Jhootha hi sahi - Review

A friend is a friend is a friend. He has moral support, come what may. To that extent, Jhootha Hi Sahi is true-to-life and very enjoyable. Like any other group of friends, each one in this bunch has below-the-belt insults in store for each other and yet they'll watch out for each other in the most ridiculous situations. This initial set-up is hilarious and mucho fun. But, set that aside and almost everything is superficial, improbable, and many-a-time outright stupid. Even if you ignore everything else that's wrong with Jhootha Hi Sahi, the songs (every, single thing about them) and the climax , unfortunately are turn-offs HUGE enough to make you dislike the whole film.

The crisp dialogue, its delivery, the slapstick and its timing is simply brilliant as the film starts. Yes, I laughed out loud at the most typical slapstick. And I have only the director to thank for that because brilliant actors have brought an *eye roll* with predictable slapstick. Of course, the actors did their bit here too. Else, who would've thought John Abraham would make me laugh with him? But that happens only when he is not preaching philosophy or flitting like a butterfly (I shall NOT elaborate).

Anyhow, every once in a while, he and a few of the others have "quote of the day" type lines which deserve and got a cringe and a few more.

The others actors did well only because of the banter-type lines that go between friends. But, Anaitha Nair and Alishka Varde fit in perfectly as the kind of girl-friends I'd like to have, spirited and always bring a smile!

Pakhi on the other hand, doesn't necessarily ooze charm. But it's just refreshing to have a non-glam, non-wannabe-size-zero as the female lead. She has to play a character she has written, Mishka. While I don't know whether that made it easy or difficult for her, I appreciated that Mishka grew as a woman and wasn't defined only by the men in her life. Also thematically, it was a delight to see an inclusive attitude towards the homosexual community. Not only were there non-trivial gay characters, Mishka is also shown going "aaawwww" for a fleeting moment in a song when she sees a lesbian couple. Heartening beyond measure.

Besides that and other close-to-life, normal characters, the script ranged from random sub-plots to uninhibitedly absurd. There are characters and they have stories, but their motivations are unknown and their actions unjustified. There's the girlfriend who doesn't seem to care but is supposedly in love and there's the friend who doesn't want to marry the guy she's in love with. When nothing comes of these sub-plots, they look like mere props in the grander scheme of things.

In fact, that is partly true of the main character, Siddharth, as well. The film makes you wonder whether he or his friend, Omar know when (let alone why) he falls in or out of love? Then again, maybe that's cool too, because that is a mere reflection of the confused 'gen x'?