Mere Husband Ki Biwi

Mudassar Aziz's story has all the trappings of a fun-filled flick. Mudassar Aziz's screenplay is not consistent. While a few scenes are worthy, a few of them don't entice. Mudassar Aziz's dialogues are one of the best parts of the film. Mudassar Aziz's direction is simple. The characters are well-defined and the game of one upmanship between the two heroines keeps one engaged. The creative use of black and white in the flashback portion while depicting the female protagonists in colour makes for an interesting watch. A few scenes that stand out are Ricky's (Dino Morea) entry, the proposal at Prabhleen's place and at the mall, chaos at the Delhi airport and the dumb charades episode. On the flipside, though the film has funny dialogues, it suffers from a lack of funny scenes.

That said, the film does well in exploring relationships, particularly how even the best lovers can fail as married couples. A dialogue by Harsh’s character—about how we keep friends in our hearts but place partners on a pedestal—resonates deeply. The subject of divorce is handled with sensitivity, but despite the makers’ attempts at gender fairness, there’s an underlying bias. While the wife takes an extreme step that leads to the separation, her dedication to her career and her husband’s irrational behaviour at her workplace are conveniently glossed over. The way she is introduced as a vampish character, almost haunting the life out of her former husband, makes you question the director’s vision—and even sparks disappointment.

Speaking of Badhaai Do, Pednekar is a breath of fresh air in Mere Husband Ki Biwi. A brilliant actress, she brings an infectious energy to the screen that acts the same way the brief instances of comedy do – it distracts you from the rest. And for this film, that much is enough. She only falters when she tries to push herself to fit the film’s over-the-top tone. But Prabhleen is, hands down, the film’s most intriguing character and it helps that Pednekar does her best to create the empathy for her character that the writing fails to do.

The second half drags, and Ninad Khanolkar’s editing could have easily trimmed it by 15 minutes. Secondly, the misleading narrative. The film sets up Ankur as a man with PTSD from his past marriage, haunted by nightmares of Prabhleen trying to kill him. It plays out in a lighter vein, and you almost sympathise with him — until the actual backstory is revealed. Prabhleen is an independent woman who wanted to work, and took a life altering decision for both her and her husband. Where’s the ‘villain’? Her body, her choice! Mudassar Aziz’s direction is strictly average. After the refreshing fun of Khel Khel Mein, expectations were high, but here, the emotions don’t land, and the laughs are fewer. The music is nice, with Gori Hain Kalaiyaan standing out. Overall, Mere Husband Ki Biwi had the potential to be hilarious. It tries hard, and credit to the makers for the attempt. But it falls short.

Divorce is not looked at closely in our films, so it is refreshing to see it being tackled without too much fuss and bother. Even Antara’s parents (Kanwaljeet Singh, Anita Raj) are divorcees who seem to get along fine. Dino Morea turns up in a cameo as Antara’s cool brother in a man bun. Mudassar Aziz has decent comedies like Happy Bhaag Jaayegi and Khel Khel Mein to his credit. Unfortunately, his latest film is neither funny nor dramatic enough to be engaging. The characters seem like spoilt rich types with the emotional depth of invertebrates. Bhumi Pednekar, sneering, glowering and vamping it up at full volume, overacts to make up for the shortcomings of her co-stars, who have considerable difficulties in that department.

The film has a catchy title. You go in with a bit of hope, given that director Mudassar Aziz’s previous ‘Khel Khel Mein’ had a few nice moments, but that one was a remake. Here it has been written by the director, and you encounter, over two-and-a-half hours, tropes, flat scenes, and characters who come and go. Which is a pity because the lead characters appear to have taken their jobs seriously. It is no surprise that the two ladies playing romantic rivals, Bhumi Pednekar as Prabhleen Dhillon, and Rakul Preeti Singh as Antara Khanna, make you look. Plus, and this is a surprise, Arjun Kapoor as Ankur Chaddha isn’t half bad as the hapless guy stuck between the two loves of his life. They just needed a better film.