Runtime: 1 hour 51 minutes
Starring: Jitendra Kumar, Ritika Badiani, Bhuvan Arora, Alam Khan
Directed By: Apurva Dhar Badgaiyann
Rating: 2.5/5
This new Jitendra Kumar starrer is all about innocent puppy love that isn’t exactly unheard of. Directed by Apurva Dhar Badgaiyann, this movie depicts an imaginary one sided love story between a paan stall owner and a school girl. Let’s not forget… the characters are in complete contrast to each other.
Billu (Jitendra Kumar), opens up a paan tapri in a highly non-commercial roadside where in the beginning, not a single soul passes by. Then enters Rinku (Ritika Badiani) and her family who become Billu’s unknowing bait into the sudden success of his stall. Not only does the presence of the young girl invites ruffians and college boys to the now famous paan stall, but it also develops a one sided ‘pyaar wali feeling‘ in Billu’s heart.
Billu ends up tattooing the poor girl’s initial onto his arm (because that’s not creepy at all) and writes their names in a heart on a rock. He imagines himself in scenarios where she also returns his feelings but of course, there’s no such thing as falling in love with a man who stares at your balcony from the interior of his paan stall.
Of course, Rinku bewafa hai… lekin Rinku bacchi bhi hai! She was referred to as the school girl who wears ‘half-pants’ and without knowing it, she had painted the town red leading all boys and men to the paan tapri in front of her house. Rinku’s lack of dialouges makes us aware of exactly how unaware she is of the ruckus she has stirred up. At one point, her hair was subjected to more sound effects than her.
Out of jealousy, ye paan wala sabko chuna laga raha hai. With great struggle he tries to divert the attention of Rinku’s many seekers by setting up a carrom club adjacent to his stall. He serves his paan with innocence but eats it with the same hunger as everyone else.
What Works
The story talks about a man not giving up on his love for a girl even though it’s not just one sided but imaginary as well. The story line is a hilarious satire on male entitlement which goes on in a loop of who gets the subject’s attention first. The phrase men will be men comes to perfect use as they did everything they could to grab the attention of a girl who wasn’t even looking.
What Doesn’t Work
The girl seemed a bit too young for a group of mixed aged men to run after. From politicians to policemen to the town’s rich kid, you name it, he’s there. Rinku never really expresses her situation. This is just another film that explores a different angle to toxic masculinity. She is the eye candy everyone is seeking and is also a little too oblivious to what’s happening around her. The girl has been followed around town by a group of guys in a jeep… if that doesn’t strike the situation scary, then what really does?