads to disrupting their lives was told in such a ridiculous manner that I ended up feeling nothing but a sense of relief when the film ended!
Performances
Guru Randhawa: Singer Guru Randhawa made his acting debut with Ashok G’s Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay and the debutante failed to impress. The emotions portrayed by Randhawa as Heer looked fake and gave the impression of a kid performing in a school drama. The dialogue delivery was funny and there was zero emotional connection between the audience and Heer. TBH, Randhawa himself could not emotionally feel the nature of his character. While the writing is to be blamed here, but Guru Randhawa also proved his abilities as a non-actor. Unless he can autotune his acting as well, Randhawa should stick to singing only.
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Saiee Manjrekar: The actress was monotonous as Iraa. She neither did justice in portraying the determination of an IAS officer nor the sorrow of never becoming a mother. Saiee Manjrekar’s acting skills were at par with Guru Randhawa in Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay. The lead couple had no chemistry whatsoever and it felt like they were trying too hard to blend romantically. Saiee’s performance was also low on energy and enthusiasm and it was clearly visible on the big screen. If you watch her performance overall including the songs as well, you will know what I mean!
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Anupam Kher: I would say, Anupam Kher was the only actor in the cast who did justice to his character as Bauji. He was in his element throughout and tried to keep up with the film’s illogical writing as much as he could. While I felt no remorse, anger or empathy for his character, Anupam Kher was decent in bringing out the emotions effortlessly on the big screen. That’s because he is a good actor and the newbies should take notes.
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Ila Arun: I have no clue what happened to this brilliant actor in the film. Throughout the film, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about how an actor as good as Ila Arun be so unbearable on the big screen. She tried too hard to be funny but ended up making her character look caricaturist. The pain and depth of Ila Arun’s character as a woman who couldn’t bear a child due to her husband’s inabilities was reduced to a shallow nature, and all thanks to the brilliant writing! I hope she gets well soon after watching herself play this character!
Atul Srivastava, Paresh Ganatra, and Paritosh Tripathi’s characters bring elements of comic relief and sanity to the film. The few laughs that Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay managed to give me came from these actors only! Special mention to Vijay Raaz, the narrator of the film!
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Also Read: Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay Trailer: Guru Randhawa, Saiee Manjrekar Promise A Light-Hearted Rom-Com
Tracks
Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay has many tracks; some were too random in the film. ‘Jeena Sikhaya’, ‘Ishare Tere’, and ‘Bottley Kholo’ were the songs during the film, and trust me, none of them got my attention. They only added to my frustration level. It was difficult for me to decide whether the choreography was bad or the performance by the lead.
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Verdict
If you’ve read this far, you should have gotten a clear understanding of my perspective on Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay. From the performances to the story and the songs, nothing works out in this Guru Randhawa and Saiee Manjrekar film. It will only leave you with one emotion and that is REGRET! The regret of taking the pain to watch this film on the silver screen, and the regret of spending your hard-earned money on buying the tickets. Therefore, with absolutely no sugar coating, Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay is a film whose existence should be forgotten by a viewer and by the cast too!
First Published: February 16, 2024 11:53 AM
