PEN Studios and Amrish Puri Films’ Yeh Saali Aashiqui (A) is the story of love gone wrong.
Sahil Mehra (Vardhan Puri) falls head over heels in love with Mittee Deora (Shivaleeka Oberoi) when they first meet in their classroom. Their love story hits a roadblock when he sees her flirting with another boy in the class. But Sahil forgives her when she asks him to give her one chance.
One day, Mittee is caught copying in the examination hall and she feels, Sahil is responsible for her being caught. Hell hath no fury like a woman caught copying. She decides to teach Sahil a lesson. She accuses him of trying to rape her. Sahil is arrested but instead of being sent to prison, he is sent to a mental asylum as it is revealed that he had killed his own father in a fit of fury some years ago and so he is assumed to be of unsound mind.
Sahil pleads innocence and maintains in court that Mittee is playing games with him but the court does not heed his pleas. What happens thereafter? Is Sahil able to avenge his humiliation?
Even as Sahil is in the mental asylum, Mittee hooks up with a rich boy, Anuj (Ruslaan Mumtaz). Also, Sahil’s past catches up with him. What is that? Does Mittee marry Sahil or Anuj?
Vardhan and Cherag have written a story and screenplay which are frivolous and quite convoluted. New tracks are added but they look like appendages rather than part of the story, maybe because they are revealed only when they are introduced, with not even a hint about them earlier. The duo’s screenplay is quite kiddish. While Mittee justifies her attempt-to-rape case, there’s just no justification for her flirtatious behaviour in college. Frankly, the audiences watch the drama unfold, in such a detached manner that they never feel involved or engaged. That’s because the drama is very childish and even quite vague. Romance is almost missing. Emotions absolutely fail to touch the heart. Comedy is conspicuous by its absence. Drama is dull. Vardhan and Cherag’s dialogues are poor.
Vardhan Puri makes a fairly impressive debut. Shivaleeka Oberoi is quite nice in her debut role as Mittee. Ruslaan Mumtaz is alright as Anuj. Satish Kaushik adds some star value in a tiny role. Jesse Janumala is natural as Sahil’s roommate, Venu. Pulkit Bangia performs ably as Jehan. Amit Arora is impressive as Priyank Sharma. Deepansha Dhingra has her moments as Kavita. Athar Nawaz (as Mittee’s father), Sunita Hooda (as Mittee’s mother), Rahul Amath (as the professor), Neeraj Kalra (as the principal), Shiva Kumar (as Chetan uncle), Nitin Bhasin (as the police inspector), Ashmita Tiwari (as Sara), Jaswant Singh (as Nanu), Ajay Verma (as Jawahar), Sanjeev Johri (as Dr. Irani), Yudhvir Dahiya (as Dr. Jha), Rajat Malhotra (as the lawyer), Manoj Lila Bhatt (as Bilal) and the rest lend routine support.
Cherag Ruparel’s direction is okay for a debut attempt. Hitesh Modak’s music comprises two well-tuned songs and other songs which are so-so. Tanveer Ghazi’s lyrics are commonplace. Bunty Shrivastav’s choreography hardly deserves separate mention. Hitesh Modak’s background music is okay. Pratik Shah’s camerawork is ordinary. Jeetu Singh’s action and stunts are devoid of thrill. Production designing (Bilal Hashmi and Sohini Mondal) is nothing to shout about. Anirban Dutta’s editing is alright.
On the whole, Yeh Saali Aashiqui will face rejection at the ticket windows.
Released on 29-11-’19 at Inox (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment. Publicity: so-so. Opening: weak. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull everywhere.
