Despite riding on an old theme, Indoo Ki Jawani manages to evoke a few laughs

Mona

No Sheila ki Jawani this is, which is clear from the casting. Kiara Advani, though one of the most promising current actresses, has been rather demure in her previous outings and Abir Sengupta’s Indoo Ki Jawani is no exception. In fact, she could pull off a role like this with her angelic looks and innocent act.

Film: Indoo Ki Jawani  

Director: Abir Sengupta

Cast: Kiara Advani, Aditya Seal, Mallika Dua, Iqbal Khan

Rating: **

The plot is rather simple – a girl wanting to hold on to her man and her friend Sonal (Mallika Dua) suggesting her to go for a one-night stand. So comes the guy from Dinder. While two is company, Gomato’s delivery boy makes it a crowd. And to protect Indoo ki jawani, the whole ‘clony’ (read colony), the uncles, aunts and mustandas of the mohalla get involved in this plot. There enters the India-Pak angle, and yes, there is regular cricket too.

What works – Kiara and Aditya Seal and their rather innocent one-night stand! While the Bollywood theme is rather overused – one does relate to Kashmir Ki Kali. Or, the dialogue ‘Koi bhi desh perfect nahin hota, use banana padta hai – RDB rings close to the heart. Kiara does pass off as a typical middle-class Ghaziabad lass. The cloni atmosphere is bang on, and so are her kurtis and jhumkis, and the Jai Mata Dis right before making her move on the guy from Dinder. That pretty much works. Aditya Seal fits the bill – his abs impress and so does his natural act. Mallika Dua, who ‘knows it all’, does her job of being the heroine’s BFF; Iqbal Khan, Rakesh Bedi, Rajesh Jais and Alka Kaushal lend credibility to the plot.

However, what’s hard to digest is the word play – Dinder, Gomato, Cafe Coffee Bay – it does get boring. The theme is a tad too old. The pandemic has opened up a whole new vista for us, the Indo- Pak dost or dushman rant seems out of place. One wonders if Hindi-Chini bhai bhai would ever make it to films.

Indoo Ki Jawani is a passable fare. The light-hearted romance, which is high on Bollywood nostalgia, is able to evoke a few laughs.