- Movie Name:Qarib Qarib Singlle
- Critics Rating: 3 / 5
- Release Date: 10-11-2017
- Director: Tanuja Chandra
- Genre: Romantic Comedy
Qarib Qarib Singlle, starring Irrfan Khan and Parvathy released on 10th November facing a clash with Rajkummar Rao-starrer Shaadi Me Zaroor Aana. After a sabbatical of 9 years, director Tanuja Chandra makes a light-hearted romantic or let’s say romantic-comedy film with the mighty actor Irrfan Khan in the lead role. Qarib Qarib Singlle is Chandra’s first film in Bollywood. Irrfan, on the other hand, appeared in superhit Hindi Medium, which did wonders both on critical grounds as well as box-office. (In case you’re rubbing your eyes to recheck an extra ‘L’ in the word singlle, let us tell you that it’s actually and deliberately there.)
Qarib Qarib Singlle Plot
So the Irrfan Khan-starrer film is a no-drama tale of two poles apart personalities Jaya and Yogi. Jaya is a no-bullshit woman with methodical approach in everything she does in her life. She lost her husband to war at a young age and ever since then she prefers to keep herself submerged in her work. At an age of 35, driven by the ennui and loneliness, she decides to venture into the world of online dating. On a website called Abtaksingle.com,she meets a small-time poet Yogi, who is, in every way, everything she isn’t. He is spontaneous, crackpot and a restless person. They meet over two cups of Latte, but the brief meeting takes them to a life- changing adventure trip to Rajasthan, Rishikesh and Sikkim.
Qarib Qarib Singlle Review
Going by the outline of the movie, it seems to be an amalgamation of Tamasha, Jab Harry Met Sejal and a lot many movies which endorse tourism. But giving it a closer look, it’s nothing like any of them. Repeating what I mentioned above, it’s a no-drama film. Which means, you’ll not find any goon- chasing –in-the-alley scenes, flash mob dances, or romantic numbers in pristine valleys. It’s a plain Bollywood movie which rather sticks to the commonplace rite of passage theme. How two people who’ve lost something in some or the other form are brought together under the same roof by life. How they evolve to develop a liking for each other. How, despite having strikingly dissimilar personalities, they find their solace in each other.
Kamna Chandra has given a melodramatic twist to an otherwise conventional rom-com which ends on a happy note. Not that this movie doesn’t end on a happy note, but through the course, it doesn’t have many over-dramatic sequences and tragedies, unlike usual Bollywood movies. In fact, Qarib Qarib Singlle doesn’t qualify to be explained as a particular genre. It’s a concoction of romance, comedy and life, and by life we mean, the life of common people that don't involve steep turns and twists.
Jaya and Yogi embark on a journey to revisit their past, only to meet what's in store for them in the future. They walk together down the memory lane, only to find their ways entwined together, leading them to a beautiful destination called love. Initially, Yogi's flamboyant way of living life gets on the nerve of Jaya, who isn't a woman of many words. But soon, she surprisingly finds herself craving to get more of him. The chemistry between Jaya and Yogi isn't the best that Bollywood has seen so far. But it is enchanting in a way that leaves you wanting more of their antics.
Now coming to the part where the film lags behind. Right from the beginning, Qarib Qarib Singlle promises you of a facile love story without the glitter and dazzles of Bollywood climaxes. It keeps your eyes glued to the screen till the intermission. But after that, the graph goes significantly down. The lenient execution of the plot is to be blamed. While it reaches the second half, the film seems to be going nowhere. You'll find yourself scratching your head, where the writer intends to take us. Unnecessary complications were planted between the couple just to conclude the otherwise too realistic love story. Things go absurd to an extent that we begin to think what's wrong with the female protagonist. Is she a sadist who's so addicted to the melancholy of our life? That's the bump, a big one. If you go through that and you're forgiving enough to let that go, the film is near-perfect.
Irrfan Khan and Parvathy as individuals were a stunner in Qarib Qarib Singlle. It was a visual delight to see the Malayalam cinema star as a coy, unadorned Indian woman. The baby-like cuteness on the actress' face under the sun will hook your eyes for a second or two. Irrfan Khan is at his usual best, acing in whichever role he's assigned. Playing a love-seeking poet, having failed thrice in love, Irrfan Khan as Yogi is annoying but in a positive manner. It appeared to us that playing the role of Yogi was a child's play for Irrfan Khan, who drifts smoothly as an obscure poet, without reminding us of his stardom.
