Well-intentioned but fails to touch

Shirin Farhad ki toh Nikal Padi
Hindi (U/A)
Cast: Boman Irani, Farah Khan, Shammiji, Daisy Irani
Director: Bela Bhansali
Sehgal  

They say a film is made on the editing table and Bela Bhansali Sehgal, who has been an editor, should know. Frankly, ‘Shirin Farhad ki toh Nikal Padi’ is not a film that got made either during shooting or on the table. It is well-meaning; well-intentioned; predictable to the core and fails to touch.

Revolving around a 45-year-old man Farhad Pastakia (Boman Irani) and 40-year-old Shirin Duggawalla (choreographer-turned-director-turned-actor Farah Khan), the film is a take on singles and how life can be made more miserable by relatives who swing from being sarcastic or cajoling (depending on the occasion) by reminding one how important it is to be married — preferably by a certain age. But you know what?

“Love doesn’t come with an expiry date,” says Farhad at one point and truly so.
Set within the Parsi community, SFKTNP also stereotypes it — using familiar tools such as conventional accents and typical outfits, and these are but part of treatment and execution.

They fail to work if the content seems stretched, the plot flimsy and the characters stilted who take their time finding their ground. At 40 plus, one expects people to have matured and seen the world and not come to the table as untainted 16-year-olds. The idea undermines the film’s premise of finding love at a later age.

Farah is cute and lovable only in parts and one wants to indulge her since it is her debut. But one is more than inclined to agree with her when she says, ‘This is my first and last outing as an actor.’ As far as Boman is concerned, there is only so much he can do to support a weak script.  

SFKTNP had tremendous potential as a script. It was a subject that lent itself to maturity, great humour and subtle romance. But Bollywood’s penchant for overworking itself towards simplification has unfortunately spelt its doom. Can safely be missed.