Raat Gayi Baat Gayi - Movie Review

Raat Gayi Baat Gayi
A; Comedy
Dir: Saurabh Shukla
Cast: Neha Dhupia, Rajat Kapoor, Irawati Harshe Vinay Pathak, Anu Menon, Aamir Bashir and Dalip Tahil
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What it's about: Too much drinking could be injurious to health. That's the message behind Saurabh Shukla's Raat Gayi Baat Gayi, which explores the relationships between three couples Rahul (Kapoor) and Mitali (Harshe), Amit (Pathak) and Nandy (Menon) and Saxena (Tahil)u00a0 and Jolly (Navneet). One night at a party at Saxena's house, Rahul gets 'smitten' by Sophia (Dhupia).

A few drinks later, they end up in a bedroom upstairs. The next morning, he gets up to find his wife in a bad mood and no recollection of what happened the previous night.

The two hours run time has Rahul and his friends trying to find the answer to the question: what happened last night? But as they retrace their steps, things get more and more out of hand. Hint: It is NOT inspired by The Hangover.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

What's Hot: If you are in your mid-thirties or early forties and are still watching teen comedies (and cringing), here is an option. Raat Gayi Baat Gayi talks to you. Or at least to the ones who are married or have been in a steady relationship for long.

It has all the ingredients that make up the life of an adult of a certain age. The drunken binges, the men chasing of the single hot chica at the party, jealous wives, and the tension the morning after.

The story is told partly in flashback and the audience is kept in suspense as the drama unfolds. The confusion serves to heighten the melee and the scattered laughs keep the goings-on interesting.

The director gets his interactions bang on the husbands-wives jhagdas, the three guys discussing the night before, the gal pals crying over coffee, Rahul and his daughter... it's light, real and amusing.

The party atmosphere is so real that you want to order a drink and relax. The repartee between Sophia and Rahul, the flirtation vibe, the sparkly conversations, the banter among the ladies, the 'talkie' corner where someone is taking psychology, a guy on a guitar humming tunes keep the ante up.u00a0

Each character is well-etched and there is no one performance that makes this film. Shukla has drawn sincere performances from his entire cast.

What's Not: The second half gets slow and predictable. You can almost forecast Sophia's lover after a point, and also the reason behind Mitali's bad mood. The whole father (Sudhir Mishra in a special appearance) and landlord track seems forced unnecessary.u00a0

What to do: Get into a party mood this weekend with the best offering of this week.