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Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle, Review:  Mediocre mockery and tiresome satire

Films about films and film-makers are dicey propositions. The earliest in my time was Guru Dutt’s Kaaghaz Ke Phool, which bombed so badly at the box office that the director-actor never recovered, only to become an all-time classic a decade later. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Guddi enjoyed above average success and Asrani’s Chala Murari Hero Banne was not bad either. Tanveer Ahmed’s Aakarshan flopped, nothing was heard of the Canadian-Indian film, Bollywood…and the list goes on. On this bumpy road arrives another vehicle, Vinod Tiwari’s Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle.

It is a highly unlikely title for a film that follows the journey of an Assistant Director from being the punching bag of a narcissistic TV hero, to his debut as full-fledged director. Sadly, all it offers is bumpy ride.

Dev D. (Rajniesh Duggal) is an Assistant Director working in television serials, and aspires to direct a film. Fed up of the tantrums thrown by the lead actor Ali Khan, he quits his job and approaches Raj Chopra (Krushna Abhishek), a superstar actor-producer, with his film-story. Raj Chopra listens to the story and agrees to produce the film. Dev's girl-friend, Ragini (Nazia Hussain) is an actress, who comes to meet him while they are conducting auditions for the film and accidentally auditions for the role. Raj is smitten by her and finalises her to be the lead actress.

Shooting takes place in Goa. While Dev is trying to complete the movie, Raj is more concerned about wooing Ragini, and takes her to out to parties occasionally. At first, Dev is outraged, but later, he realizes that unless he and Ragini play along, they will never get to complete the picture. Ragini agrees, with strong reservations. While the team is shooting a scene where Raj saves Ragini from thugs, Goa Police arrives at the location, arrests the whole crew, and puts them behind bars.

Raj sends an SOS to Arrubhai (Mukul Dev), the Don who is financing the film. Arru is a powerful mobster in Mumbai and is married to Sulochana (Deepshikha Nagpal), a politician’s daughter, who he uses to wield clout. A mobster he might be, but he is henpecked nevertheless. (In an interview, actor Mukul Dev described his character as a “gentle giant”, which not too bad a description). He tells her that he is going to Hyderabad for an urgent business meeting, but heads to Goa, with his goons Nawab (Khayali Ram) and Sunder (Sunil Pal). Using his reputation as a ruthless killer, he terrorises the Inspector (Vinit Sharma), who literally falls at his feet and not only releases them but felicitates them.

When shooting resumes, Arru Bhai starts liking Ragini and falls in love with her...all this while Raj is already in love with her. Ragini is stuck between the three men. The story gets another twist when Arru Bhai's wife is informed by Guddu Rangeela (Aman Verma) and an anonymous phone call that he had lied about his trip to Hyderabad and had, instead, gone to Goa. She gets mad, rushes to the shooting location and confronts Arru.

Director Vinod Tiwari and Rashid Khan have written the film, which is puerile and silly in equal measure. They might have started with the noble intention of making a satire about a minuscule group of film-folk who might be behaving the way this crew does, but they have ended up making a mockery.

Dialogue is full of double entendre and puns and there is nothing to hold your interest. Even the title is misleading and unimaginative. It is what Dev says to himself when his two rivals get close to Ragini, and means, “She is your sister-in-law, you fool”, as if he was trying to cajole Raj and Arru into keeping their hands off his beloved, since she is his, their ‘brother’s’ and thus, their sister-in-law. Incidentally, while the film was under production, there was a TV serial on air titled Vo Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle. It might still be on, for all I know. The superstar turns out to be bankrupt even after delivering a superhit and the TV star cannot speak a single line without humiliating the AD for no fault of his at all.

TV comedy veteran Krushna Abhishek (Bol Bachchan, Kya Kool Hain Hum 3, It’s Entertainment) dances with frenetic fervor, in spite of the kilos he has out on, but has some of the seediest dialogue and corniest punch-lines. Yes, he does indulge in some mimicry, on one or two occasions, including rejigging some lines mouthed by his uncle, Govinda. This film will prove to be as damaging to Krushna as Kis Kis Ko Pyar Karoon (2015) was to Kapil Sharma, the other and almost equally rated TV stand-up comedian. And guess what? Tiwari wanted to make film with Kapil way back in 2010, but could not find a producer! How he found one for this one must be a well-kept secret!

Nazia Hassan (unreleased Hasmukh Pighal Gaya, Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai, Say Yes to Love) is a niece of Sanjay Dutt, being the grand-daughter of producer, late Akhtar Hussain, Nargis’s brother. She’s is not related to Nazia Hassan, the Pakistani singer of ‘Aap jaesa koyee’ and ‘Disco deewane’ fame. She is good, without being impressive, but let is not judge her on the merits of this film. Rajniesh Duggal has good looks, is tall and has a soft voice. Why was he cast in a lily-livered guy’s role and why did he accept it? Well, I guess he needed exposure.

Mukul Dev (Dastak, Qila, Yamla Pagla Deewana; co-wrote Omerta) almost saves the film. A talented actor, he held my attention in the 1998 flop Qila, which was the last film in which Dilip Kumar acted. He’s 47 now, and looks even older, with long hair and a thick beard. His changes of mood are so very smooth. Aman Verma has barely three scenes. DeepShikha Nagpal, who has had her father and uncle, both actors, and acting, therefore runs in her genes, makes a mark.

Another TV comedy show veteran, Sunil Pal struggles to maintain the Tamilian accent he is burdened with, while Khayali Ram has one off-colour joke to his credit. Vinit Sharma starts well, till he is made to grovel at Arrubhai’s feet. Kanpur-born Nancy Marwah (Aa Gayaa Hero, Yeh To Too Much Ho Gayaa) fills the bill while Kainat Arora (second cousin of late Divya Bharti; Khatta Meetha, Grand Masti) and Claudia Ciesla (Polish-German; Kya Kool Hain Hum, Desi Kattey, Khiladi 786) come in for the obligatory item songs, one of which goes, ‘Tere naam ka tattoo’, sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Geet Sagar, where Krushna takes the ‘rap’, is written by Harishankar ‘Sufi’ (no comments) and the other is about a ‘Confused lover; kis kisko pyar karoon (wasn’t that a Kapil Sharma film?)?’, written by Atiya Sayyed and sung my Aaniya and Mika Singh. Lo and behold! There is also a soft, romantic, melodious number, on Rajniesh Duggal and Nazia, where some creativity is seen, as Nazia keeps twirling her saaree. Anamik Chauhan’s music strikes par.

Vinod Tiwari had an Associate Director in this movie, called Manish Singh. These two, and Rashid Khan, need to mull over what went wrong, or rather, what all went wrong. Why did the satire become so tiresome? They had so much choice! And as for me and the numerous others who saw the preview of Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle, why did we? We had no choice. Remember, we are critics, and often face occupational hazards.

Rating: * ½

Trailer: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/entertainment/hindi/teri-bhabhi-hain-pagle-official-trailer/videoshow/64464875.cms