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Nonika Singh
Ujda Chaman hit the headlines before it could find its date with silver screen. Locking horns with a film on a similar subject, Bala, it has for the time being piped its rival to the post and found a release date one week prior. Who copied whom is a debate that can rest as also the fact as to how they fare on the comparison meter?. Ujda Chaman, anyway, is not exactly an original idea but a remake of Kannada film, Ondu Motteya Kathe.
The hero of the film, by now, we all know is a balding young man. Clearly in a society that worships beauty and judges people primarily on the basis of physical appearance, it is rather onerous for him to find a suitable match. Sunny Singh, till now better known for his impeccable comic timing, is a reticent, un-assured man here. He is earnest but except for the turn in the end continues to retain the same stock expression all through. Net result; you might empathise but don’t really feel for him. Butt of ridicule at college where he teaches Hindi, he is called all kinds of names. Ujda Chaman seems a fit, for his name is Chaman Kohli.
Much of the first half is devoted to his insecurities that manifest in many ways which are supposedly funny but ring in little laughter.
His over enthusiastic parents, like all well-meaning parents in India, instead of helping matters, only add to his unenviable predicament. Sure they bring in energy and irrepressible Grusha Kapoor is just the kind of mother one comes across in a host of Indian families. But the potpourri they try to whip up with references to testosterone, virgin and more is least amusing. The frustration of the hero to find love exasperates you completely and by interval plain boredom sets in.
However, while most Hindi films suffer from post-interval syndrome, this one actually picks up somewhat in the second half. Enters the lovely looking heroine Apsara (Maanvi Gagroo) and you fall in love with her at the very first moment. With her exaggerated girth, attained through an unsuitable fat suit, she charms her way to your heart. Their love story too has its moments.
Body image issues have been handled before, as we saw it in Dum Laga Ke Haisha, so is not exactly a novelty. To be fair, Ujda Chaman, despite its flaws, too makes some socially correct observations. “Mohabbat mein dilon ki baat karte hai, par shuruaat abhi bhi surat se hi hoti hai,” the dialogue uttered by college peon (Sharib Hashmi) is just the life lesson you need on love. Indeed, when it comes to the film’s final message, it does hit the right notes. However, where it does fail point blank is in evincing laughter and offering a winsome fare. Wish the makers hadn’t wasted so much time in trying to create mirth and come to the point sooner than it did. In the present garb, it’s just the intentions that it seems to get right. Indeed, it is heartening that the very Bollywood, which has given us unattainable ideals of beauty and glamour, is now making us look at imperfections. Sadly, it is through a far from perfect film where the chaman simply fails to bloom.
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