Yawn! It’s not funny

Nonika Singh

Drama khatam karo…Alas, the line and the closure comes too late, long after we have suffered enough and been subjected to an insipid rom.com, which is neither comic nor romantic. Jai Mummy Di on the surface may seem like a tale of mama’s boy, which most Indian men by the way are. But as it unfolds, you learn there is not one but two “mummies” we have to deal with.

Both the hero Puneet (Sunny Singh) and the heroine Saanjh (Sonnalli Seygall) are saddled with mothers, who are at daggers drawn and can’t see eye to eye. With two lovely ladies, Supriya Pathak and Poonam Dhillon, pitted against each other, the face-off could have easily transformed into a tour de force; only if their sparring was packed with some solid stings and barbs.

Sadly, both the writing and direction by Navjot Gulati is juvenile enough to bury any such notion. As things exist, except for making faces at the sight of each other, these friends-turned-foes can add little to the limp narrative. Right from the start you brace yourself for the very few first scenes establish not much is in store. For the sake of a story, there is a wafer-thin plot, which not only gets stretched but drearier by the minute. Lovers smooching and talking of sex and making out hardly makes things steamy.

How to defy the two warring mothers may be the pressing concern of lovers in question, who even decide to elope, as viewers we remain largely impervious to their plight. As they go about saying yes to other suitors, even getting married on the same date and venue to different person, of course, the sham gets more farcical than engaging.

Coming from the stable of Luv Ranjan, the co-producer, who has in the past given us some delightful comedies, this one turns into a disappointment on more than one count. But more painfully, for it singularly fails to tickle the funny bone. Sure Sonnalli Seygall looks decent and is fashionably attired too. As for Sunny Singh, well, he has proved his comic timing earlier in many a flick. But here both his chemistry with the female lead and ability to spew one-liners fall flat. Come to think of it, there are hardly any one-liners that merit attention let alone laugh out loud moments. The drama too is less crazy and more staid. Attempts to induce laughter are laboured and warrant more yawns than giggles. Pegged at less than two hours, the film makes you count every single minute of the onslaught. The irrepressible Punjabi song Meri mummy nu pasand nahi tu, which plays early on in the film, says it better than the 105- minute film.

nonikasingh@tribunemail.com