REVIEW: Mere Baap Pehle Aap

In a recent interview to The Times of India, actor Paresh Rawal said, "Priyadarshan's Malayalam roots prevent him from going over-the-top in his comedies." Agreed! Given all the trash churned out in the name of laugh riots, week-after-week in Bollywood, Priyadarshan's comedies are much superior. But the same cinematic sensibilities that Rawal talks about often make the director fall into the trap of filming loud, melodramatic sequences, which are totally uncalled for in a comedy. Remember Chup Chup Ke, Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar and even parts of Hulchul?

Who is getting married? Now, the promos suggest Mere Baap Pehle Aap is a love triangle involving a father and a son. We won't reveal more on that. Gaurav (Akshaye Khanna) is the perfect son who has been single-handedly raised by his doting father Janardan Rane (Paresh Rawal). Rane's best friend Mathur is a middle-aged bachelor who is desperate to marry a girl under 25 years of age. Mathur tries hard to convince Rane too, to remarry a young girl. But in Mathur's many embarrassing attempts to woo PYTs, Gaurav makes sure Rane doesn't fall into the same trap. Rane finally flips for someone while Gaurav himself falls for his former classmate Shikha (Genelia D'Souza). Who gets married first and to whom forms the remaining plot.

Priyadarshan's running out of jokes: The premise of the film provides tremendous scope for some intelligent, naughty humour. But that's not the case. Instead, you get the regular slapstick fair. You know Priyadarshan is struggling when his idea of humour is Om Puri in a superhero costume with bikini clad women on a beach. Or worse still, Om and Paresh in boxer shorts displaying their unflattering paunches.

A watchable first-half: Though the director is not at his funniest best, you don't really mind the slapstick jokes. You can't expect every comedy to be a Hera Pheri. Spoiling the fun are those supposedly funny 'telephone-chat scenes' to establish Akshaye and Genelia's romance that just go on and on.

Spare us the melodrama: So, it's interval and you have had enough jokes about old men chasing young women. But you still don't know why it is called Mere Baap Pehle Aap as Akshaye's character shows no intentions of getting his father married. By now, the situations have become repetitive and it's time to introduce a new twist to the plot. The actual plot takes off only in the second half when Paresh Rawal's love story is established. But from here on, the film gets too talk-heavy about the moralistic side of senior citizens getting married.

Actors shine over the mediocre lines: Om Puri and Rajpal Yadav provide some laughter in the first half. They don't have the best of lines but trust these guys to improvise on any material. Rajpal's character had potential but mysteriously disappears after the first hour. Ditto for Archana Puran Singh who is wasted as the lady inspector in a part that was most likely chopped on the edit table. Naseeruddin Shah, a conservative NRI dad makes a stylish cameo and looks as if he has walked straight out of the sets of Mohra.