Back in school, we had a Vidya Balan fan club. By a fan club I mean a small group of six 7th graders who used to sit and discuss how exquisite her work is. (Mind you we had not watched The Dirty Picture as of yet then) But we were enthralled by her charms, her exquisite expressions, and the sound of her laughter that lived in our heads rent-free. Today while watching Do Aur Do Pyaar, I was stuck with nostalgia. Vidya Balan was shining on the screen in her full glory.
Do Aur Do Pyaar reminded me that I missed watching Vidya Balan play a character that does not for a moment feel manufactured. She is natural, easy on the eyes, relatable, funny, and powerful in her emotional scenes. Pratik Gandhi compliments her well. Gandhi is a revelation. His chemistry with Vidya Balan is palpable and together they masterfully shoulder Shirsha Guha Thakurta’s Do Aur Do Pyaar, a complex tale of marriage, infidelity, and relationship.
The film talks about the toils and tribulations of a modern urban marriage. It talks about marriage and extramarital affairs that ride high on love and sex but never attempts to be preachy. It is alright to fall out of love in a marriage. The loss of love in a marriage followed by the act of seeking a new partner outside the ‘sacred’ institution of marriage is often viewed to be immoral. However, Do Aur Do Pyaar is non-judgmental about its views on marriage and sensitively navigates through the complexities of urban relationships.
If it is okay to fall in love with someone new the film shows that it is equally normal for the estranged husband and wife to give their marriage a second chance. In the Bollywood landscape where cheating or falling out of love is often calibrated on a moral compass Do Aur Do Pyaar shines like a fresh take on a domestic rom-com that does not go overboard with sarcastic laughter gags but presents a layered tale that feels raw, untempered, and relatable.
A Simple Predictable Narrative Layered with Emotions
The film revolves around Kavya Ganeshan (Vidya Balan), an upper caste Tamil dentist and her Bengali husband Aniruddha Banerjee (Pratik Gandhi) who has factory that manufactures corks. It has been 12 years since a rebel Kavya eloped with her then boyfriend Ani because she knew that her family would never allow this inter-caste union. But they have evolved since then and the glue of love in their relationship has dried up. Now, they only discuss trivial things like A/C temperature, size of garbage bags, and allergy medicines. In short they have fallen out of love.
They might live in the same house but they have stopped being each other’s homes. Aniruddha has found solace in Nora a.k.a. Rosie (Ileana D’Cruz), a theatre actor who is emotional needy and not afraid to show her vulnerability. Kavya, on the other hand, is weaving the dream of building a new life in a new home with her hot shot New York return photographer boyfriend Vikram (Sendhil Ramamurthy). Vikram believes that Kavya is her anchor who finally has convinced him to lay down his roots and build a life in an exquisite sea facing apartment in Mumbai. Both the estranged spouses are cheating on each other.
But unfortunately neither of them believe that the other can cheat in their marriage. They know that there is nothing left in their marriage as Kavya admits that they do not even fight anymore. In fact it is a funeral that brings them closer. It is nostalgic drive through the tea gardens of Ooty in a yellow ambassador that turn the taps of their memories and they reminisce their youthful days. They draw closer to each other and eventually start cheating on their respective extra-marital partners. The absence of moral judgement in the character’s actions allows the audience to connect to the flaws of these regular men and women shown on screen.
Unlike films like Shaadi Ke Side Effects (also featuring Vidya Balan) there are no over the top comic plugins. The cultural boundaries are resected and there is genuine and nuanced comic sequences around Aniruddha’s nervousness around his in-laws. We giggle when Vikram in his broken Hindi becomes a victim of malapropism. Vidya Balan with her impeccable comic timing strikes the correct tone with he character’s sense of humor. In short the elements of comedy in this urban romantic comedy have been carefully measured and balanced by screenwriters Eisha Chopra, Amrita Bagchi, and Suprotim Sengupta. The first half of the film plays out seamlessly but the second half gets predictable and there are moments where the mind wanders off the story.
The dialogues by Amrita Bagchi feel adequate. In a scene where Kavya (a vegan) is seen gorging on her favourite bucket of oily Chinese food with her favourite condiment of chilli sauce, she utters a line that can be paraphrased into the following: one understands they were missing out on something only when they try it after a long time. The line is packed with innuendo. She is not just referring to oily Chinese food but to sex that she enjoyed a little while ago with her estranged husband Aniruddha. In fact this piece of dialogue might further entrap a third meaning. It might mean that the audience must finally realize how much they have missed watching Vidya Balan on the big screen.
The Cast and the Characters:
Vidya Balan hold the film together. She is seasoned and raw in her performance. The moment she lets her hair down in the shady restaurant in Ooty you see the child-like qualities in her coming alive. She is equally good in her emotional scenes. Pratik Gandhi who rose to fame in the Hindi entertainment circuit with Scam 1992, shows his well roundedness as an actor with the emotional vulnerability of Aniruddha who is confused, hopeful, heartbroken, and in love simultaneously.
The chemistry between these two terrific actors on screen shoots through the roof in a scene where they are having a fight. They finally admit that they hate each other’s specialities. They might be seen screaming but deep down somewhere it is a terrible hurt and indifference that has spoiled the friendship that once became the edifice of their relationship.
Sendhil Ramamurthy is a treat to watch. He doesn’t speak much but his personality, expressions, and body language do all the talking. Ilean D’ Cruz’s character arc as the other woman in Kavya and Aniruddha’s dynamic feels a little off putting. She sounds immature and undertakes irrational actions that are hard to digest.
The Final Verdict:
Do Aur Do Pyaar is complex. It navigates through a complex father-daughter relationship and tries to shade a light on the fact that it is the relationships we have with our parents in our formative years that lay the base down for the expectations we harbour from all our future relationships. It belongs to the Hrishikesh Mukherjee genre of slice of life films that are based in Mumbai and portrays the city as a character. It is a non-judgemental tale of a marriage that is laid open in its natural form.
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