Hum Do Hamare Do review: Paresh Rawal, Ratna Pathak Shah are the saviours of this predictable film

2.5/5

Dhruv (Rajkummar Rao), who is a self-made man meets a social media star Anya (Kriti Sanon) and romance starts brewing between them. When it comes to marriage talks, Anya wishes for a happy family and a cute puppy but Dhruv is an orphan. To fulfil his lady love's desire, Dhruv comes up with a solution that is, to make a fake family.

It's tough to make a film that shows the beginning of a love story but it's just not all about that. And it's tougher to make a film in which the love story is based on a lie and show how the truth has finally come out. With these two aspects, the middle part of the film is what takes the cake in Hum Do Hamare Do.

The Abhishek Jain directorial has Rajkummar Rao (Dhruv) and Kriti Sanon (Anya) in the lead roles. But their moments, in the beginning, are slight snoozes that you have to wait for Paresh Rawal (Purshottam) and Ratna Pathak Shah (Dipti) to emerge and take over all the screen space. With no surprise, these two veteran actors are the show-stealers with their incredible and effortless performances. Their love story is mentioned as an undertone as they prioritise being the parents to Rajkummar's character. But stills that make the major and the watchable part of the film.

The film's concept is in the right place about how blood relations are not always filled with love and affection. Sometimes the relationships you create become much stronger than the actual relatives who exist and are forced to be together as you are bound by blood.

But the translation made on the screen from the screenplay by Prashant Jha and Abhishek made it weaker only due to the beginning and the end. The film shows a love story where the lead actor (Rajkummar) has hidden the truth but goes to great lengths in doing so. His intention must have been right but still, the execution part doesn't seem convincing. Here's one girl who reveals all her truths to the guy even about her past and at that moment I thought he would also be doing the same. But the 'truth day' was just for one person.

Both belong from the technology background - Dhruv being an app developer and Anya being a blogger and influencer refrain from doing background checks before entering into a relationship. Background verification has become a new norm in every nook and corner of the world. Knowing about their professional background, it's super lacklustre to know that the writers didn't think that lying about 'family' would be as easy as placing a cherry on top of a cake.

The good thing which comes from the 'fake family' story is only the amazing actors who played them. Paresh after a yawnsome performance in Hungama 2 brought his A-game with Hum Do Hamare Do which was missed on screen. Although the dialogues given to the actor seemed forced, it's the way he delivered it which made it funny.

Ratna has a more serious role in the film but her deadpan and sarcastic humour will crack one up instantly. The scenes between Paresh and her are to watch out for. One such scene which will leave you in splits is where Ratna runs behind Paresh to hit him but Kriti catches them. To show all’s well between them, the Sarabhai vs Sarabhai actor does Bharatnatyam talas and he starts dancing.

There are moments in the story which are funny as it's supposed to be in a comedy film. And one can also call it a family film, but not an entertainer.

Coming to performances of the 'actual' lead actors, Rajkummar needs to up his game as a lot of expectations rides on the actor. This is the actor's second outing this year after Roohi and there is nothing new he has offered with Hum Do Hamare Do. After Mimi, it's sure that Kriti can make efforts in delivering a good performance but that was a miss in this film.

The other supporting cast has Aparshakti Khurana as his usual self - 'hero ka dost' - while Manu Rishi Chaddha does a great job.

Amalendu Chaudhary who has done cinematography, understood his assignment of shooting a film amid the pandemic. The film has more indoor shots be it a house, office or a faraway wedding destination.

Being a family film, the songs are also a blend of romance, fun and peppy tracks composed by Sachin-Jigar while lyrics are penned by Shellee.

The constant background score throughout the film is pretty much similar to that of Dear Zindagi, and tends to overpowers the scenes in some sequences.

Hum Do Hamare Do is likely to be enjoyed by the viewers due to the lack of family entertainers being made in the past many months in Bollywood. However, the film doesn't set any benchmark with a beautiful concept and contrived execution.

If Hum Do Hamare Do is a love story, watch out for parts between Paresh Rawal and Ratna Pathak Shah. But if you call it a family film, you won't be entertained as you wish to be.