Bheja Fry - Notepad

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Warning: this section has some details that could distort your experience while watching the movie. I strongly recommend reading this only after you have seen the movie or if you have decided not to see it.

Plot Summary

Ranjeet Thadani (Rajat Kapoor) along with his friends de-stresses on weekends by each bringing in an idiot who doesn't know of the scheme. In search for "his" idiot, Ranjeet finds Bharat Bhushan (Vinay Pathak). How Ranjeet then finds himself stuck with Bharat for a few hours and what conspires is for you to laugh with in an hour and a half.

What Worked

• The language used for Bharat Bhushan is excellent. Polished - be it Hindi or the seldom used English.
• Was it Vinay Pathak singing himself or lip-synching to Shaan? Kudos to him in either case. If he was singing he was not half-bad and if he was lip-synching, he was doing a great job acting!
• The portrayals of people who cannot sing well but think they can. Reminded me of the first few episodes of an Indian Idol season.
• The way Bharat checks to see if Ranjeet is looking at the numerical lock code of his briefcase when he opens it. Priceless expression!
• The conspiracies that Ranjeet and Vinay keep coming up with. Had I not seen people conspire like this in real life, I would not have believed it.

What did not

• The Ranjeet-Sheetal relationship. What was the problem? One moment they looked like the cutest couple and the next we know, Sheetal just leaves?
• When there were such good performances by the main cast why is the side-side-cast so bad? Bhairavi Goswami, then the lady who plays the mom of the budding jazz singer - why were they so expressionless?
• The art work of Ranjeet's house. The walls were so dark, that I felt a little claustrophobic after a while. There was no reason for the rooms to be so dark in such a light movie, especially considering most of the movie was shot in those four walls.
• Vinay Pathak pulling a 'Dory' (of Finding Nemo fame), forgetting who Sheetal was every time. It was inconsistent with his otherwise alert character.
• Why was Anant Ghoshal (Milind Soman) so interested in helping Ranjeet?

Nitty-Gritty

• It was refreshing to see a singer (Sarika) who doesn't go for her recording with layers of make-up on. I always wondered when I saw singers in other movies with a whole mask of makeup - were they going for a recording or for a video album shoot?
• Rajat Kapoor in a pink t-shirt. Very few men look good in pink and he is one of them.
• Were Ranjeet-Sheetal new to town? Why were they buying cars only now?
• Yeah-yeah Ranjeet switched sides in showing where he was hurt. The fall was bad, maybe he was hurting all over.
• Why was Ranjeet given sedatives for a bad fall on the back? Wouldn't he actually need pain killers or muscle relaxants? Also Ranjeet didn't seem to calm down or sedated even after taking the pills.
• Ranjeet leaves a voice mail for Bharat after their first phone conversation without leaving his name! Does Bharat know Ranjeet's voice well enough from just one phone conversation?
• Ranjeet's doctor friend played by Tom Alter - looked like he was more friend, less doctor. Why did he hit Ranjeet where he was hurt - first time was funny. They spoiled it by doing it another time.
• When did Vinay/Ranjeet have dinner?
• Ranjeet had a good friend in the car dealer. He got Ranjeet the car before the time period he said he required to get the car.