Before watching the movie I’d read a couple of reviews that had spoken very scathingly of it. It had been referred to as regressive, archaic and absurd. It was also accused of having stagey scenes and a lot of melodrama. My curiosity was aroused. Finally it was Baradwaj Rangan’s gentle review and his question, ‘Does this kind of cinema work today?’ that made me decide to watch it.

To my surprise I found that I was not displeased.

Let me hasten to assure you that I’m not all gung-ho about it or urging you to drop what you’re doing and rush to the nearest multiplex lest you miss this gem. Not really. What it made me feel was be thoughtful. Now, that’s an oxymoron, but hey I’ve just returned from the movie. Don’t expect logic.

The movie tries too hard to induce pathos, passion and pain, not necessarily in that order. It is a throwback on the movies of the …well, sixties and maybe the seventies. The lead actors attempt to imbue their characters with an intensity that would go down very well with the ethos of another era. Yes, that’s it; it is the times, they’ve changed. We can no more feel comfortable accepting a mainstream heroine shed tears and feel helpless.

You see, we’ve been fed such poppycock about the confident,modern young woman who seeks a separation because of incompatibility (nothing wrong with that, it’s only that that’s not the only way out) that we frown on a woman who is unsure. While in real life, we can’t always be an Ayesha of ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, successful and sure about herself and high above frowning middle-class mores, we delude ourselves into thinking that we’ve reached there. Scratch the surface and you’ll find patriarchy and misogyny writ large everywhere. But when it’s shown in a film we feel offended.

Vidya Balan, as Vasudha, feels like a heroine from another age, who breaks into tears at the drop of a dialogue. Yet, she carries off her role with a rare dignity that makes you glad it was her in that role. Her eyes look luminous and she shines with a femininity all her own. She is a refreshing change, be it her clothes, voice, hairstyle or physique.

Rajkumar Rao as her truant husband Hari, who returns at an inconvenient time after five years when wifey is all mushy-eyed and ready to set aside the ubiquitous mangalsutra for another man, is a good actor and passes muster.

The surprise package is Emraan Hashmi….he of the ready liplock. While he has always been pleasant enough , in this movie he is an example of how one can deliver the corniest of dialogues and yet sound sincere. Sample this: Seeing Balan, a florist, arrange Arum Lilies in his hotel room he says,’ Main inke liye jaan de sakta hoon’. I mean, really? Who speaks like that anymore? Well, Hashmi does, and he does it well.

In another age Hashmi would have been essaying a role that perhaps a Gurudutt or even a Rajesh Khanna would. The same pauses, smouldering intensity and control, but we don’t watch movies like that in multiplexes any more. It’s only romcoms for us. Goes well with the popcorn.

There are bit-role actors who are extremely efficient, believe me. Hashmi’s mom is one of the most beautiful actresses I’ve seen. Amala. Yes, she’s now the hero’s mom. Take that.

The dialogues are the culprit, really. They feel so dated they seem unintentionally hilarious and you’d probably howl with laughter if you hear them uttered off screen. Words like mangalsutra, asthi, maryada, parampara, insaan ke roop mein bhagwan and thyag are thrown around with such gay abandon that it would make even our sanskaari Aloknath Babuji blush. In another scene, Balan walks out of a Dubai hotel in a huff pulling her luggage behind her into the endless sand dunes. It’s so theatrical you want hit someone, preferably the director.

Mohit Suri of Aashiqui 2 fame is not a bad director. But I suppose the writing can be your undoing; or as in ‘Piku’, your blessing. Works both ways. Clearly, the writing is topcop. Mahesh Bhat deserves to be taken to the cleaners for writing such crappy lines.

Despite all this cribbing, I came out of the theatre feeling like a kid who’s been taken to the movies and viewed a paisa vasool film since the songs were tuneful, locales were pleasant and the lead pair looked suitably in love and cried buckets. Also after watching a lot of fluff like ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ I suppose I needed some drama.

Better watch Arnab Goswami at 09:00 pm did you say? But I needed drama, not a circus.

I realise this is not a review as much a nostalgic soliloquy on a time that is long past, when movies were meant to make you feel for the characters. That’s why I called it an adhuri review.

Watch the movie to see what I’m saying.