 The YRF assembly line of movies is chugging along nice and healthy, much like the trains pneumonic of Bunty Aur Babli, and much like that film too -- which didn't receive much critical acclaim but went on to become a hit -- the Arjun Sablok-written-and-directed Neel N Nikki is definitely success-bound. Commercial success at least, and never mind what some of the other fellow-writers at the special Press Preview of the film in Mumbai mumbled about the film after it was over. Kuchch khaas nahin hai, kuchch naya nahin hai,(it’s got nothing special, nothing new), proclaimed one film critic, while another, and editor of a trade magazine here, said bus, do chaar centre mein chalegi (it’ll probably work at a few centres). In all fairness, though, one spoke to only three of the forty-odd media persons who watched the film, so that sentiment doesn't represent what everyone thought.
Here, though, is what this reviewer thought of Neel N Nikki: it works. A modern story about a young second generation NRI, Neel young, hot blooded and who, when the film opens, is single-mindedly focused on scoring with the maximum number of girls. Because, it seems, his days are numbered. Mama dearest, when not doting upon her horse-breeding husband, is yearning for a daughter-in-law, and so Neel’s days are numbered. For a pretty homely young thing called Sweety from Bhatinda will soon be canayda-bound to tie the knot on the reins to Neel’s freedom and future the man’s doomed to matrimony and stomach-churning domestication, and his friends are even more worried than him. So director Arjun Sablok’s hero Neel does what his producer Aditya Chopra’s hero Raj had done years ago in Dilwale he goes to his father and says, Hey dad, before I settle down in life, I wanna go out on my own and see Europe no, this time, it’s Vancouver, and what Neel really does is want to have fun meet and score with a new woman on each of the 21 days remaining for his marriage to Bhatinda-babe Sweety. And indulgent daddy-o says a-OK son, you go sow your wild oats! And Neel’s off!
Hmmm actually, not quite. You see, as soon as he reaches Vancouver, he does hook up with a sexy model who fixes a ‘promising’ date with Neel, and even as things do begin to get ‘promising’, into Neel’s life and nearly into his pockets in search of a cork-screw opener walks a sweet, mischievous looking 18-something girl. Meet Nikki, who, right now, is drunk and comes as a speedbreaker to Neel’s hormonal plans with miss sexy model. By the time Neel’s through with her for the night, he’s been arrested and released by cops, and swears to run a mile if he ever sees her shadow again.
So the long and short of it? Even though Neel’s off to Vancouver, every time he tries to get er off with any of his hormonal plans with a string of sexy young women, young Nikki lands in the thick of things. And before long, the impulsive, stylish, sexy Nikki -- who also happens to flit from parking lot to bar to departmental store to restaurant in odd jobs because she’s also a serial job-quitter becomes a permanent pain in Neel’s neck. But you know that before long, that pain will travel southward, to his heart. For you can tell that even though Nikki is aware that Neel’s set to get married in a few days, and regardless of his skirt-chasing mission in Vancouver, the two will drift close to each other. You do end up wishing it too, but life’s got some complications yet. Nothing as grave as the one’s in Raj’s life in Dilwale no sir, not by a long shot, but engrossing enough to carry you along, making you will that the seemingly opposite pair does come together. Hmmm but we were reckoning without Sweety ji from Bhatinda!
There are some inconsistencies like Neel doesn’t mind diving into bed with the firs sexy woman who gives him the nod, but kicks up a storm when Nikki grabs him and kisses him without warning one’s got to have a relationship before you can kiss someone, he hisses in righteous wrath! But these are minor inconsistencies essential to fuel the story forward. And though the storyline is rather predictable, the fun of Neel N Nikki is in the storytelling. Stylishly shot at lovely locations, with foot-tapping numbers by Salim Sulaiman and a punchy background score to carry the well-edited narrative forward without letting it sag, Neel N Nikki marks a strong acting debut by Tanisha Mukherji as the vivacious, impulsive Nikki. She’s underdressed for most of the film, but carries it off with superbly without looking the least bit vulgar. Tanisha pulls off the role with confidence and aplomb, and has the right and a wide range of expressions. Good dialogue delivery too, and when she screams in anger, you could have sworn it was Kajol’s voice! With the right kind of roles, Tanisha can certainly go places. She’s a good dancer too, especially in the bar, where she breaks into an impromptu dance just after she’s been fired for the first of several times in the film. (Oh, by the way, Vaibhavi Merchant’s choreography is very cool.)
Which brings us to the bleached-face straight-haired new look of Uday Chopra, who, with every film, has moved farther away from being a self conscious actor, and in Neel N Nikki comes of age with confidence in expression and dialogue delivery. Sure, he isn’t the handsomest of guys, but he does full justice to the role. Only, those marathon kisses with Nikki are well gawky and un-smooth quite unlike the practiced Hollywood smoochups, but Indian cinema is getting there. Yes sir, it’s getting there. The matter-of-fact treatment of fun n sex in Neel N Nikki is wholesome proof of that.
Another cool character is Gaurav Gera’s, who plays the mandolin with such a straight face as if he’s into a dirge. But to tell you more about him would be taking away from the entertainment quotient of the film, so let’s just let it rest at that.
Neel N Nikki is just the kind of film that will do well at the Multiplexes in the Metros of India, and even more so much more so internationally, in the US and the UK and Europe. An entertaining flick, well packaged with music and a script with some rather funny lines, Neel N Nikki is definitely worth seeing. Just take off your analytical, critical hat and watch it for fun. And for the interesting climax.
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