Hasee Toh Phasee

At a wedding Nikhil meets again the strange girl he crossed paths with once, years before. Meeta is a scientist: clever, disordered, unable to stay still, permanently on medication and estranged from her family. Nikhil is engaged to Meeta's sister and the wedding preparations are under way. Meeta needs him for a while so that she can stay out of sight. The two get used to each other. Vinil Mathew directs. Parineeti Chopra plays Meeta and Sidharth Malhotra plays Nikhil. What was most discussed is Parineeti Chopra's performance. The character stands outside the women's parts of mainstream Indian cinema: she is not trying to be attractive, her oddness is not decoration, and her behaviour does not fit the romantic flow of the narrative. The film has the shape of a romantic comedy but its real subject is a child who never fitted inside a family; Meeta's relationship with her father is its soundest strand. It was made jointly by Dharma Productions and Phantom Films, a product of the period when two different production sensibilities came together. Its weakness is the second half; the narrative drops the strange tone it built and turns toward a familiar wedding resolution. Who it is for: viewers who like Indian romantic comedy and unusual women's parts. Who it is not for: the pacing is uneven, the male character stays weak, and the ending is predictable.