Indoo Ki Jawani
Ratings: 2.5/5
Duration: 118 Minutes
Language: Hindi
Genre: Drama
Director: Abir Sengupta
Screenplay: Abir Sengupta
Writer: Abir Sengupta
Producer: Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Nikkhil Advani, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani, Niranjan Iyengar, Ryan Stephen
Music: Score - Neel Adhikari; Songs - Rochak Kohli, Mika Singh, Badshah
Cinematography: A. Vasanth
Editing: Ajay Sharma
Released Date: 11 December 2020
Star Cast: Kiara Advani, Aditya Seal, Mallika Dua, Raghav Raj Kakker, Iqbal Khan, Shivam Kakar, Chittranjan Tripathi, Rakesh Bedi, Rajendra Sethi, Lisha Bajaj
Plot: It is duty time at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border and cops are on high alert. In the round of checking, the cops try to stop a Black Scorpio at the check post. The occupants get petrified and, in a rush, they flee from the check post while firing at the cop. Later, the cops led by Avinash Nigam (Iqbal Khan) find the car outside a house in a residential area. But the car is left behind, and the terrorists are nowhere to be seen. While checking the car, police discover explosives inside. Soon, they find one occupant of the car. From then, the hunt begins to find the second person.
Indira Gupta aka Indoo (Kiara Advani) is having a tough time with her boyfriend Satish (Raghav Raj Kakker). Satish wants to take their relationship a notch higher, but Indoo has her own reservations about it. Satish’s perseverance is soon rewarded and Indoo agrees to come to his house at night. But at the penultimate hour, she changes her mind. Ergo, a desperate Satish asks a girl from Indoo’s colony, Alka (Lisha Bajaj) to spend the night with him, even though Alka is getting married to someone else next week.
Inspired by her best friend Sonal (Mallika Dua), Indoo takes the plunge and decides to sleep with Satish. She knocks on Satish’s door to find Alka in his bed. Heartbroken Indoo breaks up with Satish there and then.
At Alka’s wedding, Indoo is lusted by not just young boys like Kittu (Shivam Kakar) but also old-aged men like Ranjit uncle (Rajendra Sethi), Pran uncle (Chittranjan Tripathi) and Prem uncle (Rakesh Bedi).
The next day lonely and sad Indoo agrees to Sonal’s idea of using a dating app to find a guy for a one-nightstand. On the dating app, Indoo matches with Samar (Aditya Seal). After a brief chat, Indoo invites him home. In the evening, Samar reaches Indoo’s place who is apparently a thorough gentleman. In the brief session between the two, Samar’s passport falls from his jacket. The passport states his nationality as Pakistani. This terrifies Indoo as she wonders if he is the same terrorist that the police are trying to find. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Review: This movie is the coming-of-age story of a girl who experiences life through misadventures and dating apps. It is quite entertaining to see how one movie talks about so many subject matters like dating apps, the mindset in small towns, prejudices, terrorism and India vs Pakistan debate. Overall, it is quite praiseworthy.
The trailer of the movie had already given away the hint that Indoo’s match is a Pakistani. So, it is a stretch that it takes the entire first half of the movie to come to this point. Hence, one wishes if the first half was tighter. Also, the Indo-Pak debate dialogues could have been shorter as they are repetitive in the second half. Also, every 10 minutes mention of the term ‘jhanda gaadh diya’ irks the viewers after a point.
Abir Sengupta has done his best to keep the screenplay effective for most parts with a neat and simple direction. In fact, the dialogues are witty and add to the humour quotient.
A few typical things about our society nicely highlighted in the movie are – Indoo, as a girl from a small town, has morals and values and that she is concerned about her image in the society. What she feels within has no connection with her outer image. Then, the focus on how people in the neighbourhoods in small towns tend to be prejudiced, and nosy under the garb of being cultured. Then, how India Pakistan are enemy countries and that feeling is ingrained in us deep within. These all points connect well with the audience.
Talking of the performances, Kiara Advani is extremely cute and adorable. She puts up a very entertaining performance. The way she rants angrily throughout the film makes for a humorous watch. Aditya Seal looks breathtakingly handsome and his dialogue delivery is spot on. Mallika Dua is hilarious and is great as the bestie with loads of gyaan about men, adult films and sex. Raghav Raj Kakker, who was loved for his role of ‘Karamchand’ in SCAM 1992, has also done a decent job. Iqbal Khan leaves a huge mark and deserves to be seen more in films.
Music is not of chartbuster variety but is used well.
A few might find the film preposterous and profoundly silly. Just like Indoo’s character that cannot decide whether she wants to be badass and have all the fun or worry about ‘log kya kahenge’, the film’s narrative might confuse a few. But for the majority, it could be a fun-filled entertainer and deserves to be watched for its plot, realistic setting, humour and Kiara Advani’s adorable performance.
