In a way, the tagline is right when it says that it is a comedy about romantic comedies. The narration, for one, is kept as a tribute-cum-light dig at the genre, especially in Hindi cinema. The formulae are all there, but more than that there is freshness, and yet towards the end, a good 15 minutes could be snipped off in the parts where the film falls prey to its own intentions and becomes the usual wrong-choice-of-partner and confused-lovers drone.
Yudi Jaitley (Saif Ali Khan) is this serious writer who has written a bestseller and cannot write anymore because he cannot fathom the “Happy Ending” to all the plots — he has piles of unfinished novels at home. Now, time is running out (it’s been six years since he wrote a full novel), his car is mortgaged, his cable subscription terminated, and his financial status broke. Several girlfriends have dumped him because he is afraid to commit. One girl, Divya (Preity Zinta), more intelligent than the rest, has married, given birth to triplets and moved on, maintaining a cordial bond with him.
Now Yudi has two best friends — henpecked husband Montu (Ranvir Shorey) and his alter-ego Yogi (Saif Ali Khan again), the product of Yudi’s imagination. Both of them offer help, guidance and more. And this is most needed when Yudi has to get rid of a persistent girlfriend (Kalki Koechlin, a dentist), and deal with a new successful author, Aanchal Reddy (Ileana D’Cruz), who does not believe in the mushy love novel she has written — which also is a bestseller!
Yudi’s agent (Rahul Nath) puts him in touch with “single-screen superstar” Armaan (Govinda) who now wants to woo the multiplexes, complete with a six-pack and a “youthful” script. This is Yudi’s big chance to make money and bring back his fame. But he does not know how to start writing the script with Armaan’s (and the market’s) complex compulsions and his own confusion. But with the twists and turns his confused life takes with Aanchal, there is a happy ending to both the in-film movie as well as his love story.
To reveal more than this and show the highlight situations and lines would be major spoilers for the film, so I will be content with stating that Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK do a fabulous job with the direction, though their script (with Sita Menon) deserved a crisper edit in the last 30 minutes of the film. Hussain Dalal’s dialogues are the true sparkling gems of the film, and he maintains the high standards set by him after “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani” and “2 States.”
The cinematography (Chase Bowman, Yaron Levy and Mahesh Limaye) easily ranks among the finest this year and the background score (Sachin-Jigar) is interesting. The duo’s songs also fit most situations brilliantly.
Good directors always extract super work from artists, and Raj and DK are no exceptions. Saif as Yudi is as good as ever — maybe even better and funnier — but he steals the show as the stolid Yogi, in which capacity his piercing eyes stand out. Next up in the scene-stealer department is Govinda as Armaan, and his role, though brief, is far more nuanced than in “Kill Dil” last week.
Kalki Koechlin surpasses expectations to come up with an endearingly freaky turn, while Ileana D’Cruz is her usual charming self. Preity Zinta is amazingly good in her brief role, and Ranvir Shorey impresses in a not-too-fresh role.
This one’s for the up-market, multiplex crowd of all ages. One only hopes that it will catch up with the single screens the way Armaan succeeded in going the reverse way in the film for a “Happy Ending.”
Rating: ***1/2
Illuminati Films & Eros International present
‘Happy Ending’: Intelligent Entertainer on Romance and Relationships
Produced by: SAIF ALI KHAN, DINESH VIJAN & SUNIL LULLA
Directed by: RAJ NIDIMORU & KRISHNA D.K.
Written by: RAJ NIDIMORU, KRISHNA D.K., SITA MENON & HUSSAIN DALAL
Music: SACHIN-JIGAR
Starring: SAIF ALI KHAN, GOVINDA, ILEANA D’CRUZ, KALKI KOECHLIN, RANVIR SHOREY, SHIVANI TANKSALE, RAHUL NATH & Sp.app.: PREITY ZINTA & KAREENA KAPOOR KHAN