To Baat Pakki Review (2010)

  

 

 Cast and Crew:

Producer : Ramesh S. Taurani, Kumar S. Taurani
Executive Producer : Rahila Mirza, Jay Shewakramani
Co-Producer : Paul Reynolds, Jay Shewakramani
Director : Kedar Shinde

Cast : Sharman Joshi, Tabu, Yuvika Chaudary, Vatsal Seth, Ayub Khan
Music Director : Pritam Chakraborty
Lyricist : Sayeed Quadri, Mayur Puri, Shabbir Ahmed
Dialogue Writer : Vibha Singh
Screenplay Writer : Vibha Singh
Editor : V. N. Mayekar
Art Director : Shailesh Mahadik, Sheetal Kanvinde
Choreographer : Ahmed Khan

 

When one of India's and I presume Asia's most versatile actress makes a sort of comeback to the silverscreen, there is a category of filmdom that is abuzz with anticipation and activity. A few weeks ago, when the rushes of Toh Baat Pakki were released, it was understood that Tabu would be the star of the movie, with the rest of the cast being quite supporting, except for Sharman Joshi. So basically, this movie was a battleground for the acting chops of Sharman Joshi (Rang De Basanti) and Tabu (Chandni Bar, Hu Tu Tu) etc. 

Plot:

Tabu plays the role of the common housewife, whose husband has a government job and a old car that is almost a family heirloom.  She has an eligible sister, who she is looking to get married to 'the one who has the most money'. Now, like every Indian housewife, it is Tabu who has to look for the rightful groom for her sister. 

As luck would have it, Tabu meets not one, but two eligible bachelors, both of whom fall for her sister almost immediately.  While Tabu arranges the marriage with Rahul (Sharman Joshi,) she meets  Yuvraj Saxena (Vatsal Seth), another eligible bachelor whom she thinks will fit well for her sister, Nisha (Yuvita Chaudrary), simply because he has a permanent job at Godrej, will be getting a bungalow at the end of the year, and has a good salary. The rest of the movie works on how Tabu undoes what she has set with Sharman Joshi and his sister.

Of course, Sharman Joshi is not someone who would just let his bride to be go off with someone else, and he tries to sabotage the wedding in his unique ways. The antics that he carries out trying to sabotage the wedding are quite cute, and you remember (just remember) the antics of the old school movies like Priyadarshan or Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

To Baat Pakki Review:

The movie comes across as a fresh breath in the view of the movies that are becoming staple Bollywood fare. However, debutante director Kedar Shinde falls short of what a Priyadarshan or Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie would be. 

Sharman Joshi acts well, but he still does not have the screen presence of an Amol Palekar, Amitabh Bachchan or even Akshay Kumar. Of course, his enthusiasm is quite visible, but he still does not have the chops to become 'the protagonist'.

The movie itself has a fabulous flaw, which basically makes the movie difficult to digest, the very fact that no Indian family would allow a person who was actually supposed to marry the woman to be even in the part of the wedding, leave alone the wedding preparations, if there have been some problems that have brought about a change of plan. 

Also, something that  stands as a sore thumb is the dialogue, where people normally regard kids as 'balak' with the common 'Hum' and 'Tum' for 'you' and 'me'. The movie is saccharine sweet, but neither does it warm your heart, nor does it come across as a thought provoking fare - it's just a movie that does not touch you.