Who would have thought that in a film starring Vinay Pathak, I'd be complaining about limited talent? But, that happens when you are fooled into believing that it is a Vinay Pathak film. Tere Mere Phere is almost 75% about Rahul (Jagrat Desai) and Pooja (Sasha Goradia) than it is about Jai played by Vinay Pathak. And boy, do Rahul and Pooja annoy!

It's cute to see arguments that you have at home, on the big screen. You sort-of, kind-of can identify with the characters. But the issue here is Rahul and Pooja are bickering as a newly-wed couple. And most of their rows reminded me of the kind of tiffs I had with my brother, when I was 10 and he was 5! - That is the kind of amateur writing we are talking about.

It's a little unsettling then, when you see sudden insight in the dialogue spouted by an unlikely character or even a subtle suggestion in terms of what a character does. For example, the thing that a newly-wed wife wouldn't want her husband to be exposed to her natural processes, things that make her too human. Or like the mom of a newly-wed son wants to be a part of his life.

But then there are things like a character is so childlike two scenes ago, suddenly gains wisdom. So, you have a character who aims at having perfect relationships, be it with her husband or her mother-in-law, but at the same time breaks glassware when angry.

I understand lovers' spats are like that, you fight and you make-up, you quarrel and you try to understand. But here, there seemed to be no pattern other than convenience for the writer. I mean, how can a HUGE fight about a reasonably huge error on the part of a spouse, be forgiven within minutes?

Like the said insights, there is a dash of humor that shows up as a surprise. Surprise because the laughs come after the interval and even after they start, the quips are too far apart. I liked the relief in the form of Rahul's family played by Darshan Jariwala, the actor who plays his younger son (?) and even Sushmita Mukherjee, but wouldn't watch an entire film of a couple squabbling for that.

Other than that though, it's mostly screeching and shouting. I was astounded that a woman director would portray ALL three of her women characters as high-pitched, bossy-pushy women. And it's not like she was not involved in the writing, Deepa Sahi is a co-writer.

And yet, it would be unfair to judge Deepa Sahi's directorial capabilities based on just Tere Mere Phere. A huge part of why the film comes across as a shoddy product is because of the budget constraints. I'm assuming, that had there been a better budget, there would have been better actors. And with different actors, this is one film which could have been very different. And of course, at least 20-25 minutes edited out.

I push a lot of the blame on the actors because you can understand that the "look" of a film suffers at the hands of a low budget. But, some things are quite in control of an actor. For example, Sasha Goradia's dubbing was that like of a English film dubbed in Hindi. Very distracting, very irritating. Especially when she laughs or screeches - which is a lot.

And yet, the film is not a complete loss. That's because of the relatable subject, a little humor, a little hope of watching Vinay Pathak. Basically, something to stop by for a bit while skipping channels.

- meeta, a part of the audience